Lyudmila Gudz
South West university
‘Neofit Rilski’, Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria
WEAVING
WONDERS INTO REALITY BY THE POWER OF GOOD: O.HENRÓ’S
DELINIATION
The object of
this investigation is analyses short stories about human relation which are
illuminated with a spark of true humanity. There are cases when rich people
become beggars in a moment and heroes become people despised by rulers. And
then their fates depend on the fact in which place eternal values (love, friendship,
sacrificing oneself) were.
The overwhelming
majority of O. Henry's short stories are really dedicated to the most
usual life phenomena of so – called "small Americans". His characters
are moved by the feeling of love, friendship, by the desire for doing good,
they are capable of self-sacrifice, while negative characters act under the
influence of hatred, malice, money-grubbing or careerism. In O. Henry's
stories something usual, wordly, humane is concealed behind something unusual
after all [1].
Deep faith in man, love
for him, hatred for everything that spoils life and people form the basis of
the writer's humour. O. Henry wrote the short story "Makes the whole
world kin". The story starts with a young thief walking through a
neighbourhood, scouting for his next house. The thief is described as an
ordinary man, with no extreme tendencies.The burglar wore a blue sweater. The
police would have been baffled had they attempted to classify him. They have
not yet heard of the respectable, unassuming burglar who is neither above nor
below his station. He wore no masks, dark lanterns, or gum shoes. This burglar
of the third class began to prowl. He carried a 88–calibre revolver in his
pocket, and he chewed peppermint gum thoughtfully.
Once he finds a respectable house, the thief climbs inside through an open
window. Once inside, he scouts for valuable items. He discovers, to his
amazement, that a light had been left on inside one of the bedrooms .As he
walks inside, he finds an old man lying in bed, asleep. The thief wakes the man
and instructs him to raise his hands. The old man can only lift one arm and
proceeds to inform the thief that he suffers from rheumatism. The thief,
shocked at what he hears, lowers the gun and tells his victim that he as well,
suffers from the disease. They proceed to exchange words of comfort about the
haunting pain, and the young thief asks for tips to dull the swellings. Though
both are filled with hope, the old man warns the thief that the pain only gets
worse and he must find a way to cope with it, in his later years. The old man,
suggests that he have a drink [2]. The young thief invites the old man for a
drink at the local pub. He helps the old man get dressed and the two make their
way for the bar. Outside the house, the old man realises that he has no money
with him – the thief, kindly, offers to pay for the drinks.
The comic idyll,
depicting the thief and his possible victim going arm in arm to the pub, cannot
help provoking a smile. Of course, it is not ridiculous that suddenly something
humane are revealed in O. Henry's characters. It is ridiculous that
something humane are discovered in such an unexpected, abnormal form. In
O. Henry's humour there is consequently a considerable part of irony
regarding that system of life which causes similar discrepancies. The grief, so
usual for the humour of humourist writers, portraying grimaces of life, is
concealed behind this irony [3].
In O. Henry's short
story "A retrieved reformation" the awakening of humanity and
goodness can be traced. Safecracker
Jimmy Valentine is released from prison after 10 months; he was originally
sentenced to four years, but men with as many friends as Jimmy Valentine
usually didn't stay locked up for long. He goes to his old apartment, packs up
his tools, and leaves. In the following weeks, a few cash robberies are
committed, and the detective who landed Valentine in jail in the first place,
Ben Price, is called to work on the new case. He realizes that the robberies
are committed in Jimmy's style. Valentine shows up sometime later in Elmore,
Arkansas. He goes to the town bank with the intention of checking it over
before robbing it. However, as he walks to the hotel, he catches the eye of the
banker's beautiful daughter, Annabel Adams. He falls in love with her
immediately, and Valentine decides to give up his criminal career [2]. He moves
into the town, taking up the identity of Ralph D. Spencer, a shoemaker. At the
end of the year, Jimmy has risen socially and business–wise and has become
engaged to Annabel.
Two weeks before the
wedding, he writes a letter to a friend, telling the friend to pick up the
safe–cracker's tools that Valentine won't need anymore. By this time, however,
Price has tracked him down and shows up at the bank while Jimmy and Annabel's
family are inside. Carrying the tool case, Jimmy watches as Annabel's father
shows them the bank's new safe. Annabel's nieces are fascinated by it, and as
they are playing, one accidentally shuts the other inside and locks the door,
without the time lock's clock having been wound nor any combination set.
Everyone panics, and Annabel begs Jimmy to do something. Jimmy, knowing that it
will reveal his true identity, uses his case of tools to open the door and save
the child. Unbeknownst to Valentine at that time, Price has witnessed the whole
incident. Valentine starts to leave the bank afterwards, and he sees Price
standing by the door and realizes he had witnessed the whole incident.
Sheepishly, he gives himself up, but much to his surprise, Price pretends not
to recognize him and walks away.
The character of
the story met a girl; looking into her eyes, he forgot what he was and became a
different man. So, a new aim appeared in Jimmy's life – to win Annabel's heart.
He had to decide whether it is admissible for him to achieve this aim in this
way: to find happiness with the girl, to hide his past life, to avoid
confinement at the cost of the little girl's death. Jimmy changed the aim of
his life, he changed spiritually. Humanity awake in him. He realizes that as a
result of his choice, he loses for certain everything which was dear for him,
he spent the last year of his life for
achieving it. After all, he could have lost everything: Annabel's love, the
people's respect and freedom. And to achieve his purpose, Jimmy had just to
give no answer, not to open his tool case, not to discover his past.
Nevertheless, this method of achieving the aim turned out to be unacceptable
for him, since it would inevitably have led to a child's death [4].
The short story
"The last leaf" is also characterized by a great attention to a small
human being. O. Henry introduces us at once to three imperceptible people:
two beginner artists, Johnsy and Sue, and Berhman, an old unsuccessful artist.
In November, Johnsy, one of them, fell seriously ill with pneumonia. She looked
for hours out of the window at the ivy, growing on the wall of the building in
the yard, and counted the leaves falling from the ivy: it seemed to Johnsy that
when the last leaf fell, she would die. All Sue's efforts to prevent Johnsy
from thinking in this dangerous way suffered defeat. And there the last leaf
was left on the ivy. Sue, her friend, told Berhman everything, and the latter,
who had been dreaming to paint a masterpiece all his life, realized his
testamentary dream: he drew an ivy leaf and hung it on the branch. He did it in
the bad weather, caught a cold and died. And Johnsy, who thought that the last
leaf fell, having brought death nearer to her, suddenly saw that is was still
holding on. The sight of the leaf, that did not surrender to cold winds and
remained on the ivy, stimulated Johnsy's will to life, and she recovered. And
she got better due to old Berhman's masterpiece.
Thus, this small
leaf is a true masterpiece. Not from the artistic point of view, no. Love for
man, belief in his power and longing for kindness were put into it. And
humanity won. It is a moved story of unselfish friendship and self-sacrifice
[5, p.20].
It is a sad and
almost tragic story, full of a deep feeling for the characters' fate. They live
in the area of "The eighteenth – century gables and Dutch attics and low
rents". They have only "some pewter mugs and a chafing dish or
two". Old Berhman lives roughly on the same level. Yet, miserable life conditions
of the characters are only a background on which the beauty of their souls
completely flourishes. Johnsy the main
character seems to be a very pessimistic person. She has lost the entire
positive attitude in life due to her disease and she is waiting for her death.
“Your little lady has made up her mind that she’s not going to get well. Has
she anything on her mind” [8]. That is the first step of Jhonsy that she has
made up her mind that she will die when the last leaf fall. That signifies the
mental and psychological conditionn of her . “She was looking out of window and counting –counting backwards” It is the last one, said Johnsy “I thought it would
surely fall during the night. I heard the wind. It will fall today, and I shall
die at the same time.” These words literated by Johnsy again show her desperate
and chaotic state of mind. She has supposed the things which have no logic and
waiting for her death, or waiting for the last leaf to fall. Johnsy the main
character seems to be a very pessimistic person. She has lost the entire
positive attitude in life due to her disease and she is waiting for her death.
“Your little lady has made up her mind that she’s not going to get well. Has
she anything on her mind” [6].
The most
complicated character in the short story is old Berhman. The author speaks
ironically about his funny appearance "He was past sixty and had a Michael
Angelo's Moses beard curling down from the head of a satyr along the body of an
imp" , about his constant talks of a masterpiece he would ever leave to the
world.
Moreover, Berhman
drinks hard, he has a quarrelsome old man's disposition, who jeers at
"softness in any one". But it is he who happened to be able to do a
great act of self-sacrifice: at the cost of his own life he supports Johnsy's
spirit and saves her from death. This old failure and drunkard exemplifies the
active love that without a word comes to the assistance of others. Berhman's
artistic image acquires a real mental grandeur and his death causes the
same pain as if our own people died. In
a moment old Berhman morally grows before our eyes and changes into a symbol of
sacrifice [7]. "The last leaf" is one of the best short stories in
all world literature; it reveals the theme of faithful love of man for man.
The short story
"Sisters of the golden circle" is another example of humanity and
man's kindness. The "sisters" of the title are unrelated, but united
by the common bond of being newlyweds [8]. The Williams newly married couple
was riding in an excursion bus. A fellow and a lass were sitting behind them.
An excited conversation started between the bride and the girl. A bride knows a
bride at a glance.
In the course of
their journey, it is discovered that Mrs. McGuire's husband is a crook, and that Mrs. Williams'
husband is a detective who has been
assigned to bring Mr. McGuire in. Suddenly a man appeared in the middle of the
street. Another man hurried to him from the sidewalk. The man, standing in the
middle of the street, proved to be a policeman. He was looking for a criminal
being nicknamed Pink. Williams was arrested and taken out of the bus. Mrs
Williams also insisted on arresting. In spite of the fact that Williams tried
to prove that he was the wrong man, he was not heard. In the police department
Williams's innocence was established, and they let him go home with respect. At
home his wife explained that the couple, sitting in front, was also a newly
married couple, and she could not deny
somebody's happiness like hers. «I was so happy, Jim––so
happy with you that I didn't dare to refuse that happiness to another. Jim,
they were married only this morning ––those two; and I wanted him to get away» [2]. She wanted Pink to hide, while Williams was arrested. One bride
saves another's husband from arrest by temporarily sacrificing her own.
This story is
about feminine solidarity that can be compared with sister love. After all,
Mrs. Williams treated Mrs. McGuire exceedingly compassionately and displayed
all the power of woman kindness and understanding. The girl asked for help, and
the woman both understood the difficult state of another person and assisted
the nice development of events for the newly married couple. Although she run
the risk of putting her husband, the detective, in an awkward position, and,
perhaps, causing a real storm of anger on his side. Using Mrs. Williams's
example, O. Henry showed a kind soul person, compelling us to look closely
at every human being, to learn to be benevolent to everything, surrounding us.
That O. Henry was
acquainted with Darwinian sociological theories is an incontestable fact. Yet
his attitude is one which shows that evolution is running counter to scientific
evidence: racially inferior and physically degraded citizens are on the verge
of becoming superior in number and force to those endowed with better
qualities. In "The Foreign Policy of Company 99" (1904), O. Henry's
use of the protozoa metaphor to refer to the newly arrived Russian immigrant,
Demetre Svangvsk, is reminiscent of Herbert Spenser's thesis that modern
societies must parallel the geological evolution from protoplasmic life into
highly distinct creatures. In accepting immigrants as the new sap of American
society, the country is cancelling the biological tendency to support superior
individuals by allowing the entrance and multiplication of the inferior. Thus,
the nation is favoring a regressive measure detrimental to the rights of the
"good" citizens. Immigrants can only bring squalid poverty and
profligacy, a contagious social disease which may spread "from room to
room in a tenement and from house to house in a street" [1].
Svangvsk is one
who, like many others at this time of mass immigration, has been "dumped
out" at Ellis Island in the name of Liberty, "a lump of
protozoa", "expected to evolve into an American citizen". Unable
to speak the language, with a stupid grin on his mouth and easily distracted by
the hustle and bustle of the big city, he provokes an accident by stepping in
front of the firemen's hose-cart driven by John Byrnes. In order to avoid
running over the scatterbrain, Byrnes collides with a pillar of the elevated
railroad and is sent to hospital. Demetre, the doctors' chalk mark on his coat
still visible, proves unscathed, though. The narrator shows the shortcomings of
the American Constitution which declares identical rights for every man in
stark contrast to the firemen's code that dictates that some men are
unfailingly better than others. However, the prejudiced opinion Byrne has of
Russians (one which re-inscribes Lothrup Stoddard's principle that some men are
naturally inferior) is, if not substantially modified, at least alleviated in
the second part of the story, when he avoids an accident by jumping on the
unbridled horse and thereby saving the life of his own child. We then discover
that Demetre is a Cossack, and this realization makes Byrnes, a passionate
defender of the Japanese in their war against the Russians, change his point of
view to the extent that he ends up defending the superiority of the latter.
Though
O. Henry constantly laughs in his short stories, but there are cases when
he laughs while his soul is drowned in tears. The writer believed in life, in
people, and his short stories are illuminated with a spark of true humanity.
Sorrow for people, who do not live properly; melancholy for another, better,
life; pity for wasted strength energy form an inner, deeply humane, essence of
the writer's creative activity [9, c.7].
Thus,
O. Henry's literary activity is a powerful source of good and humanity.
His short stories fascinate, enrapture, gladden, amuse and enthrall a reader,
arouse in his soul the whole world of good feelings, instill optimism and hope.
Social and civic themes in the language of O. Henry's works are stipulated
by a world outlook approach to the estimation and description of reality which
was forming in the course of the development of the USA at the end of the 19th
and at the beginning of the 20th centuries. Moral and artistic essence of
O. Henry's works finds a particular significance; it is of vast
educational importance: a human being must be a human being in any conditions.
O. Henry's difficult but deserving life gave him moral right to
romanticize such a life in his immortal works.
The literature:
1. Êîçëîâ
À. Â. Ïèòàííÿ ìåíòàë³òåòó â ë³òåðàòóð³ / À. Â. Êîçëîâ // ˳òåðàòóðà. Ôîëüêëîð. Ïðîáëåìè ïîåòèêè: 36. íàóê, ïðàöü. – ¹ 24. – Ê.: Àêöåíò, 2005. – Ñ. 211-226.
2. Full text of "Selected stories from O. Henry" –
Internet Archive //http://archive.org/stream/
selectedstoriesf00henr/ selectedstoriesf00henr_djvu.txt]
3. Full text of "Selected stories from O. Henry" – Internet
Archive //http://archive.org/stream/ selected stories f0 0henr/
selected stories f00henr_djvu.txt]
4. Voss, Arthur. The American Short Story: A
Critical Survey. – Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 1973.
5. Ìàñëþê
Î. Ñêàðáè ó íàøèõ äóøàõ: îïîâ³äàííÿ Î. Ãåíð³ “Îñòàíí³é ëèñòîê” / Î. Ìàñëþê //
²íîçåìí³ ìîâè. – 2001. – ¹ 3. – Ñ. 5-8.
6. Full text of “The Complete
Works Of O Henry" American Libraries | Canadian
Libraries | Universal Library | Community Texts | Project Gutenberg http://archive.org/stream/ completeworksofo002824mbp/
completeworksofo 002824mbp_djvu.txt
7. Î.Henry. Stories // Modem library // http
://www.readbookonline.net.
8.
Ñàâåëüºâà Â.Â., Øàìà
Î.². Á³îãðàô³÷í³ çàì³òêè
// Ìàéñòåð
íîâåë
Î. Ãåíð³: â³ðòóàëüíà
âèñòàâêà
ÍÁ
ÑÍÓ
³ì. Â.Äàëÿ
// http://www.library.snu.edu.ua/image/exp_12/G2012.pdf
9. Î.
Ãåíðè. Èçáðàííûå ïðîèçâåäåíèÿ [ïåð. ñ àíãë.] / Î. Ãåíðè; [Âñòóï, ñòàòüÿ Ô.Çîëîòàðåâñêîé].
– Ì.: Ïðàâäà, 1998. – 448 ñ.
10.
Mauricio D. Aguilera Linde.
"Truth is held in disrepute": O. Henry and the dismantling of
paradigms miscelánea: //a journal of english and american studies 38
(2008): pp. 11-27 // http://www.miscelaneajournal.net/ archive/images/
stories/articulos/vol38/11.pdf