摘要

欧•亨利(O. Henry,1862-1910)是美国二十世纪著名的短篇小说大师、现代短篇小说的创始人之一。他的作品构思奇巧，文字简练形象，语调风趣幽默。欧•亨利善于捕捉生活中司空见惯的小事来塑造角色，而且创造了悬念突变的“欧•亨利式结尾”，其作品具有独特的艺术魅力。本文试就其作品中生动的人物，出人意料的结尾，简洁凝练的语言和幽默调侃的笔调进行探讨。欧•亨利是二十世纪初崛起于美国文坛的著名短篇小说作家，其作品构思布局巧妙，语言幽默风趣， 尤其是出乎意料的结尾更是别具一格，脍炙人口。19世纪到二十世纪，现实主义思想和自然主义理论的表现方式走到美国的文学里。欧亨利作为美国的短片小说之父，在他的作品中体现了现实主义的残酷与无奈。

关键字：欧•亨利；短篇小说；艺术特色；幽默；现实主义

Abstract

O. Henry is an outstanding master of short story at the twentieth century in America, commonly regarded as one of the founders of modern short story. His distinctive short stories are featured by his unique artistic characteristics and win large popularity among the public both at home and abroad. This paper tries to explore the common artistic characteristics contained in his short stories, including his lively characters, humorous and witty tone and the surprising ending. O. Henry is a famous short story writer rising in American literature in the early 20th century. The unique idea of layout, humorous languages, especially the surprising ending makes his works special and popular. From the 18th century to the 19th century, the expression of realistic thinking and naturalism had been used into the American literature. As the father of American short story, O. Henry embodies the realism and helplessness in his works.

Key words:  O. Henry; stories; artistic characteristics; humor; realism

1. Introduction
   O. Henry is a famous short story writer in a American literature in the early 20th century. He was called the spokesman of Maupassant. His articles are special and popular because the idea of his works is lively, humor and witty. Though the analysis of his several articles, we can realize the society of that times and the reflection of realism in his stories. The realism make his stories more vivid. From the 18th century to the 19th century, the expression of realistic thinking had been used into the American literature. His works are full of human beings’ real life and provide the readers with a whole picture of the life at that times.