The stylistic analysis of the story “ The Cactus” written by O. Henry

     

     The story under analysis “The Cactus” is written by well-known American writer O. Henry. William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), an American short-story writer  known by his pen name O. Henry. He pioneered in picturing the lives of lower-class and middle-class New Yorkers. His rich work experience (a reporter, a bank teller, a ranch hand) was reflected in his stories.   O. Henry wrote hundreds of short stories including "The Ransom of Red Chief" (1910), "The Duplicity of Hargraves" (1902), and "The Gift of the Magi" (1905).O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization, and clever twist endings. He wrore in a dry and humorous style and often used surprise ending in order to underline ironies.

      When people try to describe O. Henry’s writing style, they always use the term “smile with tears,” which implies his unusual way of thoughts and endings about every story. These stories usually end in a humorous but also cruel kind of way. 

     “The Cactus” is a very bright example of such stories. The analyzed short story was written in 1882. This story deals with emotional suffering of the main character, whose name is   Trysdale. He dwells about his beloved who has just given herself to another man. Trysdale is rooting for the reason which spoiled their relation and made him suffer. The character realizes that his own pride, pretence, dissimulation and ignorance wrecked their relation and, as a result, his life.

     The  basic theme of this story is how false pride and lack of knowledge could spoil one`s life. This story is also about distrust which leads to misunderstanding. Being too vainglorious and having not enough courage to tell the truth  his lovely woman,  Trysdale  loses her forever.

     The events of the extract presented in a specific detailed way.  Having returned from the wedding of the beautiful young woman whom he had assumed he would marry, into his bachelor appartment,  Trysdale rues his vanity and conceit. Trysdale`s  stream of consciousness shows his inner suffrage and, at the same time, bewilderment, he puts rhetorical questions  (“Why had it ended thus? There had been no quarrel between them, nothing?”). The language of this story  is not so plain as it seems to be. In order to understand the massage, the story needs to be reread, because a huge diversity of shades of meaning, which are hided between lines. The language of this story is rather sophisticated, as it is full of various metaphors, metonymies and other stylistic devices (“As she had slowly moved up the aisle toward the altar he had felt an unworthy, sullen exultation that had served to support him”).

     From the point of view of presentation  the text is mostly 3rd person narrative with the insertion of direct speech.

     The main character of the story is Trysdale. Through  he is described  through his own meditation in a very ironic way (“The scene was the night when he had asked her to come up on his pedestal with him and share his greatness”). The main thing that leads Trysdale’s fate become so bad is his habit of paraphrasing some Castillian proverbs from dictionaries. Perhaps knowing a little means that you know anything and it will make you looked more educated, that is what Trysdale trying to do. Unfortunately,  he targeted wrong person, Carruthers. He who admires Trysdale’s fake knowledge and shows it off to a woman that brings Trysdale’s bad luck in the end. Even Trysdale himself cries over spilt milk of this unexpected luck (“Now, Carruthers was an idiot.” and “Carruthers, who was one of his incontinent admirers, was the very man to have magnified this exhibition of doubtful erudition”). However, he cannot confess it after the woman makes a judgment about him. He wants to build a prestige of his own image in the woman’s eyes, another Trysdale’s foolish act to go to his end of the story. Trysdale is depicted mostly throught indirect characterization: “As she had slowly moved up the aisle toward the altar he had felt an unworthy, sullen exultation that had served to support him. He had told himself that her paleness was from thoughts of another than the man to whom she was about to give herself.” These words present the main character as  narcissistic person which overestimate himself.

     Her image is 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”.  These words prove that she admired  Trysdale.. 

     Direct: “How glad, how shy, how tremulous she was!”, “her convincing beauty that night — the careless wave of her hair, the tenderness and virginal charm of her looks and words”.

     The plot of the story runs as follows :

     Exposition of this story is very short  and deals with the importance of “Time”. The word “Time” in the very beginning of the story is capitalized and personified to reveal its relativity.

     The story itself  starts from recalling the night on which Trysdale had proposed to the beautiful woman to marry him, she had asked him about keeping quiet his knowledge of Spanish since Captain Caruthers had told her that he is fluent. Because "the incense of her admiration" was so sweet and flattering, he allowed her to retain the assumption that he knows the language.  Trysdale has thought no more of this question of hers.  Instead, he remembers how she seemed a "snared bird" that night.   She sent no word as she had promised; and, when he saw her two nights later, she seemed "wondering, eager."  He awaited her explanation; she gave no reply, but sent him a cactus, which he understood as refusal.

     The climax of this story is the marriage  of  Trysdale`s beloved.

     The denouemet  of  this story is when the message of the present given by   Trysdale`s  lovely woman is revealed. The voice of the other man in the room interupts his reverie, asking him what is wrong and suggesting they have a drink. Rather distractedly, the friend sees the cactus on Trysdale's table and asks him where he got it. He tells Trysdale the Spanish name is Ventomarme, which means "Come and take me" in English. 

The types of speech employed in analyzed story are narration with flashbacks to the past.

In order to portray the character and to render the idea vividly and convincingly the following stylistic devices are used. Among lexical expressive means we can see metaphors: “a habit of his mind” is employed to show the bewilderment of  the main character and his tries to understand why his lovely has not chosen him; “the garments of his soul” , “incanse of her admiration”,“the joints in his armor” are used to promote the idea of  Trysdale's low moral qualities; “wave of her hair” is used to depict the  delicate beauty of the woman, “bitter wraith of a smile”,”prich of the thorn” is used to show the late penitence of the main character.

There are some examples of metonymy in the story under analysis: “he laid his mightiness at her feet” is employed to show  Trysdale's fillings to her beloved; “guilt rests upon my shoulders”.

  We can find some cases of simile in the story: “White favors like stars upon their coats shone through the gloom of the apartment”  is used to create an image of celebration which was left by Trysdale; “she fluttered like a snared bird” reveals the emotive elevation of woman who is going to marry a man she loves; “He had absorbed the oblation as a desert drinks the rain” helps to understand how Trysdale loves flattery.

Personification also takes place in the text under analyses: “drawling words of the minister irrevocably binding her to another”“passed through Trysdale's mind a swift, scarifying retrospect”, “Shaken rudely by the uncompromising fact” are used to depict the suffering of the main character.

A lot of epithets are used in the text under consideration:” odorous masses, well-bred voices, crisp garments,drawling words”, ”his own innermost, unmitigated, arid unbedecked self”, “poor consolation”, “swift, limpid, upward look”, “swift, scarifying retrospect”,“convincing beauty” are used to describe the events and characters more vividly.

Among lexical expressive means we can see  hyperbole: “She had invested him with an almost supernatural number of high attributes and excellencies and talents” is employed to show love of  Trysdale to his beloved; “For the thousandth time he remarshalled in his mind the events of those last few days before the tide had so suddenly turned” conveys the confusion of the main character.

In order  to show the tragedy and growing tension of the situation  for  Trysdale gradarion  is employed (“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”).

A case of oxymoron (“sullen exultation, exhibition of doubtful erudition”)  is used to show the foolishness of Trysdale`s actions. I order to criticize  Trysdale`s self-perception and abnormal pride irony is imployed: “The scene was the night when he had asked her to come up on his pedestal with him and share his greatness. ”

A combination of these expressive means and stylistic devices makes O. Henry's style highly original and easily recognizable.

As for the syntactic expressive means and stylistic devices: rhetoric guestions are also used in the story under  consideration:” Vanity and conceit?, But why ?, Why had it ended thus?”. They are used to reflect the inner world of the main character, his shock   and perplexity.

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”), polysyndeton (“She had invested him with an almost supernatural number of high attributes and excellencies and talents, and he had absorbed the oblation as a desert drinks the rain that can coax from it no promise of blossom or fruit.”) and anaphora (How glad, how shy, how tremulous she was! How she fluttered like a snared bird when he laid his mightiness at her feet!) are employed to convey the inner straggle of the main character.

      In order to emphasize the main idea inversion is used: “Thus, and wider from this on, they had drifted apart”. To render the idea of incompletion of Trysdale`s thoughts aposiopesis is used: “Humbled now, he sought the answer amid the ruins of his self-conceit. If…..”.

We can also meet some cases of graphons in the story under analyzis. The word “Time” in the very     beginning    of    the    story is   capitalized and personified to reveal its relativity. 

Summing    up the   analysis   of   the   story   Cactus” one   should   say that O’Henry    brilliantly   uses    irony,   wit, wordplay,   warm   characterization,   and clever twist endings.  O’Henry suggests through "The Cactus" that love demands truth and openness of heart. Hypocrisy and pride are the anathema to the world of love.