SUMMARY OF ONE THOUSAND DOLLAR:-

O. Henry's short story “One Thousand Dollars” opens with a brief

and polite conversation between a young man and a lawyer. The
lawyer offers the young man one thousand dollars, his apparent
inheritance from a recently deceased uncle. “Young Gillian,” the
young man in question, chuckles at the peculiar and specific
amount of his inheritance. He marvels that, had his uncle
bestowed a much larger or a much smaller amount of money upon
him, he would better understand the bequest. As it stands,
however, he is puzzled and stunned by the legacy of one thousand
dollars exactly.

Mr. Tolman, the lawyer, gives young Gillian the money and further
explains the conditions of his uncle’s will. The will stipulates
that the young man must spend the money and bring receipts of his
purchases to the lawyer’s office. In fact, he must account for
the manner in which he spends every penny of the inheritance. The
young man, still astonished by his uncle’s final bequest, leaves
the lawyer’s office and goes to his club.

Upon entering the club, young Gillian approaches a fellow member,

Old Bryson, and asks him for advice. He explains that his uncle,
who was reportedly worth nearly half a million dollars, left him
only a one thousand dollar inheritance. He asks Old Bryson for
advice on exactly how to spend the money.

Old Bryson questions him about the remainder of his uncle’s

fortune. Young Gillian explains that his uncle left a sizable
portion of his fortune to science, particularly the study of
bacteria. He also states that his uncle’s servants, “the butler
and the housekeeper,” will each inherit $10 and a ring. His
uncle’s ward, a Miss Hayden, will inherit an identical legacy.
Old Bryson reminds him that his uncle always indulged him
financially and that he had never before been a cautious spender.
Young Gillian acknowledges the truth of the statement, referring
to his uncle as “the fairy godmother” of generous allowances.
Still, he is dismayed by the pittance of an inheritance that he
receives from his uncle’s estate. In his dismay and disbelief, he
again asks Old Bryson how he should spend the one thousand
dollars.

Old Bryson sarcastically offers several possible uses for the

money. For instance, he suggests that young Gillian could
purchase a home and live a modest life. He could also purchase
enough milk to supply one hundred hungry babies for a month. He
could quickly...

ANALYSIS OF THE THOUSAND DOLLAR:-

In O. Henry's short story, "One Thousand Dollars," the dissolute,

self-indulgent Young Gillian, who inherits the sum of one
thousand dollars and is required to render an account of its
disposition, is perplexed as to how to dispose of this
sum. Hitherto, he has squandered his uncle's allowance, having
spent it upon his own pleasures. But, because it is an
inconvenient sum to Gillian--"...what can a man possibly do with
a thousand dollars?"--the young man is perplexed to do with this
inheritance. So, he rides to his club and asks the sardonic Old
Bryson how to dispose of this money. After Bryson
"moralizes," he tells Gillian that there is only one thing for
such as he to do with the money: buy the chorus girl Miss Lotta
Lauriere a diamond pendant.

However, when Gillian offers her such a gift, the jaded Miss
Lauriere displays no interest. Then, Gillian takes a cab that
lands him near a blind man selling pencils. Approaching him,
Gillian asks the man what he would do with a thousand
dollars. The blind man, who trusts Gillian because he has enough
money to take a cab in the daytime, shows the young gentleman his
bank book which has a balance of $1,785.00. And, after seeing
this balance, Gillian makes his decision to give the money to
Miss Hayden, a ward of his uncle.

Thus, somehow the blind man's disuse of his money effects

Gillian's decision. Therefore, he could be symbolic of the
senseless wasting of purpose in life. Why, Gillian may wonder
about the blind man, does the pencil peddler sit on the street as
a virtual beggar when he can have a home and comfort? Much as in
the parable of the man who gives his servants talents, the blind
man is like the servant who simply buried his talent. Perhaps,
Gillian chooses to not bury his "talent," demonstrating that he
is not totally dissolute; he gives the money to someone who can
use it properly: a "quiet girl" who is "musical."

THEME OF THE STORY :-

The theme of this story is, quite clearly, love and human
decency. It is a story (like many of O. Henry's) about what
people do (and should do) for love.

Young Gillian is characterized as something of a playboy. He

clearly wastes money at clubs and on showgirls. His uncle has
not liked this about him and has left him $1,000. Gillian
doesn't know this, but if he spends it well, he gets $50,000 and
if he doesn't he gets nothing more.

Gillian spends the money well -- gives it to the woman he loves

(even though she doesn't love him). Then he finds out about the
$50,000. He finds out that if he spent the money badly, the
$50,000 goes to the woman he loves. When he hears this, he lies
and says he wasted the money.

Gillian shows the best side of love here. He knows that Miriam
will not love him no matter how rich he is. So he sacrifices his
happiness for hers.