The Analysis of Humanity in O’ Henry’s Short Stories

Liu Yajing

摘?要：作為美國短篇小說之父和世界三大短篇小說巨匠之一，自1903年移居至紐約之后，歐·亨利開始了他的短篇小說創作之旅。他一直著重刻畫微妙的感情，表現普普通通的“小人物”，描寫了美國民眾的日常生活以及他們對浪漫和冒險生活的追求。他的作品之所以感人至深是因為在嬉笑怒罵的故事背后總閃爍著人性的光芒。本文獨創從幾個著名短篇小說入手，分別從善、惡兩方面，探討在鍍金時代中歐·亨利小說中的人性描寫。

I. Introduction

Humanity is made up of two aspects, one is good virtue，like honesty, integrity and punctuality. Another one is evil one, like selfishness and indifference. At that time, all the industries produced a lot of wealth for a number of businessmen. People were accustomed to be selfish, they also were blinded by the money and profits.

II. High Praise of Human Virtues

2.1 The Green Door

The main character—Rudolf Steiner was enthusiastic about searching for the egregious. One night, Rudolf retained the dentists cards handed from an African. He became curious about” The Green Door” and decided to go to the Adventure House. He then saw a twenty-year-old girl with pale face in it. Kind Rudolf bought food and water to save the girl. At that age which was full of indifference, most people would just stand by in such condition. However, after knowing that she tried hard without anything to eat for three days, instead of abandoning the young girl and walked away, Rudolf helped her out.

Ⅲ. Severe Criticism of Human Defects

3.1 Mammon and the Archer

Richard Rockwall was the child of a soap manufacturing magnate. He fell in love with a girl who was a celebrity and was intended to go abroad. Richards father, the well-known proprietor, promised that he would help his son to realize dreams. And Richards aunt also gave him a ring belonged to his mother which could bring him good luck. At that wondrous night, right on the way to find the missing ring, Richard surprisingly found a congested flood. Then he bared his heart to that girl he admired so much.

An old proverb goes like: when poverty comes in the door, love flied out at the window.

Ⅴ. Conclusion

At the Gilded Age, people worshiped money. O Henrys own experience exerted a huge influence on his writing. In his perspective, the lower-class pursued for the wealth so as to survival.

In a word, humanity lying in O Henrys works offered an unshakable status for this literary master.

References

O Henry, 2013, Selected stories by O Henry, Nanjing, Yilin Publisher.

參考文獻：

[1]馬鐘元，每天讀點英文小說-經典短篇小說全集[M]. 北京:中國宇航出版社

[2]蔡雯娜, 意外的交集 現實的救贖—淺析歐亨利短篇小說《綠門》中的人性主題[A]. 齊齊哈爾師范高等?？茖W校學報,2012.