The downfall, however, is often given the comic turn which made O. Although much of his humor redounds from his likely use of puns and literary allusions, much might be called the humor of recognition-the rueful grin that occurs when a reader sees his or her own petty flaws mirrored in a character and predicts the almost inevitable downfall. Talented as an ironist, he both comments upon and sympathizes with the ranch hands, bank clerks, and shop girls whose sorrows and foibles he re-creates.

Henry’s popularity stems not only from his depiction of commonplace events and human responses but also from the surprise endings of his “well-made” plots. Echoes of Charles Dickens appear in “Elsie in New York,” allusions to Greek and Roman mythology in “Hygeia at the Solito” and “The Reformation of Calliope,” and parodic references to Arthur Conan Doyle in “The Adventure of Shamrock Jolnes.” Henry’s versatility as a local colorist, as does his literary self-education. Henry’s proficiency in creating a vivid sense of the texture of language for the reader by reproducing native dialect, be it Western, southern, or even “New Yorkese.” This linguistic sensitivity contributes to O. Ham in “The Hiding of Black Chief,” Caesar in “A Municipal Report,” and Lizzie in “The Guilty Party” are only isolated examples of O. Henry’s (Septem– June 5, 1910) widely varied background provided not only plots for his tales but also characters drawn from all walks of life.

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