Văn học anh mỹ ( American English Literature )

COMPARE 2 IRONIES


MAGI
THE COP

INTRO
O Henry : 300 short stories , 10 years , signature : plot twist .
Two stories : 1905 , 1904 => surprised ending with ironies => what is sit. Ir ? Contrast btw what is expected and what actually happens => show his empahy toward Soapy because he was in prison , and best Christmas story


1.Describe the irony: Non achievement -achievement
Give up <=> a family heirloom watch for “pure tortoise shell”comb with “jewelled rims”
<=> “rippling and shining like a cascade of brown waters” for “a platinum fob chain simple cand chaste in design” that “as soon as she saw it she knew that it must be Jim’s”
=> inspire the envy of Queen of Sheba and King Solomon






=> GIFTS ARE USELESS

=> achieve the initial goal they aimed AT the beginning
=> Thanks to IRONY => highlight achievement from nonachievement =>create them considerable and worthless , and the very O Henry style.
6 plans to enter limbo :
-eat in expensive restaurant
-”took a cobblestone and dashed it through the glass”
-”consumed beefsteak” at restaurant => “No cop for youse”
-be “masher” , disturb a woman
-”danced ” and “disturbed the welkin”
-stole “silk umbrella” => “The ex umbrella man retreated” and”The police hurried to assist a tall blonde”
=> hear anthem and change his mind => “3 months on the Island”

=> PLANS AND DESIRES ARE USELESS
=> achieve the initial goal they aimed AT the beginning

2. Situational irony brings about lessons for the characters in different situation
Two of them are “foolish children”
“O all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest .Everywhere they are wisest . They are magi”












=> lesson about love
1 give and take
2 love u and know u love me

EXPENSIVE EXPERIENCE FOR THEM
He relishes the freedom in soul and discover another way to obtain it. “The moon was above lustrous and serene ; vehicles and pedestrians were few; sparrows twittered sleepily in the eaves” => perfect silence
He thinks about the past
“mothers and roses and ambitions and friends and immaculate thoughts and collars” and the future “he would resurect his old eager ambitions and pursue them without faltering” .
He realized something he had neglected for ages and wished to transform himself
=> he learned lesson of the value of freedom.

3.Ironies expressed the conflicts
NYC : huge , sophisticated , overwhelming (but in 1904 ,1905 : immigrants, sickness and pervasive crime in which cann’t be solved by policing)
Soapy vs the cop , the couple vs luxurious people
=>Human vs society

In stories , couple lives in a drab house in which there is a malfunctioning mailbox, dead door bell and cheap mirror. =>POOR try to spend to buy
“On his bench in Madison Square Soapy moved uneasily” =>POOR high hope for a free shelter and food without “compensation of a private and personal inquisition”
=> Internal conflict

Time : winter “the next day would be Christmas” ,” winter is near at hand” => conflict btw human and nature . Human : cozy family and an ambitous man

=> Element : time , place => make success

CONCLUSION
3 person limitted omniscient



O Henry , one of American authors , with his literature treasure of 300 short stories written in 10 years is famous for his special signature “plot twist”. Two of masterpieces of them are “the Cop and the Anthem” published in 1904 and “The Gift of Magi” in 1905. Both of them are set in 1990s in NYC and ends by the situational irony which cause the surprised endings. Those ironies illustrate the different lessons of life of the lower class through the look of author.

Firstly , nonachievement is almost achievement. In the Gift of the Magi , Della had her hair cut in order to buy Jim a watch chain,and Jim sold his a family heirloom watch to buy her a comb. These possessions are precious to them that inspire the envy of “the Queen of Sheba” and “King Solomon”.Their gift are finally useless. In the Cop and the Anthem,degraded Soapy made six plans so as to be in prison for free shelter and food in “Blackswell Island”, but the policeman doesn’t catch him. Until he heard the anthem and changed his mind, “Three months in the island ” for no reason was the ending. Both his plans and his desire for freedom are useless. However, they achieve the initial goal they aimed in the beginning of them which are love and freedom from the nonachievement
the loss . Jim and Della bring the happiness of the beloved ,which is the goal of presenting, and Soapy came to his “rosy dream” as what he wished .

Secondly , characters learn from