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Jimmy Valentine's Reformation Essay

618 Words3 Pages

In “Retrieved Reformation”, O’Henry gives agency to Marxist thoughts by using the story of Jimmy Valentine to critique society. Karl Marx was a philosopher who believed that true equality could not be achieved in a society where wealth created social classes. Desperate for respectability, Jimmy turned to a life of crime. O’Henry uses Jimmy’s social aspirations to illustrate the divide caused by the social hierarchy. The story of Jimmy’s reformation is used to highlight how wealth paves the way to opportunity, respect, and power, creating an unbridgeable gap between the rich and the poor. One of the very first things a person gains with wealth is opportunity. Once Jimmy is released from prison he is “Handed a railroad ticket and [a] five dollar bill with which the law expected him to rehabilitate himself [with]”, providing Jimmy practically no opportunities except a meal. Once Jimmy reverts back to a life of crime and gains mass amounts of wealth, he has many opportunities provided because he doesn’t have to worry about food, bills, etc., and he can do what most people can’t afford. With wealth Jimmy also was able to obtain “the finest set of burglar’s tools in the East”, which couldn't be duplicated, and the tools provided him the opportunity to gain more wealth …show more content…

When Jimmy was given a 4 year sentence, Jimmy already knew “with as many friends on the outside [he] had”, gained from Jimmy’s wealth and respect, he wasn’t going to be in prison for long. Because of everybody’s respect for Jimmy, Jimmy was even able to gain “the finest set of burglar’s tools in the East”, which led to more fame, more money, more respect, and more friends for Jimmy Valentine. Jimmy was able to settle down in a town for a whole year before he was found by one of the greatest detectives alive. Jimmy’s respect that he was able to obtain created power that many people didn’t

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