Social Triangle

Summary:

There was once a lower class man by the name of Ikey Snigglefritz. He worked as a tailor's apprentice and earned almost nothing. He worked very hard, but after work he had as much fun as he could. It was a Saturday, and he decided to go to Cafe Maginnis because his idol, Billy McMahan, went there often. He gazed at him for a while, and eventually gathered the courage to greet him. After shaking hands and using all his money to order a drink, Ikey felt like the luckiest person in the world and even his family reprimanding him for spending his little money didn't bother him.

Billy then went out to dinner with his wife and spotted his idol, Cortlandt Van Duyckink, who was at the very top of society. Billy gathered the courage to go say hello and thank him for looking to help the poor in his district. After shaking hands and exchanging greetings, Billy felt like the luckiest person in the world. He even tried to order drinks for the entire restaurant.

While driving home in his car, Cortlandt studied the poverty of the neighborhood. He spoke of all the soup kitchens he'd opened, but hoped to do even more to help the poor. He spotted a very poor looking man, left his car, and went up to him to shake his hand. He told the man that he wishes to know him and help him as much as possible. He then felt nearer to being a happy person. He'd shaken the hand of Ikey Snigglefritz.

Commentary:

I didn't really like this story much when I first read it, but after thinking about it for a little while, it grew on me. I didn't like it at first because I thought the ending of Cortlandt shaking hands with Ikey was very predictable, considering the story is called "Social Triangle." When I thought about it, however, I came to the conclusion that it didn't matter that it was predictable because it was a cute idea and O. Henry did a great job of portraying how everyone has different ideals and things that make them happy, depending on who they are. I also liked how the most "successful" of the three was the least happy, though he had used his money for good and done so much to help the poor. He showed that it is much easier to be happy and feel like the luckiest person in the world when poor, but a lot harder to feel happy when you are rich. I also thought it was cute how obviously different he made each of their names to go with their social classes: from Ikey Snigglefritz, to Billy McMahan, to Cortlandt Van Duyckink. As he did in his other stories we've read so far, O. Henry used his usual humorous and conversational tone. One example of this is when he wrote "Ikey was a tailor's apprentice. Are there tailor's apprentices nowadays?" I also like his word choice in some parts of the story, for it almost sounded like a poem. One example is when he described Ikey's work. He says he "toiled and snipped and basted and pressed and patched and sponged all day in the steamy fetor of a tailor-shop." Overall, I really enjoyed the irony and message of this short and sweet short-story.