Preview

Essay on After Twenty Years

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
596 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Essay on After Twenty Years
The thing that can't be changed by the time. -Essay on "After Twenty Years" by O. Henry

SJ.H

Twenty years is such a long time to change almost everything around us. During twenty years, a newborn baby becomes an adult and a middle-aged person becomes an elderly person. A short story "After Twenty Years" that is written by O. Henry deals with the time, as we can see in the title. Before I read this story, I had a question. Does everything really change after twenty years? After I finished to read it, I found the answer. Before let you know my answer, I will mention the short story. In this process, you can get a clue that is related to my answer. Firstly, I want to explain the features of this story. The story begins with "the policeman on the beat" at night. Starting with the action characterizes O. Henry's short story. Also, his detailed description of background, such as "the time was barely 10 o'clock at night, but chilly gusts of wind with a taste of rain in them had well nigh depeopled the streets" is shown throughout the story. There are lots of implications, too. For instance, a policeman who is a mysterious character at an early stage of the story says 'Big Joe' Brady's restaurant was torn down five years ago. The restaurant that becomes a hardware store is Bob's appointed place, so closedown of the restaurant implies something bad. Also, there is a homonym with an implication. In a Bob's dialogue, "It's worth it if my old partner turns up", the idiom "turn up" means two different things. One means 'appear' and the other means 'inform to the police'. This ambiguous homonym implicates something bad as well. Moreover, a temporal and spatial background imply the ending. This story happens at night, in front of the hardware store that was the restaurant five years ago. Secondly, I will mention a plot of the story. The features of this story is devices that makes the plot more interesting. Bob and Jimmy were friends who grew up together in New York. When

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Change is inevitable, yet it can be denied depending on who and when they experience this change and also on the passing of time. Time can bring forth wanted and unwanted change. In 'Sky High' by Hannah Robert, Les Murray's 'Spring Hail' and 'The Widower in the Country' and 'Here Without You' by 3 Doors Down all demonstrate various aspects of how change is due to the passing of time, which is inevitable.…

    • 1417 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Buechner uses Mrs. Schroeder to develop the idea that a person’s ability to change is heavily dependant on past experiences and the inability to do so can often lead to people having unrealistic expectations.…

    • 1473 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Year of Wonders Essay

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “The characters in ‘Year of Wonders’ lose faith in humanity rather than in God.” To…

    • 1202 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 Essay

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The main protagonist in fictional books or films is often labeled as a hero. In 1984 by George Orwell, the plot follows a man named Winston who is trying to rebel against the totalitarian government called Ingsoc. Ingsoc, also known as the Party, defeats Winston and because he is defeated he does not remain a hero in the reader’s eyes. Winston’s lack of cunning, lack of courage, and lack of effort to defeat the Party shows that he does not fit the description of a hero.…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Year of Wonders Essay

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages

    In the novel, Year of Wonders written by Geraldine Brooks, she explores how such horrible tragedies can bring out the worst in human nature. The plague was a major disaster that can affect many people in different ways. Brooks expresses these misfortunes through certain characters such as Aphra Bont as she was a selfish, uncaring character who manipulated the people of Eyam, Colonel Bradford as he was a heartless coward who only thought of himself and Josiah because of his poor decision making and attitude that was presented in the text. However, the calamity of the Plague did not always bring out the inferior in all the characters. Elinor Mompellion had a good outcome with it as even though death was surrounding her, she still went out into the village and helped and cared for many people as best as could. Overall these characters were affected by the tragedy of the plague that resulted in many characters unravelling to becoming spiteful and silicule.…

    • 1293 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Year of Wonders Essay

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages

    “in her novel Year of Wonders, Geraldine Brooks has shown the plague brought out the best and the worst in the people of Eyam”. Discuss.…

    • 1137 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    1984 Essay

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages

    "How many times are you caught on camera per day?." Fox 16. Clear Channel Communications, n.d. Web. 13 Dec 2012.…

    • 743 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    With new times come new problems and different priorities to consider. From the 1920’s to the present day, many things have changed regarding the government, morally, and socially. In spite of this, some has remained the same.…

    • 348 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Reform 19th Century Essay

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Several factors contributed to the unsuccessful reform efforts in the nineteenth century. A few major roadblocks were violent methods that monopolies used to combat the unions such as The National Guard, and Pinkerton Guards. Despite seeming like a positive aspect , rags to riches stories by Horatio Alger significantly reduced change due to the fact that the poor still believed they too could be rich. The last major issue that blocked reform was the fact that unions were viewed as radicals and anarchists.…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    essay history

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages

    This is the church of which they are falsely persuaded to believe that it contains the grave of Jesus [Church of the Holy Sepulcher]. In the same place there is another church which the Jews venerate and to which they come on pilgrimage. All who come on pilgrimage to…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Bill of rights, the constitution and the amendments of the constitution are the national foundation of freedom. The 14th amendment has become one of the most important parts of the constitution. The 14th amendment is divided into four sections. The 14th Amendment was designed in 1868 to stamp out lawless tyranny. Section one is to make former slaves citizens. The 14th amendment states, “All persons born or naturalized in the United States are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. Nor shall any state deprive any person of liberty or property without due process of law”. However, since the 14th…

    • 314 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Year of Wonders Essay

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Throughout the plague year many of the villagers were affected by the tragic hit of the plague. One of the main themes in the novel ‘’fear’’ is something that highly affects the actions and and can completely change their values and morals. Fear which comes complimentary with the plague and can bring out the best and the worst in the villagers. Times of crisis can bring out a monster in all of us, but can a just like jon said “these times they do make monsters of us all”lso but times like this can also bring out the good.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Essays 2

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages

    For this essay I read “ Map: The British Colonies”, “Religion and Slavery”, “Philadelphia”, “The African Slave Trade and the Middle Passage”, and “Abolitionism”. For the short sections (the ones highlighted in blue) I read “Slave with Iron Muzzle” and “The Meaning of July Fourth for the Negro”.…

    • 781 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    History Essay

    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages

    What were the most influential social and economic developments of the 1920s, and why? Considering major trends in US society at the time, explain what 1920s cultures are reacting to (or against). Did the cultures of the 1920s succeed in helping people cope with change? Why or why not?…

    • 1256 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Our Time Essay

    • 1629 Words
    • 7 Pages

    In the essay “Our Time” by John Edgar Wideman he often takes a break from the narrative to address that he has many problems as a writer. He does this to try to consciously address these problems and hopefully solve these problems. He believes that if these problems are not rectified he would destroy any chance he has at telling a truthful account of his brother’s story. To rectify these problems he employs a variety of unique techniques in his writing. Looking at these techniques it is not always 100% clear how these are fixing his problems. It is also evident that the way he is writing may be going against a lot of things we were taught in school about our writing.…

    • 1629 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays