O. Henry's Literary Analysis Of 'Hearts And Hands'

Hearts and Hands by O. Henry Literary Analysis
BOOM. Then it all clicked together, who the reader thought was the criminal was actually the cop. The ending gets them so awestruck that he or she is a bit confused, but once they go back and read the details, they realize all the tricks the author used to confuse them were not as hidden as it had seemed. The number of characters are so minimal and the story so short that it does not occur that one can be deceived by such writing. This is because O. Henry uses irony, description of characters and theme as details that all interconnect to find the twist of the story.
Irony is a prominent detail entailed in this short story for the reader to recognize the twist. Miss Fairchild recognizes Mr. Easton right away, but Mr. Easton was described as slightly embarrassed to see her. He is handcuffed to his right hand, so he cannot shake her hand. And when asked to where he is headed the man answers for Easton saying that Easton is the marshal taking him to the Leavenworth prison for counterfeiting. Easton replies “Yes, I must go on to Leavenworth.” He meant he must go to the Leavenworth Prison and stay there whereas Miss Fairchild thought that he was just taking the gruff man to Leavenworth. When Easton is asked if he will be in …show more content…
The answer connects the theme and the title of the story. The title of this story is called Hearts and Hands, but there was nothing mentioned of hearts in the story at all. Even though the marshal looked gruff he had a big heart and he felt for the prisoner so he lied for him. He also wanted to avoid the awkwardness with the lady so he interjected for him. Even though it is not clearly stated the reader must connect the two. The theme also shows that one’s looks cannot describe who they really are. Mr. Easton was handsome and young, but in actuality he was the prisoner. Whereas the gruff looking man was the marshal with the big