O. Henry Short Stories Study Guide - Vocabulary & Concepts

Vocabulary definitions, key characters, and literary devices from O. Henry's short stories 'A Retrieved Reformation' and 'After Twenty Years'.

Assiduously

Done with great care, effort, and continuous attention.

Clemency

Mercy or leniency granted by an authority or judge.

Compulsory

Required by law or a rule; mandatory.

Retribution

Punishment inflicted as vengeance or payback for a wrong.

Virtuous

Showing high moral standards or righteousness.

Anguish

Severe mental or physical pain or intense suffering.

Habitual

Done constantly or out of habit; regular or customary.

Stalwart

Strongly built, sturdy, loyal, and reliable.

Plodder

A person who works or walks slowly and laboriously.

Egotism

Excessive self-conceit, selfishness, or self-talk.

Jimmy Valentine

A master safecracker pardoned by the governor after serving nearly ten months of his four-year sentence, who changes his ways after falling in love.

Ralph D. Spencer

The alias adopted by Jimmy Valentine in Elmore, Arkansas, under which he opens a successful shoe business.

Ben Price

The detective who spent years tracking Jimmy Valentine, but ultimately chooses to let him go after witnessing him save Agatha from the vault.

Silky Bob

A wanted criminal in Chicago who spent twenty years Out West making his fortune and returned to New York City to fulfill a meeting pact with his old friend.

Jimmy Wells

A dedicated New York City policeman who keeps his appointment to meet Bob, but gets a plainclothes officer to make the arrest after recognizing Bob as a wanted criminal.

Situational Irony

A literary device that occurs when the outcome of a situation is radically different from what is expected by the characters and the reader.

Jimmy's Burglar Tools

A custom set of tools that symbolizes Jimmy's criminal identity at first, and later symbolizes his intention to abandon his criminal lifestyle when he decides to give them away.

Big Joe Brady's Restaurant

The hardware store's former location where Bob and Jimmy Wells made a pact to meet exactly twenty years later.