Literary Analysis of O’Henry

From O’Henry’s short about a safecracker to his short about two friends meeting up after 20 years, O’Henry has written some of the best short stories I have ever read.

O’Henry started writing short stories in 1896 right before he went to prison. In many of O’Henry’s shorts, he breaks the laws of grammar to sound like someone was reading it to us, he makes us feel sad and happy at the same time, and most of his stories are about people who have or are going to jail/prison. One of O’Henry’s many writing styles is making it sound like someone was reading the short to you. One way O’Henry shows this is in The gift of the Magi “One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all.”.

The way O’Henry does this is he breaks the laws of grammar by not putting verbs and things like that. O’Henry always manages to make his shorts to sound like someone is reading them to you. Another one of O’Henry’s writing styles is making us feel happy but yet sad at the same time. One way O’Henry shows this is in A Retrieved Reformation “”Guess you’re mistaken, Mr Spencer,” he said.”Don’t believe I recognize you.

Your buggy’s waiting for you, ain’t it?””. The way O’Henry did this was he made us sad because now everyone in Little Rock knows Mr.Spencers true nature, he also made us happy when Ben Price acted like he did not now Mr.Spencer. That is one of the many times O’Henry has made us sad and happy at the same time.

Many of O’Henry’s short stories have been about people with a criminal record that have served time or are about to serve time. Two those short stories that O’Henry made are A Retrieved Reformation “A guard came to the prison shoe-shop where Jimmy Valentine was assiduously stitching uppers,” and After Twenty Years, “”It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one,” said the tall man. “You’ve been under arrest for ten minutes, ‘Silky’ Bob,”.O’Henry does this because he was in prison for awhile and most of the stories he writes are about people he meat in prison. O’Henry writes about how they got into prison and their backstory. That is how O’Henry can write so many stories about people who went to prison and are going to prison.

O’Henry’s short stories always shrugged off diction always changed the mood in a instant, and always had similar themes. O’Henry shrugs off diction to make the readers feel special, O’Henry changes the mood quickly to make you feel two emotions at the same time, and all of O’Henry’s stories have similar themes because he was in jail/prison for awhile. If someone or something interests you follow it to your destiny.