O. Henry
“The Cactus”
Stylistic analysis
The story under analysis “The Cactus” is written by
well-known American writer O. Henry. William Sydney Porter (O. Henry is his pen-name) is considered to be
popular and outstanding author. O. Henry's short
stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. His works are very important in all
times, topics which arose in them are still vital and
often discussed. Among his famous works are: “The Gift of the Magi”, “The Last
Leaf”, “The Futnished Room”.
When people try to describe O. Henry’s writing style,
they always use the term “smile with tears,” which implies his twisted way of
thoughts and endings about every story. These stories usually end in a humorous
but also cruel kind of way. It’s absolutely useful to elevate the artistic
thought in writing a thoughtful story.
“The Cactus” belongs to one of the major works of the
great writer. The analyzed short story was written in 1882. For O. Henry, the short story was not just a literary act of
communicating his artistic imagination, but also a vehicle to explore the
extreme possibilities of such an endeavor. His stories are characterized by
extreme unpredictability, transforming the genre into an active, pulsating
living presence.
”The Cactus” is no exception. The readers are , for the
principal part of the story, invited into an assurance of predictable dullness
when suddenly their trance is broken and they are awakened to a revelation.
The title of the story is rather
intriguing. We can only guess what the story is about and what can happen next.
From the very beginning we can not say that the title
of the story correlate with its plot.
The most potent device that O.Henry uses to ensure that the
readers go through such a climactic experience is the deft use of the narrative
mode.
From the viewpoint of presentation the story is the 3rd
person narration. The author is able to provide us with an objective rendering of the principal character’s thoughts
and actions. The story opens with a general observation of the disparity
between temporal expanse and one’s consciousness of it, subsequently relating it to Trysdale’s present state. This helps him
to provide a retrospective account of Trysdale’s amorous encounters his defeat
and sense of despair. However, the account itself is not entirely objective as
it is focalized through Trysdale. It becomes a revelation for Trysdale as he
finds himself responsible for his suffering: “ He saw all the garbs of pretence
and egoism that he had worn now turn to rags of folly.” At the same time, the
author rouses the readers’ curiosity as to why the affair could not work.
To my mind O. Henry combines in the story narration
with description to present the specific atmosphere and the inner world of the
characters. It gives us a splendid opportunity to imagine the place of action
and the main characters. For example:
as for description:
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“On the
table stood a singular-looking green plant in a red earthen jar. The plant
was one of the species of cacti, and was provided with long, tentacular
leaves that perpetually swayed with the slightest breeze with a peculiar
beckoning motion”.
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“ It had been a very sweet incense that she had
burned before him; so modest (he told himself); so childlike and worshipful,
and (he would once have sworn) so sincere”.
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“How glad, how shy, how tremulous she was!”
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“He was courteous, adamant, waiting her explanation. With womanly
swiftness she took her cue from his manner, and turned to snow and ice”.
narration:
-
“The most notable thing about Time is that it is
so purely relative . A large amount of reminiscence is, by common consent,
conceded to the drowning man; and it is not past belief that one may review an
entire courtship while removing one's gloves”
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“Trysdale's
friend, the brother of the bride, stood at a sideboard complaining at being
allowed to drink alone. Both men were in evening dress. White favors like stars
upon their coats shone through the gloom of the apartment”.
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“From this last
hopeless point of view he still strove, as if it had become a habit of his
mind, to reach some conjecture as to why and how he had lost her”.
The main character of the analyzed story is Trysdale, a young man, not
married yet. Now he is present at the wedding of his beloved, whom he had lost
in so a stupid manner.
O. Henry depicts
him as being in despair. The story begins with description of such phenomena as
“Time”, which is purely relative. Trysdale is deeply in thoughts about his
life, love affair. The man can not believe how all his life may be recollected
in his mind during one minute while he is removing his gloves. One more thing
that forced him to these thought is a singular-looking green plant standing by
a table. This cactus is considered to be the reason of sufferings of the
protagonist of the story.
The image of the
main character is created primarily through indirect characterization:
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“…Trysdale,
standing by a table in his bachelor apartments”;
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“ It seemed that in his nostrils was still the
scent of the flowers that had been banked in odorous masses about the church,
and in his ears the lowpitched hum of a thousand well-bred voices, the rustle
of crisp garments, and, most insistently recurring, the drawling words of the
minister irrevocably binding her to another.”
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“He shuddered at the thought that to others, before now, the garments
of his soul must have appeared sorry and threadbare. Vanity and conceit? These
were the joints in his armor. And how free from either she had always been —
But why ?”
Judging by these quotes we can say that Trysdale being
a little ignorant at the same time is very romantic and open-hearted person. He
is in despondency. Now he understands that he has made a great mistake at the
time when his love was so close to him. And now SHE is a bride of another man.
Another character is Trysdale's friend, the brother of
the bride. From the story we can admit that he is quite opposite to Trysdale. His
image is created through both direct and indirect characterization.
Direct:
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“Both men were in evening dress. White favors
like stars upon their coats shone through the gloom of the apartment.”
Indirect:
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"I
say, Trysdale, what the deuce is the matter with you? You look unhappy as if
you yourself had been married instead of having acted merely as an accomplice.
Look at me, another accessory, come two thousand miles on a garlicky,
cockroachy banana steamer all the way from South America to connive at the
sacrifice — please to observe how lightly my guilt rests upon my shoulders.
Only little sister I had, too, and now she's gone. Come now! take something to
ease your conscience."
And finally about Trysdale's beloved. From the very
beginning of the story we can say that she is beautiful, self-assured lady,
clever, who has high position in society.Today is her wedding-day.
The lady-love is portrayed with every
conventional “feminine grace”- modest, childlike, worshipful and sincere. The
descriptions, evocative of the Petrarchan Courtly tradition, are ironically, an
inversion of the same tradition. This is because, it is the man who is placed on the pedestal
and the woman becomes the adoring worshipper. This could have been a possible
reason for the disastrous outcome, for it only enhanced Trysdale’s vanity.
Her image is also
created through both direct and indirect characterization.
Indirect:
-
“She had always insisted upon placing him upon a pedestal, and he had
accepted her homage with royal grandeur”.
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With
womanly swiftness she took her cue from his manner, and turned to snow and ice.
Direct:
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“How glad, how shy, how tremulous she was!”
To communicate his ideas to the reader the author
employs mostly formal vocabulary in this short story. Sometimes such words are
used in informal setting to create humorous effect. Among them: reminiscence, retrospect, odorous masses, well-bred voices, garments, conjecture , Ventomarme.
The author uses great amount of stylistic devices to
describe characters, setting and the events themselves.
Among lexical
expressive means we can see:
-
Epithets (odorous
masses, well-bred
voices, crisp
garments, drawling
words, his
own innermost, unmitigated, arid unbedecked self, poor consolation, swift, limpid, upward look, so childlike and worshipful, convincing beauty);
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Metaphor (White favors like stars upon their coats shone through the gloom of
the apartment);
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Hyperbole ( It seemed that in his nostrils was still the scent of the
flowers);
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Similes (He
had absorbed the oblation as a desert drinks the rain; How she fluttered like a snared bird when he laid his mightiness at
her feet!)
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Oxymoron (sullen
exultation, exhibition
of doubtful erudition).
As for the syntactic
expressive means and stylistic devices:
- Polysyndeton (It seemed that in his nostrils was still the
scent of the flowers that had been banked in odorous masses about the church,
and in his ears the lowpitched hum of a thousand well-bred voices, the rustle
of crisp garments, and, most insistently recurring, the drawling words of the
minister irrevocably binding her to another);
- Asyndeton (As he slowly unbuttoned his gloves, there
passed through Trysdale's mind a swift, scarifying retrospect of the last few
hours, Indeed,
his conceit had crumbled; its last prop was gone);
- Repetition (So childlike and so worshipful, and (he would once have sworn) so
sincere; How
glad, how shy, how tremulous she was! How she fluttered!);
- Irony (Without protest, he allowed her to twine about
his brow this spurious bay of Spanish scholarship);
We can see here cases of irony:
- (Without protest, he allowed her to
twine about his brow this spurious bay of Spanish scholarship.
The author employs frequently rhetoric questions to show the
inner world of the characters
- (Vanity and
conceit?, But
why ?, Why
had it ended thus? If…
A combination of these expressive
means and stylistic devices makes the author's style highly original and easily
recognizable.
From the viewpoint of composition the story does not include all the traditional elements.
From the very beginning we do not have the introduction, which prepares the
reader for the intrigue. The story under analysis begins with the exposition
where we get acquainted with the main character and the theme of the story.
Then goes
development of the events. While courting,
Trysdale's sweetheart askes him if he knows
Spanish and he answers yes to impress
her, even though he doesn't know a word of
Spanish. When he asks her to marry him, she sends him a
cactus in answer. He take it as
a refusal, and she eventually marries someone else.
Later on he finds out that the name of the cactus is in Spanish and means
"Come take me." She has accepted his
offer to marry her, and she thought he would get the message clearly if he knows
Spanish. He doesn't get it.
We can say that the story reaches its climax when the girl says that she
will give her answer tomorrow. Trysdale waits for the answer the whole day. At noon her groom comes to his the door and leavest
the strange cactus in the red earthen jar. There is
no note, no message, merely a tag upon the plant bearing a barbarous foreign or
botanical name. He waits until night,
but her answer does not come. His large pride and
hurt vanity keep him from seeking her.
Then goes denouement.
The reader is finally provided with answers to the main question. Two evenings later they met at a dinner. Their greetings
were conventional, but she looked at him, breathless, wondering, eager. He
was courteous, adamant, waiting her explanation. It is his friend who openes Trysdale's eyes to
this problem. He asks the main character where did he get that cactus. Trysdale
answers that it is just a gift.
In conclusion friend of Trysdale tells him about his
life, his trips to America and says that there are hundreds of such tropical
plants as this cactus there. The natives imagine the
leaves are reaching out and beckoning to you. They call it by this name —
Ventomarme. Name means in English, 'Come and take me.'
And only now Trysdale understands what a message his
beloved send to him. But it is too late. Today is her wedding with another.
So, I would like to say that I really enjoyed reading
this short story. It is really interesting and enjoyable. O. Henry is known for his witty stories and ironic surprise endings.
They'reinteresting even though they don't always have happy endings. Personally I find his stories humorous but bordering on cruel at the same
time.
