# Martha — Short Fiction character guide

> Martha in Short Fiction by Walter M. Miller Jr..

**Role:** supporting

**First appearance:** 0000-conditionally-human

## Snapshot

Pinch-faced and weary, she keeps vigil at Old Donegal's deathbed, squeezing his ruined hand and begging him to let her call the priest before it's too late.

## Who they are

Martha is the woman who tends Donny through his final illness, her brittle smiles and swallowed grief the counterweight to his dry, deflecting humor. She cannot bear the thought that he might accept death gracefully, since that would feel like being deliberately abandoned, so he performs complaint and false hope to comfort her. Her stubborn insistence on the priest, and his stubborn refusal, becomes the quiet battleground of the story's central tenderness.

## Relationships

### [Spaceman Old Donegal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/spaceman_old_donegal)

_friendship_

Martha and Spaceman Old Donegal share a warm, platonic bond built on mutual respect and shared memories of the stars.

### [the man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/the_man)

_social_

Martha and the man are neighbors who exchange pleasantries but keep a polite distance due to his secretive nature.

### [Donny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/donny)

_family_

Donny is Martha's adult son, and their relationship is marked by his financial dependence on her and her quiet resentment.

### [Donny](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/donny)

_family_

Donny is Martha's adult son, and their relationship is marked by his financial dependence on her and her quiet resentment.

### [Spaceman Old Donegal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/spaceman_old_donegal)

_friendship_

Martha and Spaceman Old Donegal share a warm, platonic bond built on mutual respect and shared memories of the stars.

### [Spaceman Old Donegal](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/spaceman_old_donegal)

_friendship_

Martha and Spaceman Old Donegal share a warm, platonic bond built on mutual respect and shared memories of the stars.

### [the man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/the_man)

_social_

Martha and the man are neighbors who exchange pleasantries but keep a polite distance due to his secretive nature.

### [the man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/the_man)

_social_

Martha and the man are neighbors who exchange pleasantries but keep a polite distance due to his secretive nature.

## In the story

### [Death of a Spaceman](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/chapters/death-of-a-spaceman)

Old Donegal's wife, caring for him in his final days.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters/martha
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_57_se/characters