Question

from the story of twenty years ago by O.Henry ​

Answer 1

The main character and protagonist is Bob, as the story is centred around him waiting for his old friend to meet him at their chosen time and place. Although he is represented briefly by his appearance, it is the small descriptions described that are of importance in his characterisation, in addition to his personality that is expressed throughout the story. We learn of Bob’s loyalty to his friends and that he is wealthy, supposedly from hard work. In this way, Bob is a round character, as he is complex and immediately capable of change. As the story progresses, Bobs identity is exposed even more when the climax of the story is revealed. It is immediately presumed that Bob is a successful career driven man when he tells the police officer “I’ve had to compete with some of the sharpest wits going to get my pile.” However, in the turn of events, Bobs character is identified as actually being a wanted criminal in Chicago by the same of ‘Silky’ Bob.

The second character, the policeman, who also turns out to be Jimmy Wells, is in this sense seen as a protagonist, as the story is centred around Bob and his best friend Jimmy. Throughout the story, it is led to believe that the police officer is nothing more than an antagonist within the story, as he walks off to leave Bob waiting for his friend. The characters identity in the story is shown when it is seen that he is in fact, represented as two different people, as he is the friend Jimmy who also happens to be a policeman. The character of the policeman is represented briefly in his appearance, and although he does not express much personality, we learn of this side of him from Bob as his dear friend Jimmy.