Which character impressed me the most in O Henry's short story 'The Pendulum' ?
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Answer:
Just as with his many hundreds of short stories, O. Henry weaves wit and wordplay into his short story, ''The Pendulum''. On the surface, it's about a marriage, but this summary will expose the fine details for which O.
To and Fro
A pendulum swings back and forth, back again, and forth again, just as the nights swing forward as the days swing back. There's an ebb and a flow to daily duties: work, home, eat, and John Perkins knows this quite well. He is the main character in O. Henry's ''The Pendulum.'' Will his routine become stifled, or will his life continue forward as reliably as the tick of a clock?
The Pendulum Swings
''A flock of citizen sheep scrambled out and another flock scrambled aboard.'' The sheep are people, and John Perkins is one of the many ambling to the train station, to work, back to the train station, and then home day after day. John returns home, where his wife, Katy, is waiting. And, just as yesterday, and the day before, and the day before, she meets him at the door. They kiss, he removes his coat, and he reads the evening paper. They sit down to dinner. It's the standard pot roast with salad and rhubarb and strawberry marmalade. Like clockwork, after dinner, Katy shows John a new patch in her quilt. Then, they await the ruckus of their neighbors: the exerciser, the chair-overturning duo, the flute player, and the clumsy champagne lady. They all have their routines.
Perhaps one of John's favorite routines is heading to McCloskey's. He waits until a quarter past eight in the evening and then reaches for his hat. His wife questions him, and he answers, ''Thought I'd drop up to McCloskey's, and play a game or two of pool with the fellows.'' Just as he had the evening before and many before that, John goes to McCloskey's and is sure to return between 10 or 11 to ''. . .the wrought steel chains of matrimony.''
Tick, Tock. . .Tock
John is used to his routine, albeit underwhelmed. One day, however, he returns home to disarray. It is as if gravity forces the pendulum motionless. Her possessions, curlers, bows, shoes, and powder box, are strewn in the middle of the floor, on dressers and chairs. This is not her organization protocol. Her cooking apron and weekday clothes are tossed about, and the daily paper sprawls on the floor. ''John Perkins stood among the dead remains with a queer feeling of desolation in his heart.''
Alas, he finds an answer in a note. Katy received a telegram stating her mother is sick. She took the 4:30 train and informs John that there's dinner in the ice box and that his good socks are in the top drawer. He realizes that this will be their first night apart in two years, since they have been married. John is mildly frantic. He tidies and eats the mutton from the ice box. His life is different. ''She had become so thoroughly annealed into his life that she was like the air he breathed--necessary but scarcely noticed.''
A Shift in Time
As John commiserates Katy's absence, the city calls. ''He might go forth unquestioned and thrum the strings of jollity as free as any gay bachelor there. He might carouse and wander and have his fling until dawn if he liked; and there would be no wrathful Katy waiting for him, bearing the chalice that held the dregs of his joy.''