Explain the friendship and duty in o Henry's story after twenty years in 500 words
Answers
Explanation:
Henry's ironic short story "After Twenty Years" is an internal problem. The policeman, JImmy Wells, is torn between his duty as an officer of the law and his loyalty and friendship to the friend of his youth, 'Silky' Bob, who has arrived for their previously arranged twenty-year reunion.
Answer:
Henry is one writer whose style is familiar to generations of readers the world over, and "After Twenty Years" presents a prime example of this style. A typical O. Henry story will involve two people with an emotional connection to each other that is put under stress by the circumstances they face. At the end of the story, a strange twist generally occurs. Sometimes it is a twist of fate, but sometimes the twist is a piece of information that was not previously available to the reader and that sheds a new light on all that has come before it. Though some readers feel that the twist shows an overly sentimental view of the human condition, many readers enjoy the way O. Henry's stories affirm the best things about the human condition.
The situation in "After Twenty Years" is simple and clearly defined: a man stands on a New York street, waiting for a friend that he agreed to meet twenty years earlier, and he explains his story to a passing policeman. It is a situation that can be understood by cultures all over the world, by one generation after the next.
The enduring popularity of O. Henry has given him a degree of public recognition that is unusual for a writer. The naming of the Oh Henry candy bar, first introduced in 1920, was almost certainly influenced by the public's familiarity with the writer's name. On a more serious note, one of the most prestigious literary prizes