The Artistic Charm at the End of O'Henry's Novels

The so-called "O'Henry ending" usually means that the masters of short stories often make unexpected changes to the psychological status of the characters at the end of the plot, or make the protagonist's fate suddenly reverse, resulting in unexpected results, but it is reasonable and in line with the actual life, thus creating a unique artistic charm. This ending art is fully reflected in O Henry's novels, poems and literary works.

O Henry, a famous American short story writer and poet laureate of Manhattan, whose novels, poems and literary works are called "humorous encyclopedia of American life". He won this honor because he carried forward this kind of ending art. Let's take his novel The Police and the Hymns as an example to talk about this art. ..

Soapy, the hero of the article, made six troubles and deliberately committed crimes in order to go to prison, and all failed. Later, under the influence of religious forces (no matter what religious forces), he was ready to pull back from the brink and start over. At this moment, readers may hold their breath and hold new hopes, but at this moment, Soapy was arrested. This unexpected but understandable practice profoundly highlights the contradiction between Soapy's desire and reality, thus revealing the reality of American society more deeply and making readers further understand some essence of capitalist society.

As Soviet writer Su Manof said, "The shocking power of art should be put at the end." This is a bit like the writing of Zhang Xianzhi. This kind of article makes people feel sad after reading it, and they have to hide their thoughts.