Can you please give me the summary of the story the romance of the busy broker specifically
Answers
“Good morning, Pitcher,” said Maxwell. He rushed to his table as if he were going to jump over it, then began to look at the many, many letters and other papers waiting there for him.
The young lady had been Maxwell’s secretary for a year. She was very beautiful, and very different from most other secretaries. Her hair always looked plain and simple. She did not wear chains or jewels . Her dress was gray and plain, but it fitted her very well. On her small black- hat was the gold-green wing of a bird.
On this morning she seemed to shine softly. Her eyes were dreaming but bright. Her face was warmly colored, and her expression was happy.
Pitcher watched her. There was a question about her in his mind. She was different this morning. Instead of going straight to the room where she worked, she waited. She seemed not to know what to do. Once she went over to Maxwell’s table, near enough for him to see that she was there.
The machine sitting at that table was no longer a man. It was a busy New York broker.
“What is it? Anything?” asked Maxwell shortly. Papers lay like snow covering his table. His gray eyes looked at her as if she were another machine.
“Nothing,” answered the secretary, moving away with a little smile.
“Mr. Pitcher,” she said, “did Mr. Maxwell talk to you yesterday about getting another secretary?”
“He did,” Pitcher answered. “He told me to get another one.
Men began to come into the office and speak to him. Some were happy, some were not, some were in a hurry, some were full of anger.
Boys ran in and out with letters for him to read and answer at once.
Pitcher’s face now showed that he was alive. The other men who worked in the office jumped around like sailors during a storm.
And there were storms in the business world, fearful storms.
“You are losing your mind, Pitcher,” said Maxwell. “Why should I tell you anything like that? Miss Leslie is a perfect secretary. She can keep the job as long as she wants it.” To the young lady he said, “There is no job here.” And to Pitcher he added this order: “Tell them not to send any more. And don’t bring any more in here to see me.”
The silver chain left the office, hitting against chairs and tables with anger, as it went. Pitcher said to another man in the office that Maxwell was more forgetful every day.
The rush of business grew wilder and faster. Maxwell was working like some fine, strong machine. He was working as fast as he could. He never had to stop to think. He was never wrong. He was always ready to decide and to act. He worked as a clock works. This was the world of business. It was not a human world, or the world of nature.
When the dinner hour was near, things grew quieter.
Maxwell stood by his table with his hands full of papers and his hair hanging over his face. His window was open, for it was the time of year when the weather was beginning to turn warm.
And through the window came a soft sweet smell of flowers. For a moment the broker was held there, without moving. For this smell of flowers belonged to Miss Leslie. It was hers and hers only.
The smell seemed almost to make her stand there before him. The world of business grew smaller and smaller. And she was in the next room—twenty steps away.
“I’ll do it now,” said Maxwell, half aloud. “I’ll ask her now. I won- der why I didn’t do it long ago.”
He rushed into the other room. He stopped beside the secretary.
She looked up at him with a smile. Warm color came into her face, and her eyes were soft and kind.
Maxwell’s hands were still full of papers. “Miss Leslie,” he began quickly, “I have only a moment. I want to say something in that moment. Will you be my wife? I haven’t had time to make love to you in the usual way. But I really do love you. Talk quick, please. I have to get back to my work.”
“Oh, what are you talking about?” cried the young lady. She rose to her feet and looked at him, round-eyed .
“Don’t you understand?” said Maxwell. “I want you to marry me. I love you, Miss Leslie. I wanted to tell you. So I took this moment when I wasn’t too busy. But they’re calling me now. Tell them to wait a minute, Pitcher. Won’t you, Miss Leslie?”
The secretary acted very strangely. At first she seemed lost in surprise. Then tears began to run from her wondering eyes. And then she smiled through her tears, and one of her arms went around the broker’s neck.
“I know now,” she said, softly. “It’s this business. It has put every-thing else out of your head. I was afraid at first. Don’t you remember, Harvey? We were married last evening at eight, in the Little Church around the Corner.”
"In The Romance of a Busy Broker by O. Henry we have the theme of love, conflict, control and gender roles. Taken from his Selected Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Henry may be exploring the theme of love. Maxwell is very much in love with Miss Leslie. Something that is clear to the reader by way of the fact that the previous evening Maxwell married Miss Leslie. Though he himself appears to have forgotten this and asks her to marry him again. What is also interesting about the story is the possibility of Maxwell being in conflict with himself. While he is working he is working hard and is focused on the task at hand. Yet his heart is not really in his work. It belongs to Miss Leslie. It is also noticeable that Maxwell forgets about asking for a replacement stenographer. This could be significant as Maxwell may not be comfortable with his wife working in the same office as him or working at all. If this is the case then Henry may be exploring the role of women in the workplace.
"Pitcher’s role in the story may also be important as he in many ways acts as the reader’s eyes and ears. It is through his expressionless reaction to what is happening that the reader themselves discovers what is happening. The fact that Pitcher is expressionless throughout the story could also have some significance as in many ways the reader doesn’t know how to react to Maxwell throughout the story. He acts firstly like a machine when he is working and then he acts like a man in love later on in the story. It can be confusing for the reader to try and understand what is happening because everything happens so quickly. Which mirrors the fast-paced manner in which stocks and shares are being bought and sold by Maxwell. Miss Leslie’s exclusion to another room is also interesting as again Henry may be exploring the theme of gender roles and the exclusion of women from the work place. Also Miss Leslie is described as being beautiful as though she is some type of trophy for Maxwell. This too could be significant as it suggests that men at the time may have objectified women rather than having attempted to treat them as equals in a relationship. Though it may be difficult for Maxwell not to objectify Miss Leslie considering that he is so much in love with her.
"As to how Maxwell could have forgotten he married Miss Leslie the previous evening is difficult to say. Perhaps when he arrives in the office he immediately goes into a machine like process and forgets the world around him. Only pausing for the real world when a breeze catches him. The fact that it is spring might also be symbolically important as quite often in literature spring is used as a symbol of love or the period in whereby two characters might fall in love. It might also be a case that Henry is suggesting that Maxwell is too busy to remember that he got married. Which may leave some readers thinking that perhaps the marriage between Maxwell and Miss Leslie may not last should Maxwell not change his habits. Work is one thing but a married man needs to ensure that his time, particularly his time with his wife, is spread out evenly. If not then the marriage may be short-lived.
"The end of the story is also interesting as the reader never really gets any insight into how Maxwell feels about being married to Miss Leslie. We do know that he is in love with her and wants to marry her but Henry does not afford Maxwell the opportunity to speak at the end of the story. This may be deliberate and Henry could be reversing gender roles. Allowing on this occasion for the female (Miss Leslie) to have the last word rather than having Maxwell speak. If this is indeed the case then it is possible that Maxwell may have met his match and that he will not be able to control Miss Leslie, the wife as he has Miss Leslie, the employee. Throughout the story it has been Maxwell who has been in control of the office with others doing as they were told. This may not be the case going forward. Miss Leslie through marriage may have found her voice just as she is the last character to speak in the story. Equality may be at hand for Miss Leslie particularly due to the fact that Maxwell is so in love with her that he is speechless.
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