Pie

Prior to her death, most citizens of Ipswitch viewed Polly as a lovable, generous eccentric with an amazing talent for baking pies. Village businesspeople also recognized that her nationally known reputation brought many outsiders to the community who contributed to the local economy. What locals did not grasp was her status as a community leader. A passive, loving person, Polly held no office, handled no income or expenditures, set down no official guidelines, and sought no recognition from Ipswitch people or the national baking community. Each time she received the Blueberry Award, her complete response was always the same four-word expression of gratitude: “Thank you very much” (29). It’s clear that Polly’s death is a sudden, unexpected event. The aftermath is a startling awakening for the entire community, as there is a shared awareness that, in a completely passive manner, Polly set the tone for the village, something no one ever expected to change and for which there were no contingency plans. Without her, Ipswitch itself flounders. Ruth captures the angst of citizens when she fearfully cries out, “What are we going to do, George? […]. What are we going to do?” (41).

As the village recognizes the magnitude of Polly’s loss, many take brash, immediate steps. George, Ruth’s husband, announces he will contact Hoover Vacuum Cleaners, his old employer, to see if his former job is available. As Charley points out to Alice, the most common single act is for people to start baking pies themselves. For most residents, however, this is a new pursuit. Polly’s pies were simply so good and freely given to anyone who wanted them that no one in Ipswitch ever baked their own. For many, the results of their efforts were dismal. Compounding the community’s sense of despair was the news that Polly left her piecrust recipe—the unrecorded secret of her success—to Lardo, which her estate attorney and everyone else in town assumed meant her cat. Thus, it appears to citizens that in their moment of greatest desperation, Polly mocks them from the grave.

Gradually, as villagers begin to work through the shock and grief of Polly’s sudden death, some begin to step forward with acts of individuation. Some people, like Reverend Flowers, choose to make pies not to win the Blueberry contest but as a reminder of Polly touching their lives. Others, like Mr. Evans, step forward with homemade pies to express their affection to loved ones. The greatest step taken, however, is the moment of honest confrontation when Alice confronts her mother, saying the distance between them is a result of Polly showing her love that Ruth did not. Apart from the resolution of the mysteries Alice tries to unravel, the reconciliation between Alice and Ruth is the ultimate result of Polly’s death, with truth-speaking Alice stepping forward as the new heart of the village.