Literary Devices in The Cop and the Anthem
Symbolism, Imagery, Allegory
Setting
Like many of O. Henry's stories, "The Cop and the Anthem" is set in New York City in the late part of the 1800s and first ten years of the 1900s. The story features one night in the life of Soapy,...
Narrator Point of View
"The Cop and the Anthem" is told in the third person and only follows our main character, Soapy. Although other people's reactions to him show us a little about how they feel about Soapy, we only s...
Genre
"The Cop and the Anthem" is the story of one adventurous night in the life of our main character, Soapy. A story about a guy trying to get arrested would have to be a little bit adventurous, right?...
Tone
When talk about a story's tone we are looking at how the author feels about the characters and subject matter of the story, and even toward his or her audience. We usually have to go outside the st...
Writing Style
We don't know about you, but we appreciate a short story that's really short. O. Henry is known as one of the masters of this form, especially because of his "twist" endings. (You know where to go...
What's Up With the Title?
This story is full of cops (six in all) but we don't meet the one in the title, the one who finally arrests Soapy, until the end of the story. Same thing with the anthem—we learn what this myster...
What's Up With the Ending?
This ending is so unfair. Just when Soapy changes his mind about spending his winter in jail, the law closes in on him. This is a classic O. Henry "twist" ending. The easiest way to look at the twi...
Plot Analysis
Stage Identification: Soapy realizes winter is coming.Explanation/Discussion: We first meet Soapy on his bench in Madison Square in New York City. A dead leaf falls on his shoulder making him reali...
Trivia
O. Henry wrote and published his first twelve stories from jail. (Source) O. Henry says that this is Rule 1 of being a successful storywriter: Write stories that please yourself. There is no Rule 2...
Steaminess Rating
There is no sex in "The Cop and the Anthem," unless you count when Soapy pretends to try to pick up a lady in hopes of getting arrested for harassing her.
Allusions
Caesar (5)Brutus (5)Madison Square (throughout)The Mediterranean (4)Vesuvian Bay (4) Blackwell's Island (5) Broadway (7, 10)Fifth Avenue (7)Arcadia (30)Jack Frost (2)Thanksgiving (8)