The Cop and the Anthem by OHenry - Book Report/Review Example

Writing a Character Analysis In the story, The Cop and the Anthem by O Henry, the uses characterization to explain the themes in the story as well as bring out the plot that explains the shape of events. This essay will attempt to analyze the characters in the story in the quest to explain their nature, role, their traits and the motivation behind their actions. The paper will also assess the relationship between the characters and the aspects that lead to a deeper understanding of the characters. In the story, Soapy is the main character. In terms of the complexity of the character, Soapy may be termed as a round character since he has a complex personality as he is often portrayed as a person full of conflicts and contradictions throughout the story as opposed to a flat character that only has one personality. As seen in the story, Henry indicates that Soapy takes different turns in his life (1). One would argue that Soapy does not take these decisions according to his wish but circumstances force him. A good example is when he rejects charity as he believes that he will one day pay for the favors (Henry 1). Soapy also tries to be a criminal by spending time with criminals and hopes to turn himself to jail. From the narration of Henry, Soapy may be termed as a dynamic character. This is because Soapy changes over time due to the various crisis that he is facing. It is even arguable that Soapy is making attempts to solve his central conflicts and that his major role is to resolve the conflicts that face him. A case in point is the event that Soapy is thrown to prison even with his being an innocent person (Henry 1). Despite Soapy breaking the law through committing petty crimes, he does not behave like a criminal and his fate may be described as that of freedom. However, the same does not happen for the case of Soapy (Henry 1). These turn of events steer his life throughout the story. The character, Soapy, plays a major role in the story. Throughout the story, the life and times of Soapy take a central place. Soapy is the protagonist and the crucial moments in his life are well explained throughout the story. He is seen to make attempts to find ways in which he will spend his winter and he opts to commit crime as opposed to getting a job. The crimes would then land him in prison on the island. A success of this plan will ensure that he gets constant food and a home as his pride cannot allow him receive public charity (Henry 1). Soapy does not want to have any pending issues with the public, so he opts to find ways of getting arrested. As the story continues, we see failure in his attempts. It is at this point that he decides to get a job but is arrested in a weird way; thus, having his wish granted (Henry 1). These events make Soapy the main character in the story. Soapy bears different charter traits. First, he may be termed as proud. This results from the fact that he denies any help that is offered to him for claims that he does not want to have anyone making claims on their assisatnce at a later stage. It is this pride to deny help that leads to him engaging in crime so that he could land in jail where food and shelter would be a guarantee (Henry 1). Secondly, Soapy may be termed as lazy as he had the option of securing a job as opposed to engaging in crime to get food and shelter in jail but he did not (Henry 1). Soapy is extremely hopeful of getting jailed, so that he would not struggle to find food and shelter during the winter. Thirdly, Soapy may be termed as a clever person as he had a perfect scheme that would see to a smooth life for his bad days. Despite being unlucky, his crafty personality made him engage in crimes, and though in odd ways, he finally landed in jail as he had planned from the onset (Henry 1). From these traits, the clever and proud characteristics are most important in relation to the plot since the traits motivate Soapy to deny help and continually scheme to land in prison. Soapy is motivated by pride and laziness to do what he does. Since his pride could not allow him to accept help from the public, and his laziness could allow him get a job, Soapy had no option but to find a way to get a perfect way of survival. According to Soapy, committing crimes would send him to jail where he would survive on free food and shelter (Henry 1). I mostly learn out the character through his actions. Everything that Soapy does is pre-planned and his actions explain how much he is willing to implement his plans. Through his actions such as engaging with criminals continually explain to the reader how one’s ambition may be a main motivator in their life (Henry 1). Basically, the characters actions can arguably be said to the main way in which the character is well understood. In the story, there are other minor characters such as the policemen and the businessman that had promised to offer Soapy a job. Soapy would be said to have a good relationship with the businessman as after his plans were seemingly unfruitful, he hoped to get to the businessman in the quest to get a job (Henry 1). The relationship with the policemen was formal one especially when they caught Soapy in the streets. Through a formal conversation with Soapy, the policemen arrest Soapy for loitering charges as he responded to having nothing important that he was doing on the streets (Henry 1). Conclusively, Soapy may be defined as the main character in the story. With the events that surround his stay in the city, the author successful narrates his story. However, it is also important to note that other minor characters such as the policemen contribute to the plot of the story. Work Cited Henry, O. The Cop and the Anthem. N.d. Web. 16 Jan. 2015. Read More