O'henry:_an_Appreciation
Like William Sydney Porter I was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. You know Porter better as the early 20th century short story writer, O Henry; you probably know him best as the author of the popular and eternally touching, The Gift of the Magi.
Porter and I both were raised around that
piedmont city in central North Carolina, but separated by many decades and my upbringing took place on a farm while Porter lived in the city, the son of a medical doctor. We do not share that much background, but I find it interesting that we were born in the same city.His stories are especially noted for their unexpected or "surprise" endings, but what I admire most about O. Henry, and the reason that I am writing about him in Caring for the Soul, is his sympathetic and caring portrayal of human nature. His stories are full of colorful characters many of whom were derived from his inclination to wander streets and parks, talking to people of every kind and condition.
His stories are about salesmen and janitors, millionaires and paupers—all of whom he saw in a kind of inner shining light that along with his gift of expression was so much a part of his genius.
Porter developed an interest in books while still very young, but his only formal education was received at the school of an aunt. His uncle owned a pharmacy, and he eventually became a licensed pharmacist. Early on, Porter gained some modest local fame for his sketches and cartoons of the people of Greensboro.
At the age of twenty, Porter moved to Texas primarily for health reasons, and worked on a sheep ranch and lived with some close friends of his family. To make a long story short, he wound up working as a bank teller and was accused of embezzling. He fled the country, but eventually came back, was convicted and served around three years in prison. There is some dispute as to whether he was actually guilty of the crime, as the bank was itself poorly managed.
He emerged from prison having written several short stories and now going by the pen name, O. Henry (probably derived from the name of a prison guard, Orris Henry), and moved to New York City where he began writing seriously. In only ten years he produced over 600 short stories that were published in several periodicals and bound up into many collections
Usually Magi is televised around Christmas time every year. You may remember that the plot revolves around a young couple who are very much in love but too poor to buy Christmas presents for each other. However, each sells what is most precious to the other in order to buy presents for each other. The wife buys a chain for her husband’s valuable pocket watch after selling part of the long hair that he treasures. Likewise, the husband’s love is so great that he sells his watch and buys a silver clasp for his wife’s beautiful hair.
As in Magi, Porter was a master of the surprise ending and often surprised as well with his insight into humans and the human condition and ability to create verisimilitude in a great many settings, from urban to rural and also the ranch life of the southwestern USA.
However, the critics have not always been kind to Porter, some even referring to his stories as “hack work.” In a college literature course I read Ruggles of Red Gap, one of the stories for which he is remembered. The textbook featured “Ruggles” as an example of the “plot complication” story, and with that bit of labeling promptly dismissed him.
While not a major literary figure, Porter nevertheless shows a beautiful gift with his gentle, often poignant insight into people and their lives. He especially never forgot his roots, and had an abiding place in his heart for the common people.
How O. Henry came to call one of his most famous collections of short stories, The Four Million, is quite instructive about the man and shows his compassion and sense of social justice. New York newspapers at the turn of the 20th century extolled the galas and affairs of the very wealthy such as the Astors and Vanderbilts on their society pages.
The New York Social Register included just 400 families of wealth and privilege (referred to in the era as "The Four Hundred") though the population of New York at that time was about four million. Porter deliberately chose the name, “The Four Million,” to emphasize the value of everyone, rich or poor, and the importance of every person’s life.
I particularly like the following assessment of O. Henry’s work by the critic, Long E. Hudson who wrote in 1949:
. . .the really fine stories should become a permanent addition to American literature. In them O. Henry not only widened the experience of his readers, he restated the verities which exist wherever people continue to strive for truth and beauty in life. He was never unsympathetic, except with those who sought to deprive others of their rights as human beings, and his writings have in them feelings of compassion for the weakness of man, which, joined with his remarkable ability of expression, make his stories at their best an influence for the furthering of those ideals which still tend to command the allegiance of civilized men.In declining health due to tuberculosis and diabetes, he died on June 5, 1910 in New York City at the age of forty-seven after drinking a quart of whiskey day after day while writing. He died virtually penniless.
Copyright 2002-2016, Thomas James Martin, all rights reserved.
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