Laughterintears—thepatheticfateofO’Henry’.docxVIP

Laughter in Tears—The Pathetic Fate of O. Henry’s Characters摘要：批评家对作为一名短篇小说大师的欧·亨利作品的评论主要集中在其人性的主题，生动的情节，频繁的巧合，出人意料的结尾以及幽默的语言等方面。本文重点研究欧·亨利作品中的“笑中带泪”这一写作手法，通过分析其作品的主题与语言特征，结合欧·亨利的真实人生经历来分析其采用此种写作手法以及其笔下人物悲剧命运的原因。关键词：欧·亨利；写作手法；人性主题Abstract: As a master of the short story, critics comment on O ? Henry’s works mainly focused on the theme of humanity, respect vivid plot, frequent coincidence, humor and unexpected ending language. This paper focuses on O ? Henry Works’ writing style of “laughter in tears”, by analyzing the theme and language features in his work, combined with the O ? Henrys real life experiences to analyze the use of such techniques and the cause of the pathetic fate of characters.Keyword: O ? Henry; Writing techniques; Theme of humanityIntroductionO. Henry, as the famous American short novelist in 20th and the originator of American modern short novel, has been regarded as one of three masters of short novels with French Maupassant and Russian Chekhov. When still young, he focused all his mind to be a painter, while under the encouragement of his wife, he began to work. Later, he got into prison due to the accounts problems when he was working in the bank. Then, he published a great deal of short novels which raised wide attention. He wrote nearly 300 short novels and a novel. His works are featured with the expressing American middle and lower class life, humorous languages and surprised end. 1.1 O. Henry’s Life O. Henry (1862—1910), whose original name was William Sydney Porter, was one of the three most famous short story writers in the world and the founders of American modern short story. In order to carry forward the fine tradition of O. Henry’s works, the O. Henry Memorial Award has been presented since 1918 for the best short stories published every year. O. Henry is a legendary person whose life is filled with twists and turns. In 1962, he was born in a small town named Greensboso, North Carolina, the United States. His father was a doctor, an