The characteristics of O'Henry's ending

Often at the end of an article, the psychological status of the characters suddenly changes unexpectedly, or the fate of the protagonist suddenly reverses, resulting in unexpected results, which are both unexpected and reasonable. It gives people an unexpected feeling and has to admit that he is reasonable. Generally, it can better depict characters and enrich the content of the story.

For example, O Henry wrote 300 short stories and one novel in his life. Famous short stories include The Gift of the Magi, The Police and Hymns, The Last Vine and so on. Here are two examples.

(1) In The Police and Hymns, Soapy made trouble several times and tried to settle down in prison, but it was always "unlucky". When soapy was influenced by the hymn and wanted to turn over a new leaf, the police put him in prison for "unwarranted" charges. Just when everyone thought Soapy would spend his life safely, the police appeared and took him to court. This is a typical "O'Henry ending", just like seeing people at dawn fall into darkness again, which makes the reader's heart twitch, memorable, thought-provoking and unforgettable for a long time. And O 'Henry used this method well, which profoundly reflected the reality that good and evil are inseparable in society.

(2) In The Last Cane Leaf, the old painter always wanted to draw a masterpiece handed down from generation to generation. In the face of the neighbor's request, he was indifferent, even a little disgusted, an image of what this woman's death had to do with me. Then when the patient counted the fallen leaves and waited for death, the dead leaves that stood still after a night of wind and rain rekindled her hope for life and gradually began to recover. Just when everyone thought it was an ordinary medical miracle, the heroine's words suddenly changed the plot. The dead leaves that saved people were painted by an annoying old painter in the middle of the night regardless of the wind and rain. After finishing this masterpiece, the old painter may not live after being infected with tuberculosis, because he has lost hope of living. Suddenly, the whole cold social relationship became warm and moving. The old painter passed on life and hope through a dead leaf, and this painting is worthy of being the peerless painting mentioned at the beginning.