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Situational Irony
Style
Explanation and Analysis:
O. Henry’s writing style in “A Retrieved Reformation” is full of figurative language and ironic plot twists. The following passage—which comes as Jimmy resolves to break into Annabel’s father’s safe to save Agatha—captures the variety of figurative language that O. Henry is able to squeeze into a simple scene:
With that act Ralph D. Spencer passed away and Jimmy Valentine took his place.
“Get away from the door, all of you,” he commanded, shortly.
He set his suit-case on the table, and opened it out flat. From that time on he seemed to be unconscious of the presence of any one else. He laid out the shining, queer implements swiftly and orderly, whistling softly to himself as he always did when at work. In a deep silence and immovable, the others watched him as if under a spell.
This passage opens with O. Henry metaphorically describing how Ralph “passed away” and Jimmy “took his place,” his way of noting the risk that Jimmy is taking in revealing his criminal skills (and therefore his criminal past). O. Henry then uses imagery when describing the “swift and orderly” way that Jimmy lays out the “shining, queer implements” in his tool set and starts “whistling softly to himself.” These descriptions help readers see (and hear) the ease and skill with which Jimmy performs his work. Finally, the passage ends with O. Henry’s use of simile in describing how Annabel’s extended family watches Jimmy work “as if under a spell.” This description communicates how shocked Annabel and her family are to witness the law-abiding “Ralph” transform into the criminal safe-breaker Jimmy.
In addition to his liberal use of figurative language, O. Henry’s writing style in this story (as well as in most of his literary works) is characterized by ironic plot twists, especially at the end of the story. At the end of “A Retrieved Reformation” there are several ironic twists, including the fact that Jimmy was going to get rid of his safe-cracking tools that very day and that the rules-obsessed detective Price illegally decides to let Jimmy go free after witnessing him heroically save young Agatha.
Related Themes:
