A Brief Analysis of O Henry’s Writing Characteristics in After Twenty Years2019年文档分析和总结.docx

A Brief Analysis of O. Henry’s Writing Characteristics in After Twenty Years ： O. Henry was one of the three world’s masters of short stories. He was known as the father of the modern American short stories. Even till today O. Henry’s short stories still enjoy a lot of popularity. This article analyzes the writing characteristics of O. Henry’s short stories by probing into one of his short stories After Twenty Years. O. Henry， whose real name is William Sidney Porter， is one of the most famous short story writers in America. The age he lived in， his own talents and life experience all contributed to his huge success. O. Henry lived when American economy was developing so rapidly that a series of new problems occurred in the American society. As a result， the American literature transited slowly from romanticism to realism. As a critical realist writer， O. Henry had a keen eye for the social problems and the complexity of humanity. Unlike most of the counterparts living in his day， O. Henry experienced a lot of ups and downs in his life， which provided a wide range of sources for his creation and added a special flavor to his stories. After Twenty Years is one of the twenty five short stories included in his second published collection of short stories， first released in 1906. Although it is not so frequently mentioned as some of O. Henry’s other short stories like The Cop and the Anthem， After Twenty Years can also well illustrate the distinctive writing characteristics of the works by O. Henry. The plot of After Twenty Years is very simple but like most other short stories written by O. Henry， it is also skillfully knotted. It is a story about two old friends， Jimmy and Bob， filled an appointment made twenty years ago. The fascination of this story lies in the changed and the unchanged. That is how their life have changed in twenty years’ time and how they remain as loyal toeach other as they were twenty years ago. Speaking of O. Henry