|
heart. Finally, the good overcomes the evil and he turns a new leaf to begin his life. That is just the great reward on him. And the unexpected endings also surprise all of the readers and find a gleam of warmth. After all, in the world of O. Henry, American society still has flicker of hope and kindness in their nature.
There is no exactly distinction between the kind and the evil in O. Henry’s stories. Most of the time, characters in O. Henry’s stories are always endowed with both good and ill will, the characters change according to the conditions. In the end of “The Cop and the Anthem”, Soapy, who prepares for the coming winter----trying his best to be arrested into the prison, is finally moved by the anthem of the church. And he decides to make a man of him again and to conquer the evil that has taken possession of him. Humanity is complex thing that combines no absolute right or wrong, no absolute good or bad. But those human virtues displayed in O. Henry’s works show the fine side of the world, which encourage people and make them cherish life and hope. After all, in the world of O. Henry, American society still has charm, and has not yet become totally vicious. And the deep root of humanity is always adorable and kind, which may inspire instantly the wicked person wherever he is.
O. Henry’s twist ending not only lies in the ending, but in every scene of the story. In “The Cop and The Anthem”, the “modest and pleasing, refined and elegant” lady finally turned out to be streetwalker. [13](P17) The well-dressed man finally turns out to be a thief. The so-called well-dressed “gentleman” exists everywhere in the world, but most of their dirty behaviors are disguised just under the noble veil. We see from here that a person always doing thing to cover his or her attainment. As commentary on the follies, frailties, ambitious, and attainments of human nature, they can hardly be called trenchant, but their exposure in such a variety of forms is another testament of O. Henry’s artistry.
In a word, under the turbulent circumstance of America at that time, all kinds of human being are pictured vividly and profoundly in accordance with human nature.
Ⅲ. Twist Ending Writing Devices on the Humanity of Characters
⒈ Social Background.
Most of O. Henry’s stories are set in contemporary present, the early years of the 20th century. At that period of time in America, the bourgeoisie was getting the upper hand and the capitalist economy was booming to its top. Many aspects like working industry and agriculture industry, technology development, prosperity of metropolitan, scale of transportation, bank capital all took the leading position in the world. Bourgeoisie bribed the government and corrupted the functioned department in government. The gap between the rich and the poor was deeper. The number of lower class poor people rocketed .The whole society were undergoing a profound change. The development of consumption culture and subsequent problems of morality consisted of many contradictions in people’s social behaviors. Such characters as Sacrifice, Diligence, Model are stressed in the end of 19th century, while Personalities like Purchase, Vanity, Personal Success were stressed in the beginning of 20th century. [14](P62) Many of O. Henry stories take place in New York, the capital where the contradiction sharply exists. O. Henry has an obvious affection for the city. His stories deal for the most part with ordinary people: clerks, policemen, and waitresses. He opens "The Four Million” by observing "Some one invented the assertion that there were only 'Four Hundred' people in New York City who were really worth noticing. But a wiser man has arisen—the census taker—and his larger estimate of human interest has been preferred in marking out the field of these little stories of the 'Four Million'.” [15](P25) The characters of the story are mainly the lower class who struggle to make a living in sadness, impoverished, crucial and unjust society. Whether good or bad, provide for its people, some people corrupted, some still stood at the very first place, keeping pure hearted and self-sacrificed. Different changes found expression in different character behaviors.
In “The Gift of Magi”, we readers are not only touched by the supreme of valuable love, but at the same time we get clues of how the consumption culture exert its impact on people’s attitude toward the change of the society in that period. Concepts of social status are hidden behind the behaviors of consumption, thus creating a utopia that “everyone is equal before commodity”. It seems that people could reestablish his or her social statues through consuming behaviors. Gift, sending to close friends or relatives to strengthen the bonds of relationship at the first place, then becomes a commodity that goes far beyond its real significance. Both Jim and Della’s gifts are completely beyond their purchasing power. That would reflect peopl 上一页 [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] 下一页
|
|
