Compare and contrast bob s and jimmys charcters
Answers
Many authors include hints of their backgrounds in the stories they write. Elements from their lives can be found in their stories. O. Henry, who was once in jail, put elements of his life in “A Retrieved Reformation” and “After Twenty Years”. There are criminal activities in both stories, done by the characters. While the criminal points in each story are similar, they are also different.
First, we will look at the similarities between the criminal points in “A Retrieved Reformation” and “After Twenty Years.” One similarity is that characters from both stories are criminals. Jimmy Valentine, from “A Retrieved Reformation” is a criminal. He is a safe-cracker with a set of tools. Jimmy manages to break into many safes. Likewise, Bob from “After Twenty Years” is a criminal. The story doesn't say what he is wanted for, but he is wanted in Chicago. At the end, Bob is caught by a patrolman. Both characters from these two stories are criminals. Another similarity is that in both stories the criminal activities the characters do, interfere with the characters' lives. Jimmy, from “A Retrieved Reformation”, was a criminal. But he falls in love with a girl named Annabel Adams while he is planning for his next break-in. Jimmy decides to end his criminal career, and he marries Annabel. However, near the end of the story a girl gets trapped in the safe at the bank. Jimmy wants to break into the safe to get the girl out, but if he does he'll reveal his identity as a safe-cracker. Because he had once been a criminal, the old criminal part of him was coming back and interfering with his life just when he was settled down and about to marry. Bob from “After Twenty Years” also has a life interfered by his criminal activities. Bob is meeting a friend that he hasn't seen for twenty years. He is waiting by a restaurant that he and his friend, Jimmy Wells, agreed to meet at twenty years ago. A policeman comes up to Bob and Bob tells the policeman what he is doing. Soon, it's after the designated time for the two friends to meet, but Bob continues to wait. After awhile, a man comes up, who appears to be Jimmy Wells. The two friends greet each other, but Bob realizes that this man isn't Jimmy Wells. The man gives Bob a letter that's from Jimmy. It turns out that Jimmy had become a policeman. He was the policeman that had walked up to Bob first. Jimmy had known that Bob was a criminal, and that he was wanted. But Jimmy didn't want to arrest Bob, so he sent somebody else- "Jimmy". Bob just wanted to meet an old friend, but because he was a criminal, and his friend had become a policeman, Bob couldn't meet his friend. His criminal activities interfered with his life. These are some similarities between “A Retrieved Reformation” and “After Twenty Years”.
Now, we will look at the differences in the criminal points from “A Retrieved Reformation” and “After Twenty Years”. One difference is how the characters in both stories get revealed as criminals. In “A Retrieved Reformation”, Jimmy reveals his own criminal identity. By cracking the safe open to get the girl out, and by using his tools, he shows the crowd at the bank, and Annabel, who he really is. On the other hand, Bob from “After Twenty Years” doesn't reveal his identity. Somebody else reveals his criminal identity. When the policeman, who is actually Bob's friend Jimmy, comes up to Bob, he realizes that Bob is the wanted criminal. Jimmy, not wanting to arrest his friend, tells a plainclothesman who Bob really is. That person gives Bob the note saying that the police had found out who he was. So, Jimmy Valentine from “A Retrieved Reformation” revealed his own criminal identity, while Bob from “After Twenty Years” didn't. Another difference is what happens to the characters at the end in both stories. In the end of “A Retrieved Reformation”, Jimmy Valentine is set free. Although the whole crowd, and a detective see Jimmy's set of tools, and how good he is at cracking safe doors, the detective decides that Jimmy did a good act, and doesn't arrest Jimmy. On the contrary, Bob from “After Twenty Years” is arrested. The plainclothesmen who pretended to be Jimmy Wells, Bob's friend, ends up handing Bob a note from the real Jimmy Wells. This note is saying that somebody would arrest Bob, but it wouldn't be Jimmy. Unlike Jimmy Valentine from "A Retrieved Reformation", Bob is arrested for his crimes. These are the differences between the criminal points in “A Retrieved Reformation” and “After Twenty Years.”