Question

Go to your school/college library and read some other stories by O’Henry like, ‘The Gift of the Magi’, ‘The Last Leaf and ‘After Twenty years’. Write the stories in short in your notebook.

Answer 1

1. "The Gift of the Magi": This is a heartwarming story about a young couple, Jim and Della, who are deeply in love but very poor. They each sacrifice their most treasured possession in order to buy a Christmas gift for the other, only to find out that their gifts are now useless without the other's possession. The story teaches about the true meaning of love and sacrifice.

2. "The Last Leaf": This is a story about two young women, Johnsy and Sue, who are both artists living together in a cheap apartment. Johnsy falls ill with pneumonia and becomes convinced that she will die when the last leaf falls off the vine outside their window. Despite Sue's efforts to cheer her up, Johnsy becomes weaker and weaker. But when she wakes up one morning to find that the last leaf is still clinging to the vine, she begins to recover.

3. "After Twenty Years": This is a short story about two old friends, Bob and Jimmy, who arranged to meet each other at a specific location after 20 years. When they finally meet, they discover that Jimmy has become a police officer and that he has been waiting to arrest Bob for a past crime. However, Jimmy decides to let Bob go, realizing that he has reformed and become a better person. The story touches on the themes of forgiveness and redemption.