| He | would pull himself out of the mi
pull himself out of the mire; | he | would make a man of himself again; make a man of himself again;| he | would conquer the evil that had
There was time; | he | was comparatively young yet: he was comparatively young yet: | he | would resurrect his old eager
Tomorrow | he | would go into the roaring downtown
| He | would find him to-morrow and ask
| He | would be somebody in the world.
| He | would– Soapy felt a hand laid on
In this concordance from the several “would” following “he” readers may feel Soapy’ strong determination to make a man of himself. This conversely strengthens the ironic implication of the story.
O. Henry also uses adverbs to characterize the characters. Here is a list of adverbs of this story.
his bench in Madison Square, Soapy moved | uneasily | .
to their husbands, and when Soapy moves | uneasily | on his bench in the park, you may know t [III.TXT]
And therefore he moved | uneasily | on his bench.
So the Island loomed big and | timely | in Soapy’s mind.
ough conducted by rules, does not meddle | unduly | with a gentleman’s private affairs. [III.TXT]
The pleasantest was to dine | luxuriously | at some expensive restaurant; and then, [III.TXT]
ter declaring Insolvency, be handed over | quietly | and without uproar to a policeman.
inquired the officer, | excitedly | .
said Soapy, not without sarcasm, but | friendly | , as one greets good fortune.
| Neatly | upon his left ear on the callous pavemen
s time the opportunity presented what he | fatuously | termed to himself a “cinch.”
tanding before a show window gazing with | sprightly | interest at its display of shaving
ghs and “hems,” smiled, smirked and went | brazenly | through the impudent and contemptible li
saw that the policeman was watching him | fixedly | . [III.TXT]
Soapy followed, | boldly | stepping to her side, raised his hat and
ut to beckon a finger and Soapy would be | practically | en route for his insular haven. [III.TXT]
“Sure, Mike,” she Said, | joyfully | , “if you’ll blow me to a pail of suds. [III.TXT]
omen in furs and men in greatcoats moved | gaily | in the wintry air.
he came upon another policeman lounging | grandly | in front of a transplendent theatre
re he caught at the immediate straw of ” | disorderly | conduct.”
d the umbrella and sauntered off with it | slowly | .
The man at the cigar light followed | hastily | .
“My umbrella,” he said, | sternly | .
The policeman looked at the two | curiously | .
ll — “Of course it’s mine,” said Soapy, | viciously | .
He hurled the umbrella | wrathfully | into an excavation.
But on an | unusually | quiet corner Soapy came to a standstill.
pedestrians were few; sparrows twittered | sleepily | in the eaves&emdash;for a little
And also in a moment his heart responded | thrillingly | to this novel
There was time; he was | comparatively | young yet: he would resurrect his old ea [III.TXT]
He looked | quickly | around into the broad
Most of the adverbs that refer to Soapy are clearly negative and remain so throughout the story: uneasily, brazenly, boldly, disorderly, sternly, viciously, wrathfully. They all reflect Soapy’s annoying state of mind of not being able to be put into prison. Yet in order to enhance the ironic effect O. Henry mostly uses positive words such as timely, luxuriously ,quietly, excitedly, sprightly, joyfully, gaily, grandly to modify other characters. These two groups of words are a striking contrast between the poor’s and the rich’s life.
Besides the above concordance which exhibit the plots and the characters some nouns’ concordance are meaning as well, which enhance the story’s ironic significance greatly. Here is the concordance of bench:
On his | bench | in Madison Square, Soapy moved uneasily.
and when Soapy moves uneasily on his | bench | in the park, you may know that winter And therefore he moved uneasily on his | bench | .
D repulse the cold as he slept on his | bench | near the spurring fountain
Soapy left his | bench | and strolled out of the square and
survives even when the home is a park | bench | .
We see bench was Soapy’s home before winter. Yet when winter came he felt uneasy on his bench. Therefore he left his bench and tried to find a new “home”. This is a severe satire to the so-called happiness 、freedom and democracy of the capitalized society. We may suppose if Soapy was not too poor to own a house he might not have tried to break the law to find prison as his home. This concrete word is used accurately , which is an accusation of the society.
The concordance of the word island is very meaning as well.
Three months on the | Island | was what his soul craved.
for his annual hegira to the | Island | .
So the | Island | loomed big and timely in Soapy’s mind.
Soapy, having decided to go to the | Island | , at once set about accomplishing his
It seemed that his route to the coveted | Island | was not to be an epicurean one.
The | Island | seemed very far away.
In his fancy the | Island | seemed an unattainable Arcadia. “Three months on the | Island | ,” said the Magistrate in
When bench can not be Soapy’s warm house in winter island(in Soapy’s mind it refers to prison) became what his soul craved. Soapy, having decided to go to the island, at once set about accomplish his desire. After he did something evil the policeman did not send him to where he wanted Soapy even felt the island seemed an unattainable Arcadia. Yet just when Soapy decided to abandon the island to be his winter home the Magistrate in the Police Court declared he would be three months on the island. This is actually an unexpected decision as to Soapy as well as to readers. When readers have to admire O.Henry’ superb writing technique they may sigh for Soapy’ tragic destiny at the same time.
Some readers may ask: why Soapy did not accept the government’s welfare donate? The next concordance of charity may tell us the answer:
orned the provisions made in the name of | charity | for the city’s dependents.
one of Soapy’s proud spirit the gifts of | charity | are encumbered. As Caesar had his Brutus, every bed of | charity | must have its toll of a bath, every loaf
In this concordance it seems Soapy was proud and scorned the provisions because the conditions of accepting it was strict and the applicants human right was invaded. Thus it is understandable for Soapy to refuse the gifts of charity.
From the above analysis based on concordancing we are given basic insights into the structure of O.Henry’ The Cop and The Anthem. From the above concordancing we can grasp the plots、 the characters and the writing style of this story easily and clearly.
It’s just under the so-called capitalist democracy that Soapy attempted to seek for his special happiness from prison .He did so many evil things yet no policeman sent him to prison. Just when he was moved by an anthem and determined to start a new life he was captured by a policeman and tried for three months captivity in prison. Either on the plots or the characterization or the writing style O.Henry may be rated as a good piece of work. During the course of analyzing the concordancing of this story we are providing a motivation for reading and raising language awareness and enhancing linguistic and stylistic and literary competence and “ learners are able to use literature as a way of increasing their knowledge of English as well as to enjoy literature as to enjoy literature in English in its own right.”( Tribble/Jones 1990:78)
References:
Concordancing in Stylistics Teaching by Bernhard Kettemann
Concordancing in The Cop and The Anthem
Name: Yang Jianmei
Major: Literature
Subject: Corpus
Tutor: Dr.Li Wenzhong
Time: 2001.1.14