Class IX: Best - Seller

Best Seller by O. Henry

About the Author:

O. Henry is the pseudonym of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910), American writer of short stories, best known for his ironic plot twists and surprise endings. Born and raised in Greensboro, North Carolina, O. Henry was fascinated by New York street life, which provided a setting for many of his later stories. During the last ten years of his life, O. Henry became one of the most popular writers in America publishing over 500 short stories in dozens of widely read periodicals. His style of storytelling became a model not only for short fiction, but also for American motion pictures and television programmes. Writing at the rate of more than one story per week, O. Henry published ten collections of stories during a career that barely spanned a decade. In 1919 the O. Henry Memorial Awards were founded by the Society of Arts and Science for the best American short stories published each year.

About the story:

The story is about a guy named John A. Pescud who believes that all the best-selling Romantic books are exaggerated fiction. He thinks that it is not possible that some guy from New York falls in love with a European woman belonging to Royal family, and then they both, late, get married to each other. Later, when he narrates his story to the narrator, we come to know that he is the one who got married to a rich girl in other country. Thus, the title of the story is ironical.

Text-book Exercise:

(a)    One day last summer the author was travelling to Pittsburg by chair car. What does he say about his co-passengers?

Answer: The authors says that most of his co-paasengers were ladies in brown-silk dresses cut with yokes, with lace insertion and dotted veils, who refused to have the windows raised. There were some men who looked as if they might be in almost any business and going almost anywhere.

(b)   Who was the passenger of chair No.9? What did he suddenly do?

Answer: The passenger of chair no. 9 was John A. Pescud. He hurled a book to the floor between his chair and the window.

(c)    What was John A. Pescud's opinion about best sellers? Why?

Answer: John A. Pescud thinks that the stories of all the best sellers is same i.e. the love story of a common guy and a princess. He also feels that whatever is mentioned in the best-sellers doesn’t happen in real life.

(d)   What does John say about himself since his last meeting with the author?

Answer: John says that since his last meeting with the author, he had his salary raised twice, and he had got commission too. He also mentioned that he has bought a neat slice of real estate. He further mentions that the next year firm is going to sell him some shares of stock.

(e)    How did John's first meeting with Jessie's father go? What did the author tell him?

Answer: John’s first meeting with Jessie’s father was successful, since it set the tone for a possible alliance in future. John not only made his proposal, stated his intentions in clear terms, but also made Jessie’s father laugh with his anecdotes and stories.

(f)     Why did John get off at Coketown?

Answer: Jessie had fancied some petunias in one of the windows and she wanted to plant them in her new house. So Pescud thought of dropping at Coketown to dig or get some cuttings of flowers for her.

(g)    John is a hypocrite. Do you agree with this statement? Substantiate your answer.

Answer: Yes, I believe that John is a hypocrite. The word hypocrite means the person tries to shows what he is not. John is such type of man. He said that he did not believe in the romance portrayed in best sellers. He believed the stories too good to be true. However, his own story was fantastical. His wife, the only daughter of the oldest family in Virginia, met him, an ordinary travel salesman of a plate glass company, in a journey where he would have least expected to find his life partner. Their courtship also was too fantastical, and even after all the episode, the fashion in which Pescud criticized love stories of best sellers proves him to be a hypocrite.

(h)   Describe John A. Pescud with reference to the following points:

Answer:

Physical appearance: John was not particularly good looking

His philosophy on behaviour: A man should be decent and law abiding in her/his hometown

His profession: A travelling salesman for a plate glass company

His first impression of his wife: A very fine girl, whose job was to make this world prettier just by residing in it

His success: Much successful John had had his salary raised twice in the previous year and his company was to give him a few shares as well.

6. Irony refers to the use of words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of their literal meaning. Working in pairs, bring out the irony in the following :

a) The title of the story, "The Bestseller".

Answer: The Best Seller is supposed to be most popular and likeable. But John Pescud throws the best seller “The Rose Lady and Trevelyan” to the floor of the chair car. He later says that all bestsellers have the same unrealistic romantic stories.

b) Pescud's claim, "When people in real life marry, they generally hunt up somebody in their own station. A fellow usually picks out a girl who went to the same highschool and belonged to the same singing-society that he did."

Answer: Pescud told the author that unlike the stories of the bestsellers, in real life people marry somebody in their own place. Someone who has been educated in a similar type of school and has grown up in a similar background. Yet the irony behind his claim is seen in his own life history. The moment he saw the unknown girl on the train, he fell in love with her, without much knowledge about her. He followed her to her destination and even after finding out that she lived in Elmcroft, Virginia, in a 50 room mansion, belonged to the oldest family in the state and her father was a descendent of the belted Earls he did not give up his pursuit. In spite of coming from totally different walks of life-he being an ordinary travelling salesman, their paths met and he went on to marry her.

c) The name Trevelyan.

Answer: Trevelyan is the hero of the bestseller novel “The Rose Lady and Trevelyan.” Pescud condemns such best sellers and makes fun of its unrealistic characters. But at the end of the story, the author calls Pescud a Trevelyan because he had behaved almost like the hero of the bestseller.