Friends of Words

Author: Swati

  • A Dollar’s Worth by O.Henry: Summary and Analysis

    A Dollar’s Worth by O.Henry: Summary and Analysis

    This short story by O.Henry, published in the early 1900s, explores the theme of justice, compassion, and love.

    A Dollar’s Worth: Summary and Plot Analysis

    The story opens with a letter. The letter is a threat from one of the convicts to the judge Mr. Derwent, who had presided over the case leading to his conviction. 

    The judge, used to such threats in his line of work over the years, brushes it aside, although he does make a note of the threat against the district attorney.

    The district attorney, Mr. Littlefield, is engaged to be married to Nancy Derwent, the judge’s daughter.

    The judge informs Littlefield of such a threat, who smiles with contempt, but is curious to know the writer, who, he soon learns, is a man nicknamed Mexico Sam.

    The distraction didn’t last long, as the district attorney was soon called upon to judge the case of counterfeiting by Rafael Ortiz.

    There were witnesses to him passing on the counterfeit coin to purchase a medicine bottle. According to the deputy that brought him in, this was the first time he was caught.

    A woman named Joya Trevinas soon visits them and claims to be the one that made the counterfeit money and got Rafael to pass it along. It was her fault that he was in prison, and she would happily swap places with him.

    Littlefield, having seen such occurrences commonly, denied offering to make any such accommodation. He would prosecute based on evidence and nothing else. Rafael would have to make his case in court.

    Littlefield and Miss Derwent went off for plover shooting later that day. While busy enjoying the shooting and each other’s company, they soon see a man attempting to attack them. Littlefield tries to keep Miss Derwent out of harm’s way while struggling to defend himself against the attacker.

    Littlefield gets minor injuries in a crossfire that ensues, while Mexico Sam, their attacker, dies.

    The following day in the court, Littlefield requests the court to strike off the case and requests a pardon for Rafael Ortiz.

    It is later revealed in the conversation between Littlefield and Kilpatrick that the fake lead counterfeit coin ended up saving their life. He also asked for the address of Ortiz’s girlfriend, Nancy Derwent, who had been meaning to meet her.

    Who doesn’t like happy endings?

    A Dollar’s Worth: Review and My Thoughts

    The story brought back memories of a movie I watched years ago. A movie called The Judge starring Robert Duvall and Robert Downey Jr.

    The story, like the movie, explores the themes of justice, compassion, revenge, love, and gratitude. 

    A disgruntled convict, a fair judge, a clever deputy, and two young men, willing to do whatever it takes to shield their love from harm. The thing about the story is that it is authentic and believable. The evolution of the district attorney’s perspective is very organic and, as a result, heartwarming.

    I can do nothing. The case comes up in the morning, and he will have to make his fight before the court.

    Pity hasn’t a place in jurisprudence.

    Can’t you go down the jacals and find where Joya Trevinas lives. Miss Derwent wants to know.

    Not to say that the judge was any less fair after, but the incident with Mexico Sam, and seeing the mortal threat to the love of his life and his own, opened his eyes to the importance of compassion. At the end of the day, we are all humans.

    Nancy Derwent was shown to be compassionate from the start. Her reaction to the Trevinas’s visit was very different from Littlefield’s.

    Can’t you do anything for them, Bob? It’s such a little thing – one counterfeit dollar – to ruin the happiness of two lives! She was in danger of death and he did it to save her. Doesn’t the law know the feeling of pity?

    I am an expert by no means (read I know nothing), and to me, this quote from Julian Baggini captured the essence of this short story:

    A society needs both justice and compassion, a head and heart if it is to be civilized.

  • For The Folks Who Take TOO LONG to Order Food

    For The Folks Who Take TOO LONG to Order Food

    I was rewatching the standup bit by John Pinette the other day – the one in which he expresses resentment against people that can’t decide what to get from the menu. He just wants them to get out of the line and let the others get served. 

    I love the bit, mostly because I love John Pinette and his comic timing. He is hilarious, and in my book, he is one of the most likable standup comics of all time. 

    After my usual dose of serotonin watching him in all his glory, I go back to wondering – why? Because I am one of those people. 

    Wondering why I am so pathetic at ordering stuff at restaurants. 

    Why do the simplest of menus confuse me?

    Why, even after so many years of eating out, I haven’t developed on-the-spot ordering skills?

    Why do I gravitate to buffets?

    Well, scratch the last question. I know the answer to that—best bang for the buck.

    That’s a couple of very close friends and me.

    And then there are people out there that know exactly what they want and feel pride in their capability to do so.

    And then there are people out there that know exactly what they want and feel pride in their capability to do so.

    Quoting Joe F-O-X from “You’ve got mail” (another movie I have been guilty of rewatching more times than I can count):

    “The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat. So people who don’t know what they’re doing, or who on earth they are, can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self.”

    Again, I think of myself.

    I have been placing the same order of coffee for years now, but I still forget to mention milk and sugar on more occasions than I would like. I do pay the price of that with angered taste buds and a decent blow to my Ordering self-esteem. 

    I gape in awe of people that place an order that is so clear that the barista doesn’t have any follow-up questions. I doubt that even my “can you please get me a glass of water” order can be that clear, no pun intended.

    In my mind, I had crowned myself the most order-challenged individual until I discovered a friend’s struggle, quite worse than mine. 

    So we are at a bagel place that also serves coffee. As a gracious host, I let him place his order first. I mentally pat myself on the back for averting the disaster of me going first. 

    Now I can simply copy whatever he does. After all, how difficult can saying “same for me” be, no matter how intimidating the server looks?  

    After a quick exchange of pleasantries comes the dreaded question.  

    “What would you like to have today?”

    He takes a good (uncomfortably) long look at the menu, and goes:

    “Can I have a plain bagel and a latte please?”

    “Sorry, we don’t have plain bagels, but we have sesame, everything and cheese. Would you like any of those instead?”

    The guy looks in my direction, askance.

    What the hell is happening here? He is asking me?.. ME???

    Oh good god! What were the options again?

    And I wing it. “I don’t think anything can go wrong with cheese, why don’t you try them?”

    Sheep had become the shepherd that day. Wow, what a self esteem boost!

    But then it struck me, maybe there are other reasons for my irrational fear.

    It could be social anxiety disorder . For those that struggle with fear of eating in public, it often presents as “avoiding the situation, fearfulness of being criticized, embarrassment, racing heart, sweating, nausea, and feeling trapped 

    Fortunately, it didn’t take me long to realize, thanks to the Three Men in a Boat rant by J, that if I am going to look to map diseases with my sufferings (eccentricities, really), I will probably find that I have every existing ailment in the world.

    I am optimistic, yes, but not that much.

    What I do know though, is that misery loves company. And I feel so much better knowing that, same as Mr Neville in I am Legend, I am not alone.

  • A Retrieved Reformation by O Henry: Summary and Analysis

    A Retrieved Reformation by O Henry: Summary and Analysis

    Originally called Retrieved Reform, this short story was first published more than a century ago in Cosmopolitan magazine. 

    A Retrieved Reformation: Summary and Plot Analysis

    The story opens in prison, where an inmate, Jimmy Valentine, is diligently working in the prison shoe shop. The man is serving a four-year sentence but is freed much earlier, apparently owing to his outside connections. 

    Knowing Jimmy to be a good man, the warden advises him against cracking any more safes and living a decent life. 

    He denies all wrongdoing and, although a bit tired, is happy to be 9762, the free man.

    On his way to meet a man named Mike Dolan, Jimmy stops at a restaurant to enjoy a meal and a smoke as a free man. 

    In a later conversation between Dolan and Jimmy, Dolan apologizes for the delay in securing Jimmy’s release from prison. Jimmy retires to his room and finds it in precisely the same condition it was left in. 

    He quickly checks and locates his high-quality, safe cracking equipment. He soon leaves the apartment in his elegant clothes and a briefcase. Upon being asked, he responds that he was now a Salesman for a famous NY bread and cake company.

    A week after Jimmy’s release, a series of robberies surface. Neat, professionally done, with increasingly more significant amounts being stolen. 

    This soon catches the attention of Ben Price, a policeman, who notices the distinct nature of these robberies. 

    They had Jimmy written all over them.

    However, that knowledge was insufficient, given Jimmy worked alone and had great connections.

    Not much later, Jimmy finds himself in Elmore, where he is at a bank, when he sees a beautiful young woman named Annabel Adams. Adams happens to be the banker’s daughter. Jimmy is smitten. He is later seen enquiring about the woman as well as any openings for the shoe business. 

    He is a changed man, literally. He takes up the identity of one Ralph Spencer, opens a town shoe business, and flourishes. 

    Jimmy and Annabel are engaged to be married soon.

    Jimmy, set on a fresh new start, sends a letter for an old trusted friend to come to visit him so that he can hand over his tools. 

    Unknown to him, Ben Price soon comes to the town, spots Jimmy, and discovers that he is soon to marry the banker’s daughter. Price plans to visit the bank soon while Jimmy is thinking of getting himself a wedding suit and a gift for Annabel. 

    Before leaving, he stops by his father-in-law’s bank to see the newly-installed safe. One of Annabel’s sister’s kids gets trapped in the safe. 

    Panic ensues, and with little time to act, Jimmy calls for his suitcase and, within minutes, expertly cracks the safe and saves the child.

    The public display of these safe-cracking skills made him feel exposed. He no longer feels fit to live in Elmore or marry Annabel.

    As he leaves the bank, he notices Ben Price and offers to come along. To his surprise, Price acts as if he doesn’t know who Jimmy is, responding with, “Guess you are mistaken, Mr. Spencer. Don’t believe I recognize you.”

    The story leaves a great aftertaste. After all, who doesn’t like a fresh start?

  • The Ransom of the Red Chief by O Henry: Summary and Review

    The Ransom of the Red Chief by O Henry: Summary and Review

    In 10 minutes, I shall cross the central, southern, and middle western states and be legging it trippingly for the Canadian border.

    What comes to mind when you read this? Hot air balloons? Spaceships? Science fiction?

    The answer will come to you in the form of Ransom of the Red Chief, a short story by celebrated American author William Sidney Porter, commonly known as O.Henry. 

    First published in Saturday Evening Post in 1907, this story captures, in its very essence, a kidnapping gone awry.

    Ransom of the Red Chief: Summary and Plot Analysis

    The story opens with a scheme. A scheme, in the making, by two small-time criminals – Sam, the mastermind, also the narrator of the story, and Bill, his accomplice.

    Their scheme to make a quick buck is simple – kidnapping a wealthy man’s kid and demanding ransom for his release.

    The boy’s father is Ebenezer Dorset, a respectable mortgage fancier and forecloser.

    The execution of the scheme is even simpler than the kidnapping plan – Bill and Sam, in their buggy, entice the boy with a promise of a bag of candies and a nice ride.

    The plan is executed successfully.

    Kidnappers and the boy reach their hideout soon after, and that’s when the early signs of the plan’s unraveling are seen. Instead of being scared, the boy enjoys the company of his kidnappers. It does not take long for the boy’s role-playing and demands to surface.

    The first role he plays is of the Red Chief, the terror of the plains, unleashing the terror, true to its name.

    When not terrorizing Bill and Sam, he frustrates them with his constant chatter and relentless and mostly unreasonable demands and pranks – a couple of which are to ride on Bill as if he was a horse, for 90 miles no less and scalping Bill for real, pulling his hair out with all his might.

    The role playing, fun for the boy, is a disaster for the kidnappers.

    The kidnappers, eager to rid themselves of this liability/threat to their life, soon plan to reach out to Mr. Dorset, letting him know that he was being held for ransom and that no harm would befall the kid if the father provided them with 1500 dollars peacefully.

    Little did they know the response to their letter would be an extension of their nightmare.

    Fully aware of the boy’s intolerable, patience-thinning talents, the father, instead of sending the required sum, offers to take the child off the kidnapper’s hands – if they paid him $250.

    The harrowed kidnappers, eager to rid themselves of this living nightmare, jump on the offer, and proceed for a swift handover – of the money and the boy.

    The boy, funnily enough, tries to cling to the kidnappers instead of his own father.

    The Ransom of the Red Chief: Review and My Thoughts

    This brought back memories of one of my Christmas favorite movies, Home Alone #3. I always marvel at how talented the kid was at protecting himself- his insane knowledge of physics behind all the levers and pulleys used for trapping his victims would put my whole eighth-grade physics class to shame. 

    But O.Henry’s Red chief was a class apart. He made me believe you don’t need intelligence to drive someone insane. Non-stop blabbering and treating adults as enslaved people is good enough.

    I just loved the boy’s character. He knew no fear. Instead of being scared for his life and crying his eyes out, he had a lot of fun in addition to showing his kidnappers some great time. He made the most of his ‘trip,’ doing nothing else but being himself. 

    Talk about seeing the glass half full!

    There is a very famous quote by Dickens “Child is the father of the man.”

    I can’t say about anyone else, but this Red Chief definitely is.

  • Would You Keep Your Promise to Meet Someone Years Later?

    Would You Keep Your Promise to Meet Someone Years Later?

    Every now and then, I feel drawn to a particular genre of movies. Movies, where the lead characters of the same or the opposite sex make a pact to meet at a mutually agreed location sometime in the future. Sometimes in a month, some years, and sometimes in a decade or more. 

    The most recent movie from that genre that I ended up watching was a movie called ‘Before Sunset.’ 

    The movie stars Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy – the film is simple but endearing.

    a scene from the movie before sunrise
    Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke enjoying each others company in a scene from the film ‘Before Sunrise’, 1995. (Photo by Castle Rock Entertainment/Getty Images)

    Two strangers meet on a Eurail train, strike a conversation, and end up disembarking in Vienna and spending a night together. 

    Through their free-flowing conversation, roaming the streets of Vienna, they develop an attachment to each other, but instead of acting on it, they decide to meet six months later at the same spot where they parted ways. 

    They only know each other’s first names, nothing more, and agree on having no correspondence in the following six months. 

    I must have seen the movie ten times. But it never grows old.

    Like any other well-meaning fan, I thought their idea of no communication was stupid; I wanted them to make that meeting happen while secretly hoping for a happily ever after. So why the rant?

    I recently read short stories by O.Henry and came across one called After Twenty Years. Yes, you guessed it right! 

    It’s on the same theme, about two friends deciding on a rendezvous two decades later. 

    Jimmy and Bob, two very close friends, were kids when they parted ways, agreeing on a pact to see each other at the restaurant they were together at last. 

    Billy has become a very successful criminal, while Jimmy has taken up a job at the city department.

    While Billy is waiting for his friend at the designated meeting spot, a patrolman walks around and strikes a conversation. Billy is confident that his friend will show up. 

    The patrolman soon takes his leave, and soon after Jimmy shows up. It doesn’t take long for Billy to realize that the man is not Jimmy. 

    The guy mentions that he is a policeman sent by the patrolman, the real Jimmy Wells, to arrest him because his old friend didn’t have the heart to do so himself.

    Of course, I wanted the criminal to be caught but seeing a friend betraying another was still painful. For them to keep a promise made as a child, two decades later, the friendship meant something to both of them. The criminal was entirely in the wrong here, and his friend was duty bound to have him arrested; the moment of betrayal still stings, though.

    I can’t help but wonder if things would have been better if the boys had kept in touch all those years. Was there a possibility of Billy turning Jimmy into a criminal and Jimmy turning him into a police officer? 

    Maybe they would have drifted apart, knowing how different from each other they were, and gone down their separate paths. 

    That’s life as we know it. We grow (and sometimes apart). 

    That possibility, in my mind, still seems a little less painful.

    Was Billy too careless or too gullible to think nothing would change between the friends after two decades of separation? Was he wrong to be fully convinced that the loyalties of ‘yore would still stand? Or was he a little too human? A little too eager to show his accomplishments to his friends and make him proud?

    All I know is that in addition to following the 

    “Location. Location. Location.” mantra all those years, it wouldn’t have hurt him to try:

    Communication. Communication. Communication.