O. Henry Award Essays

Alexie, S. (2003). What You Pawn I Will Redeem. The New Yorker. The article by Sherman Alexie talks about a homeless Indian man trying to recover his late grandmother’s powwow regalia. The story takes us through the character’s ordeals as he tries to raise money to pay the pawnbroker. From the story, society’s compassion and sympathy are clearly seen, through specific individuals that help Jackson along the way, for example, the Police Officer and the newspaper boss. The climax of the story comes

Daniel Wallace’s essay “Killings,” which was recently featured in The Bitter Southerner, is a very honest explanation as to how the author ended up killing a chicken. The essay features a section in which the Wallace discusses “the early years” of his experiences with death, and the childhood he describes is one that is very stereotypically Southern. Playing outside and messing with bugs are much more common in the South than in the North, so this essay embodies Eudora Welty’s idea that the location

Love in the Forest “A little girl was driving home her cow, a plodding, dilatory, provoking creature in her behavior, but a valued companion at that” (Jewett). Sylvia’s attentiveness to the wellbeing of the cow speaks to her care for animals; the creatures of the forest trust her and come to eat food from her hands. Cruelly, an intrusion into the way of life that Sylvia has made for herself tests her connection and dedication to the natural world. In Sara Orne Jewett’s short story “A White Heron

There are several ways that people can react to conflicts. There are many people that react to conflict by being seemingly paralyzed by their current situation, but there are also many who face their conflicts by acting hopeful and search for successful solutions to the conflicts that they face. By facing a problem with optimism, people can often find ways to solve their problems. There are several people who act nervous during difficult situations and often do not find ways to clearly think of

In a perfect world, there would be no fights, arguments or disagreements that result in destruction and pain. Unfortunately, the world is full of constant battles that cause many relationships to fail. Divorce rates have skyrocketed over the past years and young families are slowly falling apart. Although each relationship is different, one of the main reasons that arguments occur is because of a lack of proper communication or hidden secrets. Either of these things can create chaos. Similarly, in

Blindness is known as the lack of sight and is seen as a disability. This disability is normally thought of as a limitation of what an individual can do. Though what happens when a blind man can see more than his counterpart? Other than being an obvious juxtaposition you get Raymond Carver’s short story “Cathedral”. “Cathedral” is told from a first-person perspective by an unnamed narrator. The narrator is portrayed at the start of the short story as an ignorant and prejudice man. Carver uses a theme

What is the first word thought when the word “heritage” is said? The theme of “Everyday Use” by Alice Walker is two ideas of heritage in showing characterization, setting, and imagery. The main characters are: Dee (Wangero) the oldest daughter, Maggie the youngest daughter, and Momma the mother. The short story is about how Dee comes back home for a visit and “heritage” is now important to her but in a different way. Momma and Maggie are outside waiting for Dee’s arrival, they both have true value

Heritage in “Everyday Use” Heritage means something different to everyone, since most of everyone comes from a different background. Everyone has different opinions on heritage and how it should be preserved. In “Everyday Use” written by Alice Walker, it shows what heritage means too both Mama and Dee, how they both have different ways they would like to preserve their heritage, whether heritage is still considered important, and how different they are Dee compared to Mama and Maggie. Heritage

Fritz the Cat (1972) is a film about the 60s. Being the first animated feature to receive an X rating, Fritz the Cat attempts to unveil all the violence, sex, racism, and disillusionment of the 1960s through an unfiltered, and debatably unfocused, lens. Ralph Bakshi is the director behind this film, and he aimed to show that the 60s was not a very perfect era, but in fact quite hypocritical one. Fritz the Cat and the numerous people that surround him are, for the most part, confused souls with often

In his contemporary short story, “Cathedral,” Raymond Carver tells the story of an unnamed narrator, his wife, and an old friend, a blind man named Robert. Robert has come to visit the narrator’s wife, who is quite excited to see this man whom she hasn’t seen in ten years, yet the same can’t be said of the narrator who is noticeably and vocally uncomfortable about his visit. The story is told through the narrator’s first person point of view, showcasing his thoughts and the events that take place

Segregation is the act of setting someone apart from others as to friendship is the act of emotions or conduct of friends. Although these two themes seem completely distinct from one another, they both tie in with the moral or theme of the stories. Segregation is highly seen in the short story “Everything That Rises Must Converge” by Flannery O’Connor. The characters in this story are very opinionated about their opposite race as they all live in a time in which segregation is frequently seen. As

Raymond Carver "Cathedral" short story is narrated by a man whose wife has invited an old friend to visit their home. The old friend, Robert, is blind, which the narrator identifies as Robert's defining characteristic. The story is narrated in the first person by an unnamed man. As the story unfolds, the narrator is troubled by the upcoming visit for reasons he can't explain, though he credits it to Robert's disability. It seems to be many themes in this short story; there is the theme of jealousy

I Capture the Castle Picture yourself in an old medieval castle near the coast. This place you call your home, is keeping you from living to the fullest. Do you choose to make the best of your situation or do you run away from your problems? "I Capture the Castle" is the story of the Mortmain family living in a castle in 1930s England. The story is revealed through the journal entries of 17-year-old Cassandra Mortmain who writes every day to perfect her writing skills. Dodie Smith, the author,

In Albert Camus’ novel The Stranger, readers follow the story of Mersault, a young man living in Algiers who is dealing with his mother’s death. Right away readers can look at Mersault and see his careless and unemotional life. He clearly does not care for what people think about him, and he would never lie about himself to be recognized. He does not accept the society’s idea of happiness by the way he deals with the moments in his life. He does not believe in life after death and has no religion

In his short story, “Little Things,” Raymond Carver uses a mixture of imagery and symbolism to argue that the main characters of his story do not have their child’s best interests at heart and, therefore, do notgh deserve the child. Its similarity to the well-known Bible story of Solomon’s choice also helps Carver make his point. In the story, King Solomon is presented with a child and two women whom both claim that they are this child’s real mother. Solomon asks for a sword and says he will cut

Certain literary elements, when used with style and strategy, can significantly enhance the quality of a story. In "Everything Stuck to Him," by Raymond Carver, literary elements such as his minimalist style, symbols, and indirect characterization enrich the story. Carver uses concise language in this short story. This has the effect of making this story feel very simple at first glance. This simplicity of the story takes out the author's feelings and opinions and allows the reader to insert their

Why, Honey? ”Why, Honey?” is a short story written by Raymond Carver in 1976. The story is structured as a letter addressed to an unknown man and is about an intricate relationship between a mother and her son. In the beginning of the story, the mother describes her son as ‘a good boy’. She is very permissive and she seems to care a lot for him. As almost every other mother, she gets inquisitive and suspicious when her son starts to hide things from her and keep secrets to himself. She tries to

In this essay, various aspects, behaviors, and moods of different characters from two completely different stories are going to be revealed by analyzing the dialogue in the text namely “The Oliver Twist” by Charles Dickens and “A Portrait of The Artist as a Young Man” by James Joyce. In “The Oliver Twist” Oliver Twist, an innocent, brave boy who was suffering the horrors of slow starvation for three months along with his friends and only being served one small bowl of gruel per day. During

There Is Always Room for Change Imagine if you had a bad habit of lying, or maybe you can’t get to work on time. That habit can cause you problems at times. Your boss fires you, and you lie to your family to cover it all up. Eventually you will need money, and have to tell them that you really got fired. Then they don’t help you because you lied, but what if you could change all of that. What if you change your habits and get another job, and tell your family about it. In F. Scott Fitzgerald's

Can a person learn something from communicating with someone else? For some people connecting with a new person is difficult and one might question the idea of connecting with a new person. For example, in Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” The narrator is unhappy about the blind man Robert coming to stay at his house. Then, the narrator starts to enjoy Robert’s company. While they are watching television, Robert tells the narrator to fetch a piece of heavy paper. Lastly, the narrator and Robert draw a