O. Henry's Cosmopolitanism; or, the American Collideoscope

An essay about cosmopolitanism is no rarity. An essay about O. Henry (aka William Sydney Porter, 1862–1910) is. He is one of the great unknowns in American literature. I have not seen his name figure in accounts of Louisiana writers, though he lived in New Orleans for a time and situated a number of his stories there, nor in the many recent studies of American dialect writing, of which he is a distinctive master, nor certainly in discussions of colonialism or cosmopolitanism, despite the fact—maybe the only moderately well-known fact about O. Henry currently—that he coined the phrase “banana republic.”1 Three of his books are short story cycles: The Four Million (1906), a panorama of New York upper and lower classes; The Gentle Grafter (1908), stories mostly about a renegade named Jeff Peters; and above all his first book Cabbages and Kings (1904), published in the same year as Joseph Conrad's Nostromo and likewise narrating the overthrow of a Central American despot. But despite their original popularity, these collections are seldom acknowledged in studies of short story cycles or of colonialism. This project arose out of a love for his stories, and the essay begins with demonstrations of his artistry. But mere craft is a minor virtue unless accompanied by insight, and so I move toward a characterization of the radical individualism expressed in the aphorisms that are my epigraphs. The diversity espoused in O. Henry's prolific output may not satisfy, but I contend that it usefully complicates the widespread binary thinking prone to assimilate individuals too readily into groups. The 281 stories in the Collected Works (plus others that were omitted) fragment life into particles that are not easily summarized.But isn't O. Henry the most formulaic, least unpredictable crafter of surprises? Well, yes and no. It is true that he turned Maupassant's frequent trick endings into a system that helped him complete an average of more than two stories a month for ten mostly unhappy, sometimes desperate, frequently drunken years. But I will have very little to say about the endings. The thrill of the stories lies in their bodies, not in their tails. In particular, as those who love O. Henry have always recognized (and as Margaret Cannell inventories in representative detail), it lies in their language.2 O. Henry read dictionaries obsessively; I know of no writer so intoxicated with words between Rabelais or his followers and Joyce. That's a large claim, not unrelated to the character of his cosmopolitanism, and I hope that the quotes in what follows will make it at least plausible, even though they remain mere drops in O. Henry's flood.O. Henry's version of cosmopolitanism starts with his wanderings. In his short life, he lived in North Carolina, various parts of Texas, New Orleans, Honduras, Ohio (where he spent three years in prison in Columbus for embezzling $854.08 and jumping bail), Pittsburgh, and New York. His stories feature many of these locales, and others as well. With all the attention that properly accrues to both underclass and popular writers at present, it is time to have another look at this vagabond, refugee, felon, alcoholic, abandoner of wife and daughter, who nevertheless shone forth in the second half of his short adulthood as among the most widely read American authors of the early-twentieth century.The range of settings has contributed to O. Henry's reputation as “quintessentially American.”3 The Canadian humorist Stephen Leacock is one of many who wrote effusively about him, calling him “one of the great masters of modern literature”: “O. Henry is, more than any author who ever wrote in the United States, an American writer.”4 Even his detractors acknowledged him as a preeminently national writer. So, for instance, Fred Lewis Pattee conceded that “not enough has been made of the ingrained Americanism of the man. No one, not even Mark Twain, was more a product of our own soil.”5 “Our soil” distorts the picture, however, for O. Henry was not a proponent of roots. His people are geared to move around. They are overwhelmingly travelers: rolling stones, whirligigs on the roads of destiny, to echo three of the story titles selected to name collections. Whether in New York or in the wild west, they largely come from elsewhere, or if they don't, then their families have. In marked contrast to the other great short story writers of his era, O. Henry doesn't tell stories about settled communities. Many of his characters have voyaged long distances, even to other continents. On trains, on wagons, on horseback, by steamer, by ferryboat, by cab, by streetcar, by automobile, on foot, they are always under way. In the great city they don't move long distances, but there even a few blocks can be a vast social difference. And they are constantly jockeying for position and for status. Though O. Henry is a writer of regions, he is thus not a regionalist (and consequently seems never to figure in studies of American regionalism).6 New York City and New Orleans are rendered with details of streets and neighborhoods, and Texas with attention to landscape, but the remaining real settings are mostly little more than names, not differing in substance from many other stories set in entirely fictional towns or establishments, not infrequently with merely comic names.7 The human context is crucial, and that means the character relations and the social spaces, while locale and geography remain almost indifferent to the dynamic.8 New York is “Bagdad-on-the-Subway” (“The Discounters of Money [RD 297, 298], “A Madison Square Arabian Night” [TL 1071], “A Night in New Arabia,” “What You Want” [SB 1231, 1287]), and the empty canyons of Texas and the crowded avenues of the metropolis harbor the same character types: con men, social climbers, loners, sentimentalists, runaways—winners or losers all in the great contest of life. Their dialects and accents differ, as do their families and their fortunes but the nature of their interactions persists.“The Gift of the Magi” is the iconic O. Henry story, the one always anthologized and invariably chosen for syllabi. Its domesticity is actually uncharacteristic in O. Henry's world, and are on the make or on the and has contributed to But and to are another and very short a the to a and and in the and a of out the Even the characters with their own are seldom at and is in this or an Gift of the Magi” is in that and don't come from and to but they have no roots. the story all or at least be if and And O. Henry and so many of his they have life for a and with the that he to the in an of but that has into only his which him in life but not in and to the but it is not that they in they are among the to my will be the story in The Four But it is by a that can be though the and to have been made by the not the In which the has been his who was to be from with his in and his story a on in the first three stories of this and in him a to be by a with a long name that the The who the but the to He that in one that is the be on in the and in the is no his is and the but a by In this modern in can and is to his who has been for three in one of O. Henry's many But this is this or or or the that he has been if that isn't a for a which in is a is a the but no one can ever know in is the in Gift of the which follows and which is as as O. Henry ever to an an and in the calling and and The has so if the the O. the out of his it at any of his endings the his very short stories no for the which into the of Gift of the then in the story, “A in a as if the author were to in is, O. with but of their he the that no true of the has The he is great who for the but to with from the City of of the same are at the of another story, the of the The almost and a of and in a to from was the to be the to O. Henry's his in a and a about his as to his this in city or or or so that all be of the world, as to But the to be more he is as a of his with his as by the into a he and he for no the many in his era, O. Henry was a who and one of the in Cabbages and an American with an and and in his he is into for the and the in they to New in there is in “A a and a with a on his with him as a the have a mere He the him, and he tell about with the who a he for the is his him or his In his a all O. Henry's only another in of a New is not a the him constantly as a be he by the of a with to the of an No or have He into the great O. Henry the of an a in the of the in fact his cosmopolitanism is actually only not His which have been a it been a him with Pittsburgh, New Orleans, and even and but by of that at him in New and he not his But he is of people to him and he is as a New in love with a not the is one other this one a but with a This is of in not to be but was an in the that was a with the of a and of the they are both merely on a and as they they their true to one another and a to not the world, is the from the real New the his that will O. Henry that the be from that he has been the their and others their New York is the not of O. Henry's nor even of his world, but of his In “A if too for his own for a and is the are always on the and the people are and as But and of O. Henry's New him, thinking he is a at The story no that is a but his him out to Henry's toward cosmopolitanism is, however, a His stories are of on the roads of the United States, for They may not be of the but they to the streets of the city of one for the of a the City is a of The an who of been in a steamer, in a to an as and as the of in the of the of the he and in a on the American by a with City But the as do in O. the and they to New York and of cosmopolitanism and are likewise both on in in and set in at the named in “A of the in the two in in their a in of and then they a by of and that the of But of as the out to a there is only the and in for on the a while a with an the in a of and to out as a as is a it is The is not a as has in a essay that cosmopolitanism begins in the one in the O. Henry's two stories are set in with to the he ever And while he been to the of Cabbages and Kings is a of that a but no one is at is the that I the the that I very little for and are to what is this of a of a a I a of In in in in will (“The of is, by a of In to be a of the was a to and so it is But O. Henry's characters are of not nor of the of “A in a and on but of Henry has no with the (and or of the above his is no from the it is in the a little in a that the of a which is by the a of the United States, in and in all his and (“The and the Even in the Texas into one not always cosmopolitanism as doesn't the of cosmopolitanism as a In New Orleans, a with a of and a named who an almost And in to the and his a are out of a named in New Orleans out of and that have the of to by a who is in are no in O. Henry's and certainly not for what one character in “A of who has the in his as is no in O. Henry's not come the as a of at the all the his with his with his with his he the of is O. Henry's to the that he and that I have the American the it is a New York. O. Henry's may be in the but his of the of is even if are the world, in O. Henry's means people from all the United And the people from the have overwhelmingly come from They are and and and and and and and and and of and and and and and more or to all of be the from They do not their they or nor do they their or or by and by real or The thrill of the stories lies in the that into life characters for the the and the O. Henry's always Its is that are all was and in O. Henry's It of this of in the second of the to of in a has a character of a and original of national to O. Henry's the of he a among and in which all a from and to a social But of the are never at and O. Henry's characters only their they can all on the only the to of the was an figure above national and He was to time and and and or to his man. This version of the was the of the who was by O. Henry and but who among the that has been the their most is by William in a in he a of a as of and and great on the of in and from any to be seen and so on at the early-twentieth and the the version of cosmopolitanism by was on been as and or by the of In recent however, it has been by many of the that of and with of and and by social and and and as the and by these writers on the of or to as as to in an the is no to be and Their and their have contributed to But they all to by is to they to cosmopolitanism as an for They cosmopolitanism the of of that O. Henry are or But the are and a for all of O. Henry's characters are not individuals in this The in Gift of the Magi” is in his in his stories seldom means but more than a or an He is a not he at one no nor do I to the of any human but I by the that a of an was to a (“The He is to than to and to than And while are they more than and which as of the have can be no one above his is no or to Even the are as as and the in of who his so that they his a to him and of cosmopolitanism is the The a of that on in too to O. The was with it was an on a But time it has to as into with In the has as a characterization of cosmopolitanism, not in or national more or is in a so one version from the one, from a of in a is even more the of with life, and in parts of the in all and In his make a the world, and in of life on and and and is the panorama of the O. Henry's is frequently the most of O. Henry in recent has of he have in the of and many can readily be And of the as a of life and to this as in the from a proponent of that a life, lived in a of is both and a life out to be and and with no more than one to in human And they have been popular in to the United States, The American But a by any other name the the coined in means a of And so it there are one is a in a story by He of all these that for the of his of and as he from the the his it to him as if the only to be about to always the name of or He a of and a from this recent American and constantly of and and in the of and but the by at the the of O. Henry's of settings and more and than and readily though not his and is my in O. Henry's to this of the human the the of to the of the all and to the they are not but they are in a be the name for many accounts of the modern as of as an of that and into O. Henry's American is not a but it is a it is not to the The of a modern city to a not (and with a O. Henry is of the of that even of a and a the and the in a it has always is with of his is to be a of the but of the and which have been so in our are a landscape, than a settled one, O. Henry's is as as his And the city is a for as as a for for be his or for his or for his And out of that will come for of the the of as of do many of national and and not merely by has the in of a between cosmopolitanism and to out the the His is writing, that is, of be in a or may have been but in as a is a of a is the of no it own it the and of a very and of to are but by their the frequent for and for about the of a the individuals and one as has it in a of dialects and dialect in And is the O. Henry's the and but his radical him any is no from which dialect the and the are as or and in their as as are the more Mark have been an for him, but not even so O. Henry's not so his as their for They their to their and the writer it to an toward and most American dialects are little more than so that O. Henry's are of and He his and then the his as for the character who and with it all that a can do with (“The of It is a in the of life in the American can to or O. Henry's is a between of in in the first of Cabbages and in great and of His with all the in the and the of The is in but the You The and the are for the You know what to in the can to be the on The of toward by is on But O. Henry's while certainly not is with both and as in the is a not to but to into character the in a story about an who the is never but On the is a and the of our and and and and even a little on the both to and The has of a figure in these stories who be a He out to be but he that have to can of the is thus from the of the is a means to not to not so if name is and of and with a little and words and a or and many the but not of one in and of a of (“The of has to do it not with words but with a of a in a of a in The has seen with another and to to his he an to his The and forth the of the the with his the and The for instance, the that to the and to read that it the and so It out on him no He no read and a all no with the from the the is with so that even are to their in to one of the stories, is a not to in but to an out in this to his (“The the and the is and and are is of I it to the that the of a and an of the the and of the The for for all the in the stories, there is little few only and have endings. No O. Henry doesn't nor do the characters from the as a great he so that it be he the that the is of are all so that our don't is as as or as the is it is mere But and are all in in The more the You have to for as the one that O. Henry in in while the their It isn't a for unless as the that a to in the And it certainly isn't what and as that the of in and American writers and in the and O. Henry were between the of and the of original O. Henry's all of in of and individuals among other a turned New York the two years in of in an that is a of O. Henry's most from his on to his he and into the of his the of his the his I a But that I have In this story, for O. in the But it from of other of life (“The of the and the and the to on their own the is their the is the for a real are Their of and are O. Henry's are not of the but of the but is the to from do not do on the No one in real life O. Henry's characters and the of are to not to O. Henry is not an of what his the and of toward a in with and even from his with wild His may have been by the of but it by the while may not by the of so many and the of for the in all the of in the is a distinctive that remain a for human for to of American by most that is a of are as never in the of the O. Henry's is in from the it is more to the of human life. The and of his the of his and the of his more of human to a of The in his make their own of be O. Henry was in no a writer and so he from of the that in the He certainly have of as and the of the of as of an not But a that with as on his is to as of New between and is by the of a too But O. Henry a the of individuals with other He the of a that was a well-known essay in American by Mark Though never in so as I O. Henry a of But it has to be recognized as a distinctive essay is a to American as were the of O. Henry as a American writer. American is a and his essay by O. Henry's individualism the other way. is no American only constantly by the and the characters to a as and as O. Henry's have into is it that the of his be so little lies in the of his The few studies to O. Henry have to and The read and characters with a means of thinking about of a social which the authors and their and O. Henry's characters than the of as a of It a in to him from the of his as a is, from the nature of interactions than from the of The interactions are the most and the most but in a as as little O. are the substance than or more than not And a on the of the than the of the to has the most from that in for and of stories trick endings in the by but he in other and toward in an essay that little story is but little in The short story is not to of character or even though this the substance of most of what has been about O. Henry as as of the many short story that in his The as it was only then to be is, however, for in in O. Henry's world, it with a large for which the of doesn't of O. Henry and but they of and of and social with a toward and toward or of the upper is with in And what of readily be to O. Henry as with of it on the as to what may the world, the of the It be of author that his in a And in the same was the it was in a the of to with almost always in to be a of of this for a of which it will be to The life is, if not in and in it be means O. Henry's a from the of can be a to And so it is, with and O. Henry's by into O. Henry's stories to a of a by that any of to it and to to individuals do a than to read O. Henry and his for the do not but that in their and to be with a of that all

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