the analysis of after twent years: O' henry

After Twenty Years [Short Story. Full text.] O. Henry

The policeman on the beat moved up the avenue impressively. The impressiveness was habitual and not for show, for spectators were few. The time was barely 10 o'clock at night, but chilly gusts of wind with a taste of rain in them had well nigh de-peopled the streets. Trying doors as he went, twirling his club with many intricate and artful movements, turning now and then to cast his watchful eye adown the pacific thoroughfare, the officer, with his stalwart form and slight swagger, made a fine picture of a guardian of the peace. The vicinity was one that kept early hours. Now and then you might see the lights of a cigar store or of an all-night lunch counter; but the majority of the doors belonged to business places that had long since been closed. When about midway of a certain block the policeman suddenly slowed his walk. In the doorway of a darkened hardware store a man leaned, with an unlighted cigar in his mouth. As the policeman walked up to him the man spoke up quickly. "It's all right, officer," he said, reassuringly. "I'm just waiting for a friend. It's an appointment made twenty years ago. Sounds a little funny to you, doesn't it? Well, I'll explain if you'd like to make certain it's all straight. About that long ago there used to be a restaurant where this store stands—'Big Joe' Brady's restaurant." "Until five years ago," said the policeman. "It was torn down then." The man in the doorway struck a match and lit his cigar. The light showed a pale, square-jawed face with keen eyes, and a little white scar near his right eyebrow. His scarfpin was a large diamond, oddly set. "Twenty years ago to-night," said the man, "I dined here at 'Big Joe' Brady's with Jimmy Wells, my best chum, and the finest chap in the world. He and I were raised here in New York, just like two brothers, together. I was eighteen and Jimmy was twenty. The next morning I was to start for the West to make my fortune. You couldn't have dragged Jimmy out of New York; he thought it was the only place on earth. Well, we agreed that night that we would meet here again exactly twenty years from that date and time, no matter what our conditions might be or from what distance we might have to come. We figured that in twenty years each of us ought to have our destiny worked out and our fortunes made, whatever they were going to be." "It sounds pretty interesting," said the policeman. "Rather a long time between meets, though, it seems to me. Haven't you heard from your friend since you left?" "Well, yes, for a time we corresponded," said the other. "But after a year or two we lost track of each other. You see, the West is a pretty big proposition, and I kept hustling around over it pretty lively. But I know Jimmy will meet me here if he's alive, for he always was the truest, stanchest old chap in the world. He'll never forget. I came a thousand miles to stand in this door to-night, and it's worth it if my old partner turns up." The waiting man pulled out a handsome watch, the lids of it set with small diamonds. "Three minutes to ten," he announced. "It was exactly ten o'clock when we parted here at the restaurant door." "Did pretty well out West, didn't you?" asked the policeman. "You bet! I hope Jimmy has done half as well. He was a kind of plodder, though, good fellow as he was. I've had to compete with some of the sharpest wits going to get my pile. A man gets in a groove in New York. It takes the West to put a razor-edge on him." The policeman twirled his club and took a step or two. "I'll be on my way. Hope your friend comes around all right. Going to call time on him sharp?" "I should say not!" said the other. "I'll give him half an hour at least. If Jimmy is alive on earth he'll be here by that time. So long, officer." "Good-night, sir," said the policeman, passing on along his beat, trying doors as he went. There was now a fine, cold drizzle falling, and the wind had risen from its uncertain puffs into a steady blow. The few foot passengers astir in that quarter hurried dismally and silently along with coat collars turned high and pocketed hands. And in the door of the hardware store the man who had come a thousand miles to fill an appointment, uncertain almost to absurdity, with the friend of his youth, smoked his cigar and waited. About twenty minutes he waited, and then a tall man in a long overcoat, with collar turned up to his ears, hurried across from the opposite side of the street. He went directly to the waiting man. "Is that you, Bob?" he asked, doubtfully. "Is that you, Jimmy Wells?" cried the man in the door. "Bless my heart!" exclaimed the new arrival, grasping both the other's hands with his own. "It's Bob, sure as fate. I was certain I'd find you here if you were still in existence. Well, well, well!—twenty years is a long time. The old restaurant's gone, Bob; I wish it had lasted, so we could have had another dinner there. How has the West treated you, old man?" "Bully; it has given me everything I asked it for. You've changed lots, Jimmy. I never thought you were so tall by two or three inches." "Oh, I grew a bit after I was twenty." "Doing well in New York, Jimmy?" "Moderately. I have a position in one of the city departments. Come on, Bob; we'll go around to a place I know of, and have a good long talk about old times." The two men started up the street, arm in arm. The man from the West, his egotism enlarged by success, was beginning to outline the history of his career. The other, submerged in his overcoat, listened with interest. At the corner stood a drug store, brilliant with electric lights. When they came into this glare each of them turned simultaneously to gaze upon the other's face. The man from the West stopped suddenly and released his arm. "You're not Jimmy Wells," he snapped. "Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change a man's nose from a Roman to a pug." "It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one," said the tall man. "You've been under arrest for ten minutes, 'Silky' Bob. Chicago thinks you may have dropped over our way and wires us she wants to have a chat with you. Going quietly, are you? That's sensible. Now, before we go on to the station here's a note I was asked to hand you. You may read it here at the window. It's from Patrolman Wells." The man from the West unfolded the little piece of paper handed him. His hand was steady when he began to read, but it trembled a little by the time he had finished. The note was rather short. Bob: I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar I saw it was the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn't do it myself, so I went around and got a plain clothes man to do the job.                                                                                         JIMMY. THE END

1.       The point of view that used in this short story are the third person and the dramatic point of view. This is because the writer mentions the name of each characte and didn’t use “I”. The dramatic point of view is seen when the author tells us about how the tall man waited someon in the corner of the street, as the quotation from the story :

“.......When about midway of a certain block the policeman suddenly slowed his walk. In the doorway of a darkened hardware store a man leaned, with an unlighted cigar in his mouth. As the policeman walked up to him the man spoke up quickly.....”. This shows us that the writer using the dramatical expression, that he wanna tell us how’s the condition of the man when he waited the other man. Besides the writer wanna tells us the condition of the situation of the story by telling us the wheather,

“.......There was now a fine, cold drizzle falling, and the wind had risen from its uncertain puffs into a steady blow. The few foot passengers astir in that quarter hurried dismally and silently along with coat collars turned high and pocketed hands. And in the door of the hardware store the man who had come a thousand miles to fill an appointment, uncertain almost to absurdity, with the friend of his youth, smoked his cigar and waited......”

We also can see that from the way the writer explained about the two of men who walked together in the snowy night. “.......The two men started up the street, arm in arm. The man from the West, his egotism enlarged by success, was beginning to outline the history of his career. The other, submerged in his overcoat, listened with interest. At the corner stood a drug store, brilliant with electric lights. When they came into this glare each of them turned simultaneously to gaze upon the other's face.....”

2.        The conflicts that faced by the main characters was about the social conflict. There are:

·         There’s two men who lived together and they were raised in the sam town together. But one day, both of them decided to leave the town and they promised to come back to the same town by the 20 years from that time. Then, 20 years later, the time that they promised was soming, and one of them is just waited another one in the same place in the same time as the 20 years ago.

“........ Twenty years ago to-night," said the man, "I dined here at 'Big Joe' Brady's with Jimmy Wells, my best chum, and the finest chap in the world. He and I were raised here in New York, just like two brothers, together. I was eighteen and Jimmy was twenty. The next morning I was to start for the West to make my fortune. You couldn't have dragged Jimmy out of New York; he thought it was the only place on earth. Well, we agreed that night that we would meet here again exactly twenty years from that date and time, no matter what our conditions might be or from what distance we might have to come. We figured that in twenty years each of us ought to have our destiny worked out and our fortunes made, whatever they were going to be......."

·         When the policeman wanna help the waiting man to call someone whom waiting for, but the waiting man didn’t want it. He sure that ifthe man whom he’s waiting for still alive, then he will come to this town, as their promise. Meanwhile the waiting man refused that help.

“........Going to call time on him sharp?"

"I should say not!" said the other. "I'll give him half an hour at least. If Jimmy is alive on earth he'll be here by that time. So long, officer."

·         By the  time that Jimmy was comin’ to the place where the man’s waiting for him, and he just test the waiting man by the questions that he offered to that waiting man because he knew the fact that the waiting man is not “Bob” his old friend. Meanwhile the waiting man is still don’t know about that. At the end of the day, Jimmy sent him a letter which is explain who he is and how he knew the fact.

“........... You're not Jimmy Wells," he snapped. "Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change a man's nose from a Roman to a pug."

"It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one," said the tall man. "You've been under arrest for ten minutes, 'Silky' Bob. Chicago thinks you may have dropped over our way and wires us she wants to have a chat with you. Going quietly, are you? That's sensible. Now, before we go on to the station here's a note I was asked to hand you. You may read it here at the window. It's from Patrolman Wells."

The man from the West unfolded the little piece of paper handed him. His hand was steady when he began to read, but it trembled a little by the time he had finished. The note was rather short.

Bob: I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar I saw it was the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn't do it myself, so I went around and got a plain clothes man to do the job.
                                                                                        JIMMY.

........................”

3.         The method of writing that used in this short stories are conversational method of writing and the matter of conciousness. This is becasue the writer wanna shows us that the characters in this short story seems alive and real. We can see thisfrom the way he brings the story with the common problems that always happen in our life with the common human being. Besides the place of this short story didn’t use any imagination place, with the imagination of characters that can be acceptable by all people.

The conversational method of writing, we can see that from the way how’s the writer write the short story in conversation beetween the characters that involved of the story.

“........The waiting man pulled out a handsome watch, the lids of it set with small diamonds.

"Three minutes to ten," he announced. "It was exactly ten o'clock when we parted here at the restaurant door."

"Did pretty well out West, didn't you?" asked the policeman.

"You bet! I hope Jimmy has done half as well. He was a kind of plodder, though, good fellow as he was. I've had to compete with some of the sharpest wits going to get my pile. A man gets in a groove in New York. It takes the West to put a razor-edge on him."

The policeman twirled his club and took a step or two.

"I'll be on my way. Hope your friend comes around all right. Going to call time on him sharp?".......”

4.        This story shows us how to be a good friend and a good man in this world. We have to be a loyal and honest person. We also have to fulfill ou promised taht we made before, no matter what. Besides we have to be ourselves, because however we are, we are we. We can’t be pretending as someone else, because everyone has their own characteistic. In addition, there’s still anyone who really know us, that may better than ourselves.

5.        The carracters:

·         Bob : liar

 At first he seems a good man, because he’s waiting for his friend for 20 years. He seems a loyal person, who ready for waiting another man for that long. But at the end, actually he just a liar that pretending as someone else to get a beneficial from the other man.

“........... You're not Jimmy Wells," he snapped. "Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change a man's nose from a Roman to a pug."

"It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one," said the tall man. "You've been under arrest for ten minutes, 'Silky' Bob. Chicago thinks you may have dropped over our way and wires us she wants to have a chat with you. Going quietly, are you? That's sensible. Now, before we go on to the station here's a note I was asked to hand you. You may read it here at the window. It's from Patrolman Wells."

The man from the West unfolded the little piece of paper handed him. His hand was steady when he began to read, but it trembled a little by the time he had finished. The note was rather short.

Bob: I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar I saw it was the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn't do it myself, so I went around and got a plain clothes man to do the job.
                                                                                        JIMMY.

........................”

·         Jimmy : Smart, loyal

He success to find the truth about “Bob” by analyzing that man while he was a policeman. Beside that, he’s really loyal to his friend by ready to wait for him for 20 years.

“........... You're not Jimmy Wells," he snapped. "Twenty years is a long time, but not long enough to change a man's nose from a Roman to a pug."

"It sometimes changes a good man into a bad one," said the tall man. "You've been under arrest for ten minutes, 'Silky' Bob. Chicago thinks you may have dropped over our way and wires us she wants to have a chat with you. Going quietly, are you? That's sensible. Now, before we go on to the station here's a note I was asked to hand you. You may read it here at the window. It's from Patrolman Wells."

The man from the West unfolded the little piece of paper handed him. His hand was steady when he began to read, but it trembled a little by the time he had finished. The note was rather short.

Bob: I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar I saw it was the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn't do it myself, so I went around and got a plain clothes man to do the job.
                                                                                        JIMMY.

........................”

I Am Not Yours

by Sara Teasdale

I am not yours, not lost in you,         (a)
Not lost, although I long to be                       (b)
Lost as a candle lit at noon,                (a)
Lost as a snowflake in the sea.             (b)

You love me, and I find you still        (a)
A spirit beautiful and bright,               (b)
Yet I am I, who long to be                  (c)
Lost as a light is lost in light.               (b)

Oh plunge me deep in love -- put out                       (a)
My senses, leave me deaf and blind,               (b)
Swept by the tempest of your love,                 (c)
A taper in a rushing wind.                               (b)

Actually this poetry tells us about the same theme with the previous poetry which is showed by Mr.Anto at the last meeting. This poetry told us about the girl who can’t fallin in love with the man who’s lived with her now. This poetry using the abab rhyme and abcd rhyme.

At the first abode, the author seems wanna tell us that she’s not belong to her husband anymore. She was not who she was. She can’t be fallin’ in love with her husband inspite of the love and everything that has been given by her husband. “I am not yours, not lost in you” shows us that she can’t love her husband.

The second one, tells us about how’s her husband still love her. “You love me, and I find you still” shows us how’s she find that fact. She still given the love from the husband, eventhough she doesn’t love him. His husband’s love is still the same as before, which is pure and bright love.

Finally, in the third abode, she told us that she doesn’t have any feeling anymore towards her husband. Eventhough her husband gave her love and affection, from the deep of his heart, she

can’t fallin’ in love. Still. Because she has nothing to him anymore.