Reaction to an Article——Short Stories of O. Henry
O. Henry is a nice master of short story at the twentieth century in America. His unique sense of humor is full of depression and sad emotions. Due to this kind of bitter laughter, we could feel exaggerated, cynical, witty and humorous when we read them.
Throughout O. Henry’s work, the plot develops unexpectedly at the end of the story. When the readers feel dismayed, they actually believe that the author really gives a reasonable end of the story. It’s quite fantastic. Henry is also good at observing things and focus on details, which makes his writing lively. Anyhow, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Last Leaf” give me an impression mostly.
The Gift of the Magi mainly tells the story that the day before Christmas, poor Della want to give her husband Jim a surprise. However, she only had one dollar and eighty-seven cents. She knew that the little money was not enough to buy a nice present. So Della sold her long, beautiful hair which fell about her shoulders “like a cascade of brown waters”. Then, Della looked all over the shop, finally buying a platinum fob chain, which can be matched with Jim's
reaction to a book or an articlewatch. But, Jim wanted to surprise Della as well. He sold his proud gold watch and bought her a set of combs that Della had watched long in a Broadway’s window.
After reading this article, it really gives me a big shock. In this story, the main characters all lost their most valuable things——Jim’s golden watch and Della’s beautiful hair. Behind this, I saw they loved each other deeply. The love in their family letting me feel that cold Christmas Eve has become the warmest heaven just because of their gifts. It is so selfless that that they can sacrifice their most valuable things in order to give each other the best gift. I learned how to respect others’ love and how to love others. With this kind of love, mutual understanding between man and woman could full of trust and affection. I firmly believe that the world will have a better tomorrow as long as our hearts full of love.
The story The Last Leaf described a young couple of good friends Sue and Joanna, who “found their tastes in art, chicory salad and bishop sleeves so congenial that they joint studio resulted”. Unfortunately, an unseen stranger, whom the doctors called Pneumonia, spread in the in that city and Joanna got it seriously. One day afternoon, Joanna was desperately looking o
ut of the window and was counting the leaves on the ivy tree. She firmly convinced that she would leave the world after the last leaf fell. She hadn't any passion for the future life. Sue has no other better way but to ask help from Mr. Behrman, an old poor artist who lived on the ground floor beneath them, was a failure in art. He has always wanted to paint a masterpiece, but had never begun it. At the beginning, he was very scornful about this frustrated girl who was giving up her life after hearing of the last leaf story from Sue. Actually, in this old man's feeling inside, he earnestly wanted to save this poor and young girl. He painted the last vivid and lovely leaf throughout a dreadful night. Finally, this masterpiece has been completed and Joanna was full of hope again. However, Mr. Behrman died because of the Pneumonia.
The story ended here, but, the sincere friendship would never stop forever because it is hovered in the readers’ heart. Let us respect this best art-man——Behrman.
Though Behrman died at the end of the novel, such way of Behrman’s death is really surprising. Because we all know, his pneumonia was much worse than Joanna and his dea
th will come sooner or later. Anyways, Behrman saved Joanna in a silent and artistic way, which truly shocked me. In O. Henry’s eyes, Behrman was a failure in art, but we might say he was a success in humanity. That’s also why I like Henry’s novel, even though O. Henry did not give Behrman too many words.
By the way, I also associate him with my parents after reading The Last Leaf. Our parents breed us and give us their best present. Just like old Behrman, who sacrificed himself, helped Joanna cheer up. Here is also another story. A long time ago, there was a huge apple tree. A little boy loved to come and lay around it every day. He loved the tree and the tree loved to play with him. Time went by, the little boy had grown up and he no longer played around the tree every day. After a long time, the boy came back. However, in order to live, he picked all the tree’s apples and sold them for money. The boy even chopped off the branches to build his house and used its trunk to build the boat. Finally, the boy returned after he left for many years. He is too old and wanted a place to rest. The old tree shared its roots and gave the last best place to the boy. The boy is like us and the tree is just like old Behrman, our parents. So, we shall do all of our efforts to return the contributio
ns to them.
In many conditions, O. Henry's novel is so attractive and wonderful. With these unexpected but reasonable endings, Henry expresses his ideas completely—— something reflects the reality of the society. Perhaps, this might be the reason why O. Henry is so famous.

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