Hearts and Hands Summary by O. Henry
The story entitled Hearts and Hands is an interesting story. It centres around the three main characters and two minor characters. The minor characters are revealed in the end of the story. The whole story is set on a train and the entire action is confined to one of the coaches in the train where a young, beautiful and elegantly dressed lady Miss Fairchild is sitting.
It is at the Denver station that the two other characters in the story, board the train. Throughout the story, the passengers have a light conversation. The story deals with a compassion of a marshal for his convict. It also brings to us a great moral that social images and fantasies which some people rear in their minds, often mislead them. Those who run after the outward appearance may be fooled and cheated. The lady in the story seems to be dazzled by the materialistic way of life and outward appearances. On seeing the young and handsome Mr. Easton, she is attracted to him and her heart seems to be filled with images of her happy past with him. Even she forgets to judge the reality and easily believes that Easton is a marshal. She does not notice that it is Easton’s right hand that is handcuffed. She believes that her old friend is indeed a marshal.
In the story, O, Henry suggests that the people often jump to conclusions that are not true and ignore seemingly obvious details. The narrator does not intervene in the story, but merely presents the things sequentially to make the readers understand how judging people only by their appearance often lead us to trouble. By presenting the observation of the co-passengers, O, Henry is able to provide an ironical twist to his story which makes us not only enjoy the story, but at the same time understand few truths—to be perceptive, not to judge people by their appearance, to be compassionate etc.
Hearts and Hands Summary Introduction
The story is set on a train to Denver. In one of the coaches of B. & M. Express, an elegantly attired woman named Miss Fairchild was sitting. She was surrounded by all the luxurious comforts of an experienced traveller. Just then, the two young men arrived in the same coach and took the seat infront of her. One young man was handsome with a bold, frank countenance and manner whereas the other was rough, sad-looking and heavily built. The two were handcuffed together. At first the lady looked at them with disinterest, but soon a lovely smile brightened her face.
A pink glow was visible on her cheeks. When she spoke for the first time in the coach with Mr. Easton, she commanded to be given the chance to speak first. It seemed that she was accustomed to speak first and be heard. Addressing Mr. Easton, she asked him if he never recognised old friends when he met them in the west. The young man named Mr. Easton was shocked at the worst to hear the sweet and well-known (familiar) voice of a woman.
As the young man was very well familiar with the lady, it was natural for him to feel embarrassed, but he soon overcame his embarrassment and then clasped her fingers with his left hand. With a smile, he called her by her name and asked her to excuse him for using his left hand instead of using the right as his right hand was engaged at the present. For showing her, Mr. Easton raised his right hand, bound at the wrist by the shining handcuff to the left one of his companion.
Seeing Mr. Easton in such a state, the happiness which could be seen in her eyes a little while ago, changed into a bewildered horror. The glow faded from her cheeks. The glum-faced man who was a marshal and had been watching the woman’s face with veiled glances from his keen, shrewd eyes, understood the gravity of the situation. Before Mr. Easton could say something, the marshal intervened and consoled the lady saying that Mr. Easton was the marshal who was taking him (the marshal) to Leavenworth prison for seven years imprisonment for counterfeiting.
After hearing that Mr. Easton was a marshal, the lady took a sigh of relief. As the conversation continued, the young lady was surprised to know that Mr. Easton had discarded his life in Washington to become a marshal in the west. (Actually Mr. Easton seemed to have migrated from the East to the West for better prospects. Since life in the West was expensive and required more money, it seemed that he had taken recourse to counterfeiting). He told Miss Fairchild that he wanted to do something for his better future and desired to live a decent life but for fulfilling this purpose money was the vital need.
He further added that as she knew that the money was the essential thing to keep step with the crowd in Washington, hence he thought to seek the opportunity in the West and became a marshal. Then he told Miss Fairchlid that the job of marshal was not as a high position as that of an ambassador. (In fact, Mr. Easton was trying to convince Miss Fairchild and turn her mind from the reality, but the truth was that he had taken an easy recourse to make money and had been counterfeiting before he was caught and sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment).
When Mr. Easton showed his unhappiness with his present position of a marshal, Miss Fairchild reacted immediately with a warm reply that she liked him more than she liked the ambassador and that she was no longer in touch with the ambassador. Miss Fairchild was so much impressed with the present position of Mr. Easton that she called him one of the dashing Western heroes who rode and shot and went into all kinds of dangers.
During conversation with her acquaintance, she continued to stare at the handcuffs. When she once again looked at the handcuffs, the other man consoled her saying that all marshals handcuffed themselves to their prisoners to keep them from getting away and Mr. Easton was very well aware of his business. Then the young lady asked Mr. Easton if they would see again soon in Washington. At this Mr. Easton said that it was impossible for him to meet soon because his butterfly days were over. (Perhaps the lady could not understand the meaning of the words uttered by Mr. Easton.
She thought that he was talking about his adventurous days and not about his confinement in prison). The lady continued to speak to Mr. Easton truly and simply without the gloss of style and manner. She told Mr. Easton that she and her mother spent the summer in Denver and she also went home a weak ago because her father was slightly ill. Then she appreciated the surroundings of the West. She added that money did not value too much to her. Then she called those people stupid who are so much fond of money that they are always running after it.
When the other man (who was a real marshal) found that the young lady named Miss Fairchild was not prepared to stop her conversation with Mr. Easton and was developing a kind of intimacy with Mr. Easton, he was afraid that Mr. Easton might reveal something about himself. So he asked Mr. Easton to take him out to the smoker car for a smoke which he complied with.
The excuse allowed the men to leave Miss Fairchild. When they left, the point of view shifted to two different passengers who had been listening to the conversation between Miss Fairchild, Mr. Easton and the glum-faced man. One of them remarked on how young the marshal was and the other corrected the mistake saying that it was actually the glum-faced man who was the marshal and Mr. Easton was going to prison for seven years for counterfeiting money. The detail was that Mr. Easton’s right hand was cuffed to the marshal’s left hand. It was clear that the marshal would choose to cuff his non-dominant hand to the prisoner’s dominant one.
Hearts and Hands Summary Stanzawise Word-Meanings
Influx = the arrival of a large number of people. Elegant = graceful and attractive. Surrounded = being connected to (something). Luxurious = very comfortable and expensive. Countenance = the appearance of a person’s face; a person’s expression. Ruffled = annoyed ; bothered. Glum = dreary, gloomy. Handcuffed = chained (A fastening, consisting of an iron ring around the wrist, usually connected by a chain with one on the other wrist). Aisle = passageway between seating areas as in an auditorium or passenger vehicle or between areas of shelves of goods as in stores.
Vacant = not filled; not occupied by a person. Reversed = opposite to the front. Glance = a quick look. Disinterest = lack of interest. Brightening = making her face more colourful or cheerful. Tingeing = giving a small amount of colour to something. Gray-gloved hand = hand covered with a gray coloured glove. Deliberate = done or decided after careful thought. Proclaimed = declared or announced. Accustomed = habituated; used to. Roused = got excited. Embarrassment = the state of being foolish in front of others. Threw off = got rid of. Instantly = immediately. Clasped = held tightly. Bewildered = perplexed; confused. Distress = unhappiness or pain; suffering that affects the mind. Glad = feeling of pleasure, joy or delight. Glow = pink colour at face due to excitement.
Faded = became less bright; lost colour. Parted = divided into parts. Vague = not clearly expressed. Forestalled = stopped (something) from happening. Veiled glances = indirect looks. Keen = very strong and sensitive. Shrewd = sharp or clever. Acquainted = familiar with. Pen = a small enclosure for animals (but here it has been use for ‘prison’). Counterfeiting = imitating something with intent to deceive. Deep breath = sigh of relief. Returning colour = again feeling the freshness and excitement. Taking …. itself = tending to multiply itself. Keep step with = to compete with. Ambassador = the highest-ranking person who represents government while living in another country. Fascinated = captivated. Glittering = shining brightly. To keep away = to prevent them from fleeing away. Business = task of a marshal. Butterfly days = the days of freedom. Irrelevantly = casually. Growled = complained angrily. Reclothing = coming back to an original place, condition, etc. Sidled = moved close to someone in a quiet or secret way. Catch on = become aware.
Hearts and Hands Summary About the Writer
O. Henry was an American writer whose short stories are known for wit, wordplay and clever twist endings. He wrote nearly 600 stories about life in America.
He was born as William Sidney Porter on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He left school at the age of fifteen and then had a number of jobs, including bank clerk. In 1896 he was accused of embezzlement. Although there has been much debate over his actual guilt, he was convicted of embezzling funds from the bank that employed him; he was sentenced to 5 years in jail. In 1898 he was sent to the penitentiary at Columbus, Ohio.
While in prison he began writing short stories in order to support his young daughter Margaret. His first published story was “Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking” (1899). He used a pseudonym, Olivier Henry, only once and changed his pen name to O. Henry, not wanting his readers to know that he was in jail. He published 12 stories while in prison. After serving 3 years of the five-year sentence, he was released for good behavior. He moved to New York City in 1902 and wrote a story a week for the New York World, and also for other publishers. His first collection of stories was “Cabbages and Kings” (1904). He died of cirrhosis of the liver, on June 5,1910, in New York.
O. Henry is credited for creation of The Cisco Kid, whose character alludes to Robin Hood and Don Quixote. ‘The Arizona Kid’ (1930) and ‘The Cisco Kid’ (1931) are among the best known adaptations of his works.
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