O.

Henry
Biography
1 1
Who was O.Henry?

2 2
What did O.Henry write?

3 3
What is typical of O.Henry's stories?

4 What was the essence of his works?

 Who was O.Henry?
• William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862
– June 5, 1910), better known by his pen
name O. Henry, was an American short story
writer.Porter was born in Greensboro, North
Carolina, and later moved to Texas in 1882. It
was there that he met his wife, Athol Estes,
with whom he had two children. In 1902,
after the death of his wife, Porter moved
to New York, where he soon remarried. It
was while he was in New York that Porter's
most intensive writing period occurred, with
Porter writing 381 short stories.
What did O.Henry write?
• 1) "The Gift of the Magi"
is a short story by O.
Henry first published in
1905. The story tells of a
young husband and wife
and how they deal with
the challenge of buying
secret Christmas gifts for
each other with very
little money.
• The short story "A service
of love" tells us a story
where Joe wants to be an
artist and Delia wants to
be a pianist. They set out
to New York to learn and
excel in their talents. They
meet each other, fall
in love, and get married.
They support each other's
dreams and live in a tiny
house.
• “The Last Leaf” concerns Johnsy, a
poor young woman who is seriously
ill with pneumonia. She believes
that when the ivy vine on the wall
outside her window loses all its
leaves, she will also die. Her
neighbour Behrman, an artist, tricks
her by painting a leaf on the wall.
Johnsy recovers.
• O. Henry's short story, 'After Twenty Years,' focuses on the
reunion of two old friends: Jimmy and Bob. Through their brief
encounter, the two explore the themes of friendship, loyalty,
and trust. Bob's punctuality in keeping his meeting with Jimmy
perhaps best demonstrates his loyalty to their friendship.
What is typical of O.Henry's stories?
• Henry was a prolific American short-story writer, a master
of surprise endings, who wrote about the life of ordinary
people in New York City. A twist of plot, which turns on an
ironic or coincidental circumstance, is typical of O.
Henry's stories.
What was the essence of his works?
• O.Henry's works not only excite and delight
us, they awaken in the soul a whole world of
good feelings, instill optimism and hope. 
Despite the fact that the heroes of the works
of O. Henry appear before us most often in
difficult and sometimes even dramatic life
situations, the finale never leaves a feeling of
bitterness or disappointment in the soul.  In
the finale, goodness, humanity, mercy,
generosity and unselfishness always triumph.
O.Henry’s Quotes
• “We can't buy one minute of time with cash; if we could, rich people
would live longer”
• “Write what you like; there is no other rule.”
• “If a person has lived through war, poverty and love, he has lived a
full life”
• “Friendship is not an accident ...”