Abstract:

O. Henry, one of the three most famous short-story writers in the world, enjoys equal status with Chekhov and Maupassant. Exquisite plot, wry humor and twisted ending dominate his works. This thesis mainly analyses the artistic ending and the humanity of characters in O. Henry’s short stories.  The author first introduces the life of O. Henry and the social background in O. Henry’s time. It also discusses the humanity of characters in the artistic ending of O. Henry’s short stories, humanity virtues, humanity evils and the blend of virtues and evils as well, which arouses a wide resonance in humanity around people from different walks.

Key words: artistic ending; humanity; resonance; social background

摘要：

欧•亨利，美国著名批判现实主义作家，世界三大短篇小说大师之一，与莫泊桑，契科夫齐名。引人入胜的情节，诙谐的幽默，曲折的结尾贯穿他的作品。本文主要分析了欧•亨利短篇小说中艺术结尾中的人性体现。本文笔者首先介绍了欧•亨利生平及其所处时代的社会背景。并就欧•亨利短篇小说中艺术结尾中的人性体现进行了充分的阐述， 即人类品质、人性的善与恶等，从而试图给广大的读者带来人性的共鸣。

关键词：艺术结尾; 人性; 共鸣; 社会背景

1. Introduction
1.1 O. Henry
O. Henry, as a great master of the art of fiction, has been popular mainly for his short stories. Most of O. Henry’s characters are typically American, portraying various sorts of people in the United States of American. In Addition, O. Henry’s fictions always deal with the self-sacrificing member of a family who is often undergoing great hardship to help someone else, whether he is a relative or a friend. Though his plot is often full of coincidence, the surprise ending is his specialty and appeals to the readers very much. At the same time, his stories characteristically express the impact of coincidence on characters through humor, cruelty and irony, scarcity and often have unexpected endings, a symbol that is closely related with his name. Wit, irony, wisdom, individuality and local characteristics are also traditional marks of the typical O. Henry’s stories. Additionally, his warmth of human understanding and sympathy with the social “underdog” give many of his stories poignancy and bitter-sweetness. In order to commemorate his great contribution to American literature, American literary circles set up Henry Award in 1918.