Transients In Arcadia

In the short story “Transients in Arcadia” by O. Henry we are told a tale of two working class individuals meeting each other during their stay at a luxurious hotel and falling in love despite of the deception that the relationship started on . Throughout the story the author uses many techniques to foreshadow the result of the encounter between Madame Beaumont and Harold Farrington as well as outline the main theme of the story which is that appearances can be deceiving. The first instance where the main theme can be found is the hotel itself. Hotel Lotus is the main setting of the story, and also presents the theme to the reader through its design as well as the description provided to the reader from the narrator. The author describes hotel …show more content…
You will have better meat than a hunter brings home from the forest” The hotel reinforces the theme by appearing to be a natural oasis that provides refuge for their guests trying to escape the busy hot summers of city life in New York with all the benefits of mountain and seashore living without any of the negatives of said environments however, in actuality the experience of the hotel is purely artificial and simply mimics a natural oasis. The second instance can be found in the main protagonist Madame Beaumont. O. Henry uses characterization to further reinforce his theme when introducing the reader to Madame Beaumont. The author describes Madame Beaumont as a beautiful and mannerly woman with a name that could have been in a romance story who is alone during her stay due to her high position similar to that of a queen and that during dinner she wore an elegant certain which would remind all of the guests of Paris. The author continues to add mystery to Madame Beaumont’s character by stating that “ It was said that she was a woman who had traveled all over the world. It was said that she knew the most important people everywhere. It was said that in her white hands she held the future of certain