by Steve Gregory

Created on: December 05, 2011   Last Updated: December 07, 2011

William Sydney Porter, better known as O. Henry, was an American writer who lived into the very early years of the 20th century.  He is best known for his short stories, many of which featured word play, were filled warm and lovable characters, and nearly always contained clever plot twist endings.  His most famous stories are “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Ransom of Red Chief,” both of which embody the characteristics that have made his name famous in literature courses around the world.  But he also wrote many other stories (a recently released collection of many of his short stories is well worth the money spent to purchase it), some of which are funny, and some of which are very touching.  And there are a few, like “A Double-Eyed Deceiver,” that just seem to set the world back to rights.

Like most O. Henry stories, this one is short and can be read in 5 minutes or less (making O. Henry a great introductory author for English classes trying to get students excited about literature that isn’t animated or violent).  The story follows a short time period in the life of the Llano Kid, formerly known as Sprague Dalton.  The Kid, as he is known, is a gunslinger and known for the number of people, all of which had been Mexicans, he’s killed.  But during a poker game one time, he gets in an argument with a white guy of about his own age.  The white guy pulls a gun on him, but misses.  The Kid doesn’t.  However, the white guy is popular and well off, so the Kid is forced to run for it.  He finds his way to South America, where he is made an indecent proposal (not THAT kind of indecent!) by an American consul there.  It seems there is a rich couple who has lost their son a little over a decade back and want him back.  The Kid can impersonate the missing son, go the rich couple’s place, and clean them out, then he and the consul can escape as rich men to Rio de Janeiro.  Of course, it wouldn’t be an O. Henry story if the plot succeeds, but you’ll have to read the story to see why it doesn’t.

For people unfamiliar with O. Henry, this story carries many of his trademarks.  While there is only one main character, the reader is drawn to him for a couple reasons.  First, the reader wants to know why he is so bad, and how life will make him turn around (or punish him).  Second, there are a couple storylines that

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>