Abstract

O. Henry is one of the most important American writers in the 20th century, and his works enjoy worldwide reputation. As a realistic writer, he reflects the harsh reality of American society not through describing the national conditions but the life of the socially low. Focusing on the socially low, this thesis will analyze a few of his famous short stories from three aspects: his theme, his writing style, the effects of his stories, in order to find the interaction between the socially low and O. Henry, and the reason why O. Henry pays so much attention to the socially low in his short stories, and in turn what contribution they made to the achievement O. Henry have reached in literature.

Key words: the socially low, O.Henry, theme, writing style, effects of his stories

摘 要

欧•亨利是20世纪美国最重要的作家之一，他的作品享誉全球。作为一个现实主义作家，他的作品多反映当时的美国现实社会，但切入点却是小人物。本文也以此为核心，分析欧•亨利短篇小说的主题，写作手法，艺术效果，探究和发现他的笔下的小人物和他作品的相互关系，以此发现他如此关注小人物的原因及小人物对他的作品和文学成就的贡献。

关键词：小人物；欧•亨利；主题；写作手法；艺术效果

1.    Introduction
It is undeniable that O. Henry is one of the most important writers in the 20th century. He was acknowledged as the founder of the modern American short story. Until 1910 he died, O. Henry, with exuberant energy, created nearly three hundred short stories, which was recorded respectively in Four Million (1906), the Voice of the City (1908), Rolling Stone (1913) and so on in more than 10 books. His works were widely spread around the world, such as The Last Leaf, The Gift of the Magi, The Cop and the Anthem, and so on.
O. Henry was good at describing the life of the people in American society, especially in New York. He rendered atmosphere of the streets, small restaurant, shabby apartment there to be very lifelike, so he was called “Manhattan's poet laureate” (Paul 50). These kind of short stories were recorded in Four Million (1906). At that time, some people thought that what forms the basis of the New York society is four hundred people in prominent position, but O. Henry thought that who should get the attention of people is not capitalists who became rich because of crazy exploitation but “four million” ordinary people in New York.