O Henry was born in a doctor's family in Green Sboro, North Carolina, USA. His life is full of legends. He worked as a pharmacy apprentice, cowherd, accountant, journalist, bank clerk, and also ran a humorous weekly called Rolling Stone. In new york, he wrote a novel for the magazine once a week, which won the general attention and love of readers. O Henry is good at describing people's life stories in American society, and he knows them like the back of his hand. Therefore, his articles like to use simple and humorous language to describe the stories in the world, and use tortuous endings to arouse readers' thinking about human nature in society, thus forming the famous "O Henry Ending", which suddenly reverses the protagonist's fate and has unexpected results, but it is reasonable and in line with the reality of life. Formed a unique artistic charm. His works are known as "Encyclopedia of American Life". His representative works include the collection of novels, The Heart of the West, Four Million, The Road to Destiny and so on. Among them, The Service of Love, The Police and the Chant, A Furnished Room, The Gift of Maggie and The Last Leaf are all his classic short stories, which have won him world fame. By the time he died in 19 10, O 'Henry had written more than 300 short stories energetically.
In the history of American literature, O Henry belongs to the ranks of realistic writers from the Civil War to the First World War. He is good at capturing the ridiculous dramatic scenes in life, dramatically designing plots, paving the way, sketching contradictions, adding vividness to his works by means of metaphor, exaggeration, contrast, personification, irony, homophonic, pun association and extension, and sketching the mental outlook of the characters with humorous strokes. And often at the end of the story, the psychological status of the characters suddenly changes unexpectedly, or the fate of the protagonist suddenly reverses, and an unexpected and reasonable ending suddenly appears, which makes readers feel suddenly enlightened, unexpected and reasonable, and can not help but marvel at it, making the story full of drama. O Henry condensed the whole essence of the novel at the end. Let readers unconsciously enter the maze carefully set by the author in the seemingly plain and humorous description. Until the end, it was like a flash of lightning, illuminating everything hidden before, as if playing hide-and-seek with readers, or playing tricks to give readers the last surprise. As a short story writer with a unique artistic style, he is humorous and even cynical. Tell a fascinating story with a grand finale, aiming to expose the irrationality of the real world of the disparity between the rich and the poor and show the miserable life of the little people. He said that he was one of the "four million ordinary citizens" in new york, not one of the "four hundred rich people". Every novel of O Henry comes from the real life of Americans, describing the desolate world and the warmth and coldness of human feelings. And the center of the story conflict seems to be poverty and wealth, which are two social factors. This is because O'Henry lived in the "gilded age" after the American Civil War, money worship prevailed, and the materials of human tragicomedy caused by * * * and infidelity abound.
In the hymn with hymns, the author tells the story of Soapy, a tramp: in a cold winter, Soapy, who was hungry and cold, also considered the problem of seclusion in winter, but he had no hope. He has no plans to cruise in the Mediterranean or travel to the warm south. What is his inner wish? The author said in a humorous and sad tone that this is "Bubulac Ville Island". It turned out that Soapy was going to live in a prison for homeless people for three months, and regarded the prison as his winter residence. According to past experience, he can eat and drink here for three months and get rid of harassment. There really is nothing better than this. Soapy tried many ways to put him in prison for the winter. He deliberately went to the restaurant to eat without paying, and it was a disaster. He took other people's umbrellas and even molested women, but they were all spared. At the end of the novel, the author arranged an extremely unexpected plot. Soapy was wandering in the church when he suddenly heard a hymn coming from the church. The hymn induced him to feel sacred and decided to turn over a new leaf. Just as he was trying to make a living by his own labor, when everyone thought that Soapy would spend his life safely, he caught him. He was charged with "criminals obstructing public order". This is a typical "O 'Henry ending". Just like a person who saw the dawn fell into darkness again, it made the reader's heart twitch, which was endless and thought-provoking. However, O Henry used this method well, which profoundly reflected the reality that good and evil were indistinguishable in society. This work always points the criticism at capitalist society, especially the convincing ending.
The artistic effect of "O'Henry Ending" may not only appear at the end of the novel, but also in the plot of the article. For example, there are two plots in the hymn: once, Soapy tried to enter the prison by "flirting" with a woman, but this seemingly "elegant and dignified" woman molested Soapy in turn. On another occasion, Soapy took away a well-dressed woman. However, this umbrella was originally "ill-gotten wealth". Simple and charming women and well-dressed customers all give people a sense of dignity, but they become prostitutes and thieves. I believe readers will find this story incomprehensible when they read it, but when they think about it carefully, such "hypocrites" abound in the real society. The so-called aristocratic members of the upper class are well dressed, elegant and noble? But in fact, they just hide their despicable behavior under the veil of beauty. It is because of their dirty hearts that they need more superficial decoration. Therefore, duplicity is also understandable. The "O'Henry-style ending" profoundly reveals the deteriorating world trend of capitalist society in a humorous way.
In The Last Ivy Leaf, the author tells the story of a poor painter recovering from pneumonia. She regarded the last outdoor rattan leaf as a symbol of death. This vine leaf has already withered, and the old painter Berman painted a jia ye on the courtyard wall at night, which is exactly the same as the real vine leaf. As a result, Berman fell ill and died because he was painting rattan leaves at night. However, the young poor painter was reborn under the comfort of rattan leaves. At the beginning of the novel, Berman, a frustrated old painter, was introduced in an obviously depressed tone, saying that after 40 years of painting, he "still separated from the goddess of art by a considerable distance, and even didn't touch the edge of her robe". However, at the end of the novel, readers see Berman's masterpiece, and he draws vivid rattan leaves at the cost of his life. This vine leaf shows Berman's noble heart for others. It makes readers realize that the author's satirical description of the talent temperament of the old painter hides his admiration for this character. The artistic effect of "O'Henry's Ending" is also vividly interpreted in his other famous work "The Gift of the Magi". In The Gift of the Magi, the author created the typical images of Jim and Della, a poor but kind young couple. They are willing to do it for each other for love.
They have two treasures that they are proud of: their wife Della's beautiful hair and their husband Jim's three generations of gold watches. However, due to poverty, the hair lacks matching hair accessories, and the gold watch has no matching bracelet. Christmas is coming. According to western custom, families should give each other holiday gifts. Della has long wanted to buy a satisfactory watch chain for her beloved husband, but although she is very tired, she still can't afford enough money. She is worried and sad about money. At a loss, she saw her beautiful long hair like a waterfall in the mirror. She had to make an idea on her hair. She was cruel. She sold her knee-length hairdressing in tears and finally bought a platinum bracelet. She waited for her husband to come back from work with joy and anxiety. Jim and Della had the same idea. I want to buy a Christmas present for Della. He sold his beloved watch and bought a comb to decorate Della's hair. They exchanged gifts after meeting, and both of them got what they had been longing for for for a long time, but it was useless. The story comes to an abrupt end here, leaving readers with rich thinking space. Love shines when they take out their gifts separately. Let the reader's eyes moist. At the end of the article, he wrote, "He unwisely sacrificed the most precious thing in his family for each other. However, I want to say a word to today's smart people. Of all the gift givers, those two are the cleverest. Among all the people who give and receive gifts, people like them are also the cleverest. They are the smartest people in the world. " Just a few words. What is conscience? What is survival? So as to get the true meaning of readers' own life.