why was Jimmy careful about not leaving Elmore during his stay in that town?
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Answer:
Jimmy Valentine is hard at work in the prison shoe-shop when a guard comes to escort him to the warden’s office. Jimmy has been pardoned by the governor, and instead of celebrating, he accepts “it in a tired kind of way.” Jimmy is a connected criminal, and he expected to serve only about three months—not the ten months he actually served—of his four- year sentence. Even the prison is aware of Jimmy’s connections and his inevitable short stay, believing that when a prisoner like Jimmy “is received in the ‘stir’ it is hardly worth while to cut his hair.”
O. Henry is careful to point out that Jimmy approaches his work, even the forced labor of a prison shoe-shop, with dedication and focus, and this establishes Jimmy as a hard worker. O. Henry also establishes Jimmy as a career criminal—one with connections that reach the highest rungs of government. Jimmy knows his connections will pay off and he will be pardoned; he is only “tired” because it has taken so long. The prison too is aware of these connections, and as such, they put little effort into rehabilitating Jimmy.
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