What is The Romance of Busy Broker about?

Answer 1

William Sydney Porter, also known as O Henry was an excellent writer and very talented in writing surprise endings to all of his stories ("O Henry"). He wrote about average people living in New York City, this influenced the settings of most his stories by giving the reader a visual of the senses he wrote about. In the stories "A Romance of a Busy Broker" and "A Service of Love" which were written by O Henry, both are influenced by O Henry's life and talents. Also used in his stories were many literary elements such as, characterization, situational irony, symbolism, and foreshadowing.

In the story "A Romance of a Busy Broker", Harvey Maxwell an old, very busy Manhattan broker becomes overwhelmed with work and becomes very forgetful. His assistant Mr. Pitcher misunderstands him and call for a replacement stenographer to replace Miss. Leslie. Until Mr. Maxwell finds out and gets upset, telling Mr. Pitcher that Miss. Leslie will hold the job of stenographer until she cannot anymore. When lunch hour for the office comes around Mr. Maxwell relies that he is in love with Miss. Leslie. He asks her to marry him, only to find out that they got married the previous night at a small church around the corner from the office.

Throughout the story "A Romance of a Busy Broker," O Henry uses characterization to explain and exaggerate the characters in the story. Starting with Mr. Harvey Maxwell, O Henry explains him as an old man, who works as a broker in Manhattan. This job at times for him can get very busy and this leads to him becoming forgetful. He forgets during the story that he actually is in love with Miss. Leslie and has already taken her hand in marriage. O Henry explains Miss. Leslie as a pleasant, beautiful woman. She is a plain woman who always dresses in gray or dark colored dresses. O Henry explains that "it fitted her figure with fidelity and discretion," explaining about the dress she wore, she also never wore jewelry such as, chains, bracelets, or lockets . Another character also explained and exaggerated, but not as much as Mr. Maxwell and Miss. Leslie is Mr. Pitcher. Mr. Pitcher is a confidential clerk of Mr. Harvey Maxwell; he is the one who tries to hire a new stenographer to replace Miss. Leslie. As seen, O Henry uses the literary element characterization to characterize his characters by explaining and exaggerating them all throughout his stories.

Another element used in the story "A Romance of a Busy Broker" is situational irony. This part of the story is where O Henry uses his surprise ending to shock the reader. He did this by making the reader believe that Miss. Leslie was going to get replaced. Than surprising the reader, when Miss. Leslie tells Mr. Maxwell that they are already in love and married. Throughout the story it was believed that Miss. Leslie was quiet and did not associate with Mr. Maxwell. Then when Mr. Maxwell thinks to himself "By George, I'll do it now," said Maxwell half aloud "I'll ask her now. I wonder I didn't do it long ago", the reader suspects that something is going to happen. Than as Mr. Maxwell explains to Miss. Leslie that he loves her and wants her to marry him, she tells him and the reader that they were married the night before by explaining, "Don't you remember, Harvey? We were married last night at eight o'clock in the little church around the corner. As shown O Henry was very talented in writing stories and using the element of surprise to end his stories, this is what O Henry is known for.

In conclusion, O Henry is seen as one of the best writers in time. By using the element of surprise at the end of his stories, it added excitement and wonder to the story. In both short stories "A Service of Love" and "The Romance of a Busy Broker" he used this method an in most of his other stories. As seen, he also used characterization, situational irony, foreshadowing, and symbolism to ass to theme, setting and many others.