Instant Access To 100,000+ Essays!

O. Henry is a well known author of numerous short stories. O. Henry’s writings are similar in certain ways such as; the usage of ironic, unexpected endings, the location being one of three settings, and that of the strong buying power of money. He incorporates many of these things in many of his stories. “The Gift of the Magi,” “The Skylight Room,” “The Cop and the Anthem,” “One Thousand Dollars,” and “The Last Leaf” are all short stories that he wrote that contain some of these aspects. Ironic and unexpected endings occur in many of the stories written by O. Henry one example was in the story “The Gift of the Magi.” In this story the two main characters both make a sacrifices to buy a gift for the only problem. The one problem with that is, both of their gifts pertain to that certain thing that the other one sacrificed. “I sold the watch to get the money to buy your combs.” (6) Just before this Della said refering to her hair “It’s sold, I tell you – sold and gone.” (5) In another story called The Cop and the Anthem