摘 要：欧·亨利作为世界三大小说家之一，其作品语言诙谐，描写的人物富有生活情趣，因此被誉为“美国生活的幽默百科全书”。本文主要通过细读法、文本分析法和学术研究法来探讨欧·亨利短篇小说中的幽默艺术。幽默是欧·亨利短篇小说的一大特点，本文通过对欧·亨利著名短篇小说的分析，主要从结尾，语言和人物刻画这三个方面来分析小说中的幽默艺术，从而帮助读者透过幽默的表象看到作者真实的意图，进而发现其作品中幽默艺术的魅力。

关键词：欧·亨利；短篇小说；幽默艺术

Abstract ：O. Henry is one of the three most famous short story writers in the world. His short stories are famous for their surprising endings, as well as their exquisite conception. The characters written by him are full of delight of life. Above all, Henry is praised as the “Humorous encyclopedia of American life”. In this paper, it is mainly from close-reading, text analysis and academic methods to explore the humorous art in O. Henry’s short novels. Humor is one of the major features of O. Henry’s short novels. In this paper, it is mainly from the surprising endings, humorous language and humorous portrayal of certain characters to analyze the humorous art in O. Henry’s short novels, so as to help the reader see the writer’s real intention and enjoy the charm of the humorous art.

Key words: O. Henry ; short novels; humorous art

Contents

摘 要 i

Abstract ii

I. Introduction 1

II. Surprising Endings 2

2.1 What is the Surprising Ending 2

2.2 The Surprising Ending Reflected in O. Henry's Short Novels 2

2.3 The Function of Surprising Endings 5

III. Humorous Language 5

3.1 Metaphor 6

3.2 Personification 7

3.3 Overstatement 7

3.4 Irony 8

3.5 Contrast 8

IV. Humorous Portrayal of Certain Characters 9

4.1 Humorous Characters in The Gift of the Magi 10

4.2 Humorous Characters in The Cop and the Anthem 11

4.3 Humorous Characters in The Last Leaf 11

V. Conclusion 12

Bibliography 14

Acknowledgements 15

An Analysis of Humorous Art in O. Henry's Short Novels

I. Introduction

   O. Henry is a famous American short story writer, along with Chekhov and Maupassant are called the world three masters of short novelists. O. Henry creates nearly 300 short stories in his whole life. His works are short but succinct, and give a person the power of the great shock. The humorous language, plot twists, and  surprising endings constitute the O. Henry type novel unique artistic features. He describes many characters. They are full of life interests. But his humor is often different from ordinary humor. It seems easy expression of hidden deep meaning.   His humour is known as “a tearful smile”. The “smile” is just a appearance. It is the essence of “tears”. Rich life experiences, humorous, open-minded character, coupled with the sharp, unique writing technique explain the realism humorous master of literature and art charm. Humor and sadness are his unique style of writing in his novels. And the clever conception and surprising endings are the appeal of his works. O. Henry is an outstanding realistic short story writer. He creates many humorous style, meaningful short stories. They mostly reflect the reality of the American society. His works have a wide range of readers around the world. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the humorous art of O. Henry’s short stories, mainly from surprising endings, humorous language and humorous portrayal of certain characters. O. Henry is one of the most famous novelists in the world in the early 20th century. He plays a very important role in American literature. O. Henry is a creative novelist. And the theme, the language, the frame work and the endings of his short stories all have his own characteristics. But his humorous writing style is a common feature in his short stories. This paper aims at analyzing the humorous style so that we can get a deeper understanding of O. Henry ’s humorous writing style and the function of it. O. Henry ’s stories are full of rich humanity. He pays attention to the lives of common people. Critics continue to evaluate O. Henry ’s contribution to the literature, and most of his works have maintained the humorous style. This humorous style makes him become a writer who has influenced American Short Stories for half a century.