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THE COOKIE LADY

Long Answer Questions

1. Discuss the appropriateness of the title of the story The Cookie Lady'.

Answer: The story 'The Cookie Lady' has a suitable and significant title. The title is based on
the main character Mrs. Drew who prepares and serves cookies to a young boy named
Bubber. Her preparing the cookies gives her the name the Cookie Lady. The story also
focuses on this lady's activities and behaviour.

Mrs Drew, the Cookie Lady, is an old woman who feels young and passionate in the company
of the young boy who visits her house. He comes there as he has an uncontrollable hunger
for cookies. The lady gives him the cookies and in return enjoys his youthful company which
makes her feel young and full of life.

This lady has a personality that attracts any one who comes in contact with her. She has
certain qualities of a vampire. Her charms have an enchanting impact on Bubber. He is so
impacted by her magic that his parents get worried about his health. The evil impact on this
young boy is the result of the company of the cookie lady. Thus, the whole story focuses on
the personality, actions and behaviour of this lady and its impact on the young boy Bubber.
The title clearly refers to all this and acquires great importance and relevance. Metaphorically,
it also suggests that the lady not only cooks food but also the young boy who gets destroyed.
The lady on the other hand feels transformed into someone healthy and youthful.

The title 'The Cookie Lady' is highly appropriate for this story as the old lady, Mrs Drew, is the
pivot around which the entire story revolves. She has an irresistible charm of making
delicious cookies which draw the young boy Bubber to her small house again and again.
While serving him cookies, she craftily gains proximity to the boy which enables her to steal
his youth and get rejuvenated herself. The title highlights her skill in baking as well as her
vicious motives.
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2. Comment on the theme of the story.

Answer: The story brings out the unscrupulous ways adopted by people to exploit others'
weaknesses for selfish gains. It also shows the way innocent people get used by others
taking advantages of their innocent likings for certain things or their drawbacks. The story
also illustrates the way one suffers because of a lack of control over one's desires. These
ideas have been effectively presented in the story through the relationship between Mrs.
Drew an old lady and a young boy named Bubber.

The central theme of this horror story is the exploitation of innocence. The old Mrs Drew
exploits Bubber's innocence and craving for cookies to drain out his youth for her own
benefit. It also shows how neglect on the part of parents can lead children to fall into the
traps of unscrupulous people. The theme highlights the selfishness and greed for one's own
good at the cost of others.

Mrs. Drew takes advantage of Bubber's weakness for cookies and uses him to satisfy her
hunger for youthful passion. She ignores how her activities destroy the boy's health and
peace of mind. On the other hand, Bubber is completely overwhelmed by the desire to eat
cookies. His liking and unlimited lust for cookies lead him to his ruin.

The theme of parent-child relationship also finds place in the story. Bubber's parents fail to
keep track of his activities as they lack a constant touch with him. Had they known the things
well from the beginning, the boy would not have visited the lady. The story suggests that
parents have to be more responsible towards their children.

(Include the other themes discussed in the class)

3. Give a character sketch of Mrs Drew.

Answer: Mrs. Drew is an old, a little dried-up lady with a passion to feel young and energetic.
She has lost her youth but still dreams of remaining young and experiencing excitement for
life. It makes her behave in a very strange and highly selfish way.
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She knows how to cook delicious cookies and exploits the young boy Bubber's hunger for
these eatables. Being clever, she hides her true motive from the boy in serving him with
cookies and asking him to read books to her. She uses these things as an excuse to
experience the excitement of being young in the boy's company.

Her selfish nature does not allow her to see the evil impact of her activities on the young boy.
She is concerned about her own happiness and pleasure. She has not been able to reconcile
with her age and still wants to feel youthful.

Mrs. Drew does not enjoy a good reputation in the neighbourhood. Nobody respects or likes
her. Bubber's friends make fun of him for visiting this strange woman and his parents want
him to stop visiting Mrs. Drew. She is a very selfish, strange and mysterious woman.

Mrs Drew is depicted as a shrewd, cunning old lady living alone in a dilapidated house
overgrown with weeds. Her only aim is to exploit the boy Bubber who is drawn to her house
by the irresistible cookies she bakes. While serving him cookies, she gains proximity with the
boy which enables her to literally steal away all his youth and vitality, leaving him just an
empty shell. She is shown to be utterly selfish, remorseless and vicious in her motives.

4. What kind of story is 'The Cookie Lady'?

Answer: The Cookie Lady' is a strange and mysterious story with a vampire like character
named Mrs. Drew. She is an old woman but her activities and the atmosphere surrounding
her add an element of mystery to the story.

This woman lives in a house overgrown with weeds. There is an aroma of freshly prepared
cookies that has an enchanting impact on the young boy Bubber. His heart starts thudding
with anticipation and he gradually feels gripped by the desire to eat the cookies.
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Gradually the story unfolds the way Bubber is exploited by the lady because of his weakness
for cookies. The story becomes horrible when the effect of the strange old lady's behaviour
starts taking a toll of the boy's health. One wonders how the very company of a vampire like
Mrs. Drew can destroy a young boy's health and his life. The lady's feeling rejuvenated in the
company of the young boy is also something surprising and unusual. All these elements make
this story strange, mysterious and different from stories about common place experiences of
life.

'The Cookie Lady' is a horror story with strong elements of mystery and suspense. There is
something strange and sinister about the old lady's house, her persona and her interaction
with the young boy. The reader feels an atmosphere of foreboding evil as the boy loses all his
vitality after his visits to Mrs Drew's house while she becomes younger. The climax where the
boy turns into a bundle of trash being blown around builds the horror.

5. Discuss the plot of the story.

Answer: The story' The Cookie Lady' follows a sequential plot structure. It begins with a youg
boy Bubber's visits to Mrs. Drew's house where he satisfies his hunger for delicious cookies.
The details about his visits and his eating cookies there, and reading to the lady in her living
room unfold other subtle aspects of the story.

The story follows a linear plot sequence. The exposition introduces us to the boy Bubber who
is drawn to the dilapidated house of Mrs Drew because of her irresistible cookies. The
conflict arises from his repeated visits to her house where she craftily begins to drain out his
youth. The suspense builds up around the strange transformation Mrs Drew undergoes and
the abrupt ending where Bubber loses his human form comes as a horrifying twist. There are
no subplots and the story focuses only on the bizarre relationship between the boy and the
cookie lady.

There are details about two visits of the young boy to the woman's house. During these visits,
his craving for cookies and the old lady Mrs. Drew's seeking youthful joy in the boy's
company come to the force. These two visits function as the exposition of the story. The ill-
effect of Mrs. Drew's company on Bubber and the presence of this boy making the lady
pulsate with youthful feelings from the driving elements of the plot. And the story ends with
Bubber's father asking him to stop visiting the lady and ultimately finding the boy completely
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shattered. The final fate of the boy is suggested through ambiguous images. The plot of the
story suits its design and purpose as a fantasy.

6. Comment on the ending of the story. Could there be another ending?

Answer: The ending of the story is suggestive and ambiguous. The story ends with the
comments of Bubber's father when he says, 'Just the wind.' It indicates that the old lady who
used to serve Bubber with cookies had left nothing youthful in him. He had lost all strength
and loveliness. Instead of saying these things clearly, it is just hinted at. It makes the story
acquire an element of mystery, surprise and wonder. Immediately before the last comment,
there is mention of weeds and rags blown by the wind. These things too point out something
sinister and evil.

The ending is quite abrupt and horrifying as Bubber loses his human form and existence and
turns into a bundle of trash being blown around by the wind. This ending shows the extent of
Mrs Drew's vicious and exploitative nature. An alternative ending could have shown Bubber
realising her evil motives and stopping his visits to her house on his parents' advice. But that
would have made it less horrifying. The present ending jolts the reader by its sheer
unexpectedness.

There could be yet another ending to this story to make the things more candid and
understandable. The young boy could be presented sitting with his parents, gaining in health
and looking cheerful. Such an ending would make the things socially relevant. But it would
have harmed the artistic success of the story.

7. Does the story 'The Cookie Lady' carry any meaning underneath? What is it?

Answer: The story 'The Cookie Lady' is about a young boy's craving for cookies and an old
woman's passionate desire to feel youthful, energetic and lovely in the company of this young
boy. The boy's greed for cookies and the old lady exploiting his weakness for cookies form
the main focus of the story. But the story carries a deeper meaning also.

The story concentrates on the drawbacks that take human beings into the darkness of selfish
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physical hungers and their satisfaction. It results in a strange and unacceptable behaviour
and receives condemnation from all. At the deeper level, it carries a warning for all of us. It
wants us to understand and follow accepted standards of social life and behaviour. The old
lady feeling vigorous and zestful in the company of the young boy is something strange and
unusual. However, it hints at the vampish traits of her character. Her pulsations, warm
feelings and the waves of passion running in her being by the touch of the young boy sitting
near her, all show this aspect of her character. So, the story carries a hidden meaning that
youngmen like Bubber must control and check their weaknesses so that they are not taken in
by the apparent generosity of vampish people like Mrs. Drew.

Beneath its horrifying plot, the story carries the message that innocent people like Bubber
are often exploited by selfish and unscrupulous elements in society. The old lady represents
the greed and exploitation facing innocence and gullibility in the modern world. Parents and
guardians have a duty to guide and protect children from falling into such traps. The story is
thus a critique of selfishness and suggests remaining vigilant in an increasingly materialistic
world.