Between Rounds is a short story written by O’ Henry that shows a group of boarders who are worried when their landlady, Mrs. Murphy’s son, Mike disappears. Their lives come to a halt as they sympathize and empathize with Mrs. Murphy and stand by her. The story shows the theme of domestic violence through a couple who reside in Mrs. Murphy’s boarding house, as well as unity and mutual care among the boarders and the landlady.
Between Rounds | Summary
The story introduces the readers to the boarding house of Mrs. Murphy, which shines brightly on the May moon. It is spring. The park is full of green leaves and buyers for the Western and Southern trade. The streets are filled with flowers, and summer resort agents are out at their work to convince people to buy their deals; many are seen playing pinochle and hand organs.
The windows of Mrs. Murphy’s boarding house are open, and it shows a group of boarders sitting on mats.
The second-floor window of Mrs. Murphy’s boarding house gives a peek into Mrs. McCloskey, who is waiting for her husband. Mrs. McCaskey is getting angrier with the supper losing its warmth. Mr. McCaskey comes at nine. He climbs the steps holding his coat in his arm and pipe in his teeth. He apologizes for disturbing his neighbors and puts his large feet with size 9 carefully. When he opens the door, he is welcomed with words this time and not the stove lid or a potato masher that is thrown at him usually. Mr. McCaskey feels the May moonlight has softened his wife.
Mrs. McCaskey throws words at Mr.McCaskey instead of kitchenware. She tells him how he can apologize to the people in the street for accidentally stepping on them, and can be cautious of his steps, but he can walk on his wife’s neck without any second thought. She has been waiting by the window for so long, now the supper has gone cold, and they don’t have enough money as Mr.McCaskey spends his wage on drinking at a bar every Saturday evening, and she had to avoid the gas man who came for payment twice.
Mr. McCaskey throws his coat and hat on a chair and tells his wife how her noise ruins his appetite. He delivers a short speech on politeness but later asks his wife rudely to move her “pig face” out of the window and take care of the supper. Mrs. McCaskey stood up from her seat and went to the stove. Her behavior warns Mr. McCaskey of trouble. She throws a stewpan full of food at her husband. He retorts with roasted sirloin, and the fight worsens as the couple throw everything they can at each other.
Policeman Cleary stands at the corner of the house listening to the utensils crashing and feels it is the McCaskeys who are quarreling again. He wonders if he should interfere, but decides not to as he feels the fight won’t last long, and they will have to buy new utensils to continue throwing them at each other.
Their fight is interrupted by a scream from downstairs, which policeman Cleary thinks to be a cat and walks in the other direction.
The boarders on the steps hurry to see. Mr. Toomey goes to analyze the scream and announces that Mrs. Murphy’s little boy is lost. The boarders sit together in sympathy. Major Grigg and other boarders hurry off to look for him and sympathize with Mrs. Murphy. Major Griggs goes to Billy’s place to have a drink.
On the second-floor front, Mr. and Mrs. McCaskey hear Mrs. Murphy screaming and, putting their head out of the window, they realize Mrs. Murphy’s kid is lost. The couple gets emotional and imagines what would have happened if they had a kid of that age and if he disappeared.
Later, they find the boy, Mike, asleep behind the roll of linoleum under the bed in her room. This relieves the borders of the house, and they settle down finally. But the McCaskeys now argue and get into fights because of a hypothetical situation: what if their child had done that, if he were lost. Policeman, clearly strolls around the corner, ignoring the couple’s fight as usual, and Old man Denny runs to the house before Mrs. Murphy locks the door for the night.
Between Rounds | Analysis
In “Between Rounds,” O’Henry presents a vivid portrait of the inhabitants of Mrs. Murphy’s boarding house. Set in the springtime, the story paints a picturesque image of the neighborhood, with the park full of green leaves and the street filled with flowers. However, amidst this idyllic setting, O’Henry also reveals the darker aspects of life in the boarding house, particularly through the domestic violence depicted in the relationship between Mr. and Mrs. McCaskey.
One of the most striking elements of the story is the contrast between the beauty of the springtime setting and the ugliness of the domestic violence within the boarding house. The lush imagery of the park and the street, with its “buyers for the Western and Southern trade” and “summer resort agents,” serves to heighten the reader’s sense of the peacefulness and serenity of the neighborhood. However, as the reader is introduced to the boarding house, this idyllic image is quickly shattered by the domestic violence taking place within it.
Through the character of Mrs. McCaskey, O’Henry masterfully portrays the theme of domestic violence. Mrs. McCaskey is depicted as a woman who is at the end of her rope, having endured years of abuse from her husband. The reader can sense her mounting frustration and anger as she waits for her husband to come home, and her rage boils over as he finally arrives, hours late and drunk. The scene in which she throws a stewpan full of food at her husband is particularly visceral and powerful, as it highlights the physical violence that is often a part of domestic abuse.
The other inhabitants of the boarding house, particularly the boarders sitting on the steps, serve as a kind of Greek chorus, commenting on the events unfolding within the McCaskeys’ apartment. Through their reactions, O’Henry highlights the theme of unity and mutual care among the boarders and the landlady. The boarders are shown to be deeply sympathetic to Mrs. McCaskey’s plight, and they come together in solidarity to help search for Mrs. Murphy’s lost son, Mike.
A paragraph is devoted to the evil city place which does not pity anyone. The city is compared to a lobster. It is presented as a lonely forest and desert of lava because of its lonely and dangerous streets. Major Grigg later hurries to the pub to get a drink and asks if anyone has seen the kid:
”Haven’t seen a bow-legged, dirty-faced little devil of a six-year-old lost kid around here anywhere, have you?”
In contrast to the compassion and empathy shown by the boarders, the character of Policeman Cleary serves to highlight the societal apathy and indifference towards domestic violence. Cleary is aware of the McCaskeys’ frequent fights, but he chooses to look the other way, assuming that the altercation will soon be over. His attitude serves as a commentary on the way that domestic violence is often ignored or dismissed by society at large.
The climax of the story, in which Mike is found safe and sound, serves to bring the boarding house inhabitants together in a moment of relief and joy.
The story ends with a fight between the McCaskeys after Mrs. Murphy finds her child sleeping under the bed. The McCaskeys fight over a hypothetical situation, when Mr. McCaskey says that their child would have done the same thing and hid under the bed, laughing at Mrs. McCaskey. The couple just started a fight because of an imaginary situation. They do not even have a child. It is as if they just find excuses to pick a fight. The policeman clearly hears the crash of ironware and chinaware and the ring of kitchen utensils. He realizes that the couple is hurling things at each other again, and this time louder. This episode serves as a reminder that the domestic violence depicted in the story is not an isolated incident, but rather a pervasive problem that affects countless families.
Overall, “Between Rounds” is a powerful and poignant story that skillfully explores the theme of domestic violence. Through the characters of Mrs. McCaskey and the boarders, O’Henry highlights the pain and suffering caused by domestic abuse, while also highlighting the importance of compassion and solidarity in the face of such a difficult issue. The story also serves as a commentary on the societal apathy towards domestic violence and the need for society to take a more active role in addressing this problem.
Between Rounds | Themes
Domestic Violence – The story opens with a peaceful image of the city. It is May, and spring has painted the place with greenery and flowers. The people are in a mild mood. But it’s as if the surrounding indicates the calm before the storm. A tenant of Mrs. Murphy’s boarding house, Mrs. McCaskey awaits her husband’s arrival. She boils with anger as the supper cools down. The arrival of Mr. McCaskey causes the first domestic fight in the story. Mrs. McCaskey is upset with her husband for coming home late. She complains about how he has made her life difficult. He spends all his wages in the bar by drinking every Saturday, and they do not have enough to even pay the gas man. She has to face humiliation because of him. Mr. and Mrs. McCaskey abuse each other.
Mr. McCaskey tells how her abuses insult his appetite, and a fight ensues when Mr. McCaskey tells his wife to take her pig face out of the window and do something about the cold supper. They throw things at each other without giving a thought to the consequences. She throws a stewpan full of bacon and turnips at him. He throws a sirloin and bread pudding at her. They just keep throwing things from the coffee pot to the chinaware wash basin. They would have gone with the flow if not been interrupted by Mrs. Murphy screaming. Their fight is just put to a halt when they hear Mike missing. They sympathize with Mrs. Murphy and start imagining what would have happened if they had a child of that age. They contemplate their relationship and lean on each other for a while. But they break into a fight soon after, only because of a suppositional situation. The policeman, Cleary, hears them fighting every time he is around the corner but ignores it. He hears them getting louder and more violent, too, but chooses not to interfere and avoids it as if it’s a very normal thing to fight so harshly. The old man Denny, too, just hears the noise of the utensils but pays more importance to his paper reading.
Unity – Mrs. Murphy’s boarding house is the center of all the incidents that occur in the story. The regular activities of all the boarders are interrupted by Mrs. Murphy’s scream. Her son Mike is missing, and she doesn’t remember the last time she saw him. She only remembers him playing on the sidewalk. All the boarders come to see her and volunteer to look for him in the city. The McCaskeys stop their fight and whisper about the child, and seem worried for him. The boarders sympathize with Mrs. Murphy and stand beside her, showing empathy. Everyone is happy when Mike is found, and they are relieved in the same way their mother is.
Between Rounds | Characters
Mr. and Mrs. McCaskey are the residents of Mrs. Murphy’s house. Their relationship shows how domestic violence is generalized in the story. They fight in the beginning as well as at the end of the story. It shows as if they just need excuses to start a fight and barely live their life in harmony. Mr. McCaskey is rude, mean, and very done with women, as well as his married life. He is kind to strangers but not to his wife. He drinks every Saturday evening at a bar, which shows he is an irresponsible person, as he spends his wage on drinking. He is used to his wife’s violent nature and is aware of her every movement and step.
His wife is a violent and short-tempered person with a complaining attitude. She complains about how Mr. McCaskey has made her life miserable and throws things at him without thinking. They both are harsh characters because they keep fighting over silly things.
The policeman, Cleary, is of no use in the story. Because he doesn’t stop Mr. and Mrs. McCaskey’s fight, he is of no use when Mike disappears. He just walks around the corner like an ignorant person.
Mrs. Murphy is the landlady of the boarding house. She is an extremely sensitive woman who loves her son a lot, but is a little irresponsible as she doesn’t remember the last time she saw her son, Mike. Mike disappears and forms a central part of the play as her screams stop the fight between the McCaskeys and bring the regular activities of the tenants to a halt.
Old man Denny is a tenant of Mrs. Murphy’s. He is just engrossed in reading papers and pays little to no notice to anything happening around him.
Mr. Toomey is another boarder at Mrs. Murphy’s house who is an insurance solicitor by birth and an investigator by profession. He returns with the news that Mike is lost.
Major Grigg, another boarder, steps up to look for Mike and later goes to the bar to have a drink and asks the barman if he has seen Mike.
Literary Techniques
A simile is used in the story when a group of boarders is compared to German pancakes: “a group of boarders was seated on the high stoop upon round, flat mats like German pancakes.” And when the borders compare the city with “lonely forests and deserts of lava,” and call the city a lobster.
The irony is used throughout Mr. McCaskey’s dialogue. He talks about politeness and how it is the essence and foundation of society. But later hurls abuses at his wife, “When ye run down politeness ye take the mortar from between the bricks of the foundations of society”.
About the Author
William Sydney Porter, pen name O’ Henry, was an American writer famous for his short stories, which are characterized by wit, humor, characterization, and surprising twists. He has written prose and fiction, but his short stories are immensely popular among readers. He published the story ‘Between Rounds’ in 1906, blessing it with a sense of humor as well as reality.
