O'Henry Essay

Renee has a movie scene in her head. It is a snippet from "The Truth about Cats and Dogs." The beautiful, blonde airhead of a model is telling her more plain Jane friend "He's in love with you." The scene is the blonde airhead expressing her desire to cede the man to her friend. Renee recognizes the psychic voice in this snippet as Mrs. O'Henry, wife of Henry O'Henry. There is a certain irony in this psychic moment. Mrs. O'Henry is actually far more plain Jane than Renee was at a similar age. In her youth, Renee had model-like good looks, as well as being a snob about dressing well. Time and living off grid to avoid the Psy Corps has taken their toll on her looks and sense of style, but she still looks good for a woman her age. Although…

Things Are Not Always As They Appear "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and "Hearts and Hands" by O'Henry share a similar theme of "things are not always what they appear." "The Necklace" uses a more negative tone while "Hearts and Hands" uses a more positive tone to show the theme. To begin, Maupassant, author of "The Necklace" introduces his theme by punishing the protagonist for her greed. Madame Loisel wants to appear wealthier than she is so, she unknowingly borrows a faux necklace, loses…

Jimmy has chose to become a changed man and this is one step in his path that he chose to take. 8. O'Henry conveys the identity through the interchange of names, by reffering to the main charcter, through seveal different names. The main charcter gets the title of Jimmy when he remains true to himself and is hard at work with his safe-cracking hobby. O'Henry has reffered to main charcter as Ralph several times as well, when O'henry does so, he is allowing the reader to realize that Ralph…

author wrote] “The kid was a freckled face boy of ten with freckles that stood out.” (O’Henry 63) This shows that the two criminals thought this was just a little kid with freckles but later on they will realize how much trouble this kid will cause. In one of the scenes of the movie Home Alone the two thieves said it’s just a little boy and he’s home alone (Home Alone). This shows how the criminals under estimated the boy, but when they attempted to rob the kid he put many obstacles in their…

what they possess already and want to enhance their worldly possessions (Jim’s gold watch and Della’s long hair). They both sell what they admire and possess in the world; the young wife has beautiful long hair and wants to buy her husband a chain for his shiny gold watch and Jim sell his gold watch for combs for Della’s hair. When Jim and Della confront each other with their gifts for each other ironically, the gifts that Jim and Della bought for each other are useless. Della was sure that…

I think having a false identity is not acceptable because you can hurt yourself and others in the process. Being able to have a different identity might make you turn away from who you really are. For example, some people might have disabilities and they are discouraged by it. This may cause them to try and fake their identity to make people think differently about them. “Online identity offers potential social benefits to those with physical or sensory disabilities, because others cannot see…

Usually in literature, an author uses an object that can be a symbol that conveys an important meaning. In “Lather or Nothing Else” and “The Gift of the Magi,” Tellez and O’Henry use symbols to express a deeper significance. Using the fob and combs that Della and Jim both give each other for Christmas, O’Henry demonstrates that love is truly what gift giving is about in “The Gift of the Magi.” The very sharp razor that the barber possesses in “Lather or Nothing Else” represents the choice the…

Christmas gifts ever. Even so, their gifts would be completely useless. According to Scientific American, "...romantic love must have common roots in our ancestry" (Hsu 49). Hsu wrote that stories that romance must be a part of our history. Furthermore, this is how the Dillinghams are so relatable. They only cared about each other, not their gifts. "The Gift of the Magi" by O'Henry, uncovers that the only gift that we all need in life, is each other. The best quality of humanity that…

When having a job, it comes with a great amount of responsibility. Also, it comes with a lot of problems but, yet there is always a plus in having a job. Between “The Job” by Edgar Guest and “One Dollar’s Worth” by O’Henry, they both include a bump in the road when working on the clock. Looking at two different jobs that are completely different, they can still have their similarities and differences. Having a job can become hectic sometimes, especially dealing with other people, not liking the…

have to fight him off with a big stick that his mother gave him, and told him that she would not allow him to come home until he brings back food, which makes him need to defeat the children, but he could also not do it. In conclusion, the author creates suspense in the story by using conflict. Not only do authors use conflict to create suspense, they also use irony. O'Henry uses both situational and dramatic irony in the passage,The Cop and the Anthem, to create suspense. To show this,…