The Cop and the Anthem is one of O.Henry's representative works. This novel describes a vagrant who is jobless, homeless and commits crime on purpose so that he can be put into prison in winter. However,things don't goes as he expected. But when he makes up his mind to give up evil and return to good, he is arrested.
Based on the whole text, the author's humor is present in various ways, one of which is through irrationality during the development of plots. soap, the vagrant who has stirred up trouble for six times, is eager to go to prison. But he is always out of luck and get policeman's forgiveness. When soap is touched by the anthem and wants to be a good citizen, he is arrested for groundless reasons. This way is a kind of black humor manifesting social reality profoundly. We can see something gloomy, desperate,but simultaneously, we can't help laughing when reading the vivid description.
Once, soap wants to reach his goal by molesting a woman, soap straightened the lady missionary』s ready-made tie, dragged his shrinking cuffs into the open, set his hat at a killing cant and sidled toward the young women.but the seeming virtuous and quiet woman begin to seduce him in reverse.「Sure, Mike,」 she said joyfully, 「if you』ll blow me to a pail of suds. I』d have spoke to you sooner, but the cop was watching.」With the young woman playing the clinging ivy to his oak soap . Besides, soap steals an umbrella from a neatly dressed customer, but the umbrella is ill-gotten originally.''Of course,''said the umbrella man''that is—well, you know how these mistakes occur—I—if it』s your umbrella I hope you』ll excuse me—I picked it up this morning in a restaurant—If you recognise it as yours, why—I hope you』ll.So the modest and lady and gentleman turn out to be someone that we cannot imagine, which is not rational. Nonetheless, as a matter of fact, they just hide their dirty acts under a beautiful veil and a small sign can indicate a great trend, we can learn that the so-called noble upper class goes more serious than the two. These plots reveals awful mood of that capitalist society.
In addition, the conflict between the irrationality of Soap's behavior and the rationality of the cop's judgment is one of the important reasons for Soap's "misfortune". For example, soap breaks the glass and wait for the policeman to come and arrest him, but the cop reckons that a man who commits evil won't sit and wait for arrest, men who smash windows do not remain to parley with the law』s minions then he excludes soap. Besides, he wants to break the peace by virtue of kicking up a fuss in the street, identically, the cop deems that only college students dare to be so unbridled and boisterous''Tis one of them Yale lads celebrate』 the goose egg they give to the Hartford College. Noisy; but no harm. We have instructions to lave them be. His abnormal conducts is determined by his distorted mentality, which exactly reflects torture and agony both in life and mind oft he low-class. When the poor guy intends to do good the moment he is moved and inspired, the cop believes a vagrant will never something to do with the quiet atmosphere around a church, the soft lamplight and the touching music. Consequently, soap is caught unexpectedly. 「What are you doing here?」 asked the officer. ''Nothing,'' said soap''Then come along.''said the policeman. ''Three months on the Island.'' said the Magistrate in the Police Court the next morning It is the accident that mirrors confusion of truth and falsehood, black and wright.
Needless to say,there are many ways to represent humor, they have one thing in common--where there is humor, there is specific implication. The writing style of the author is humorous, the disclosure of the society is deepgoing, the reflective life and
mental distress are mirky. O.Henry uses a quantity of comparison and humor to fully display the character's wretched fate and cruelty of capitalist society.