The cop and the Anthem

Henry, an American author, wrote the short story “The Cop and the Anthem” in December
1904. It is one of the notable works of O. Henry. The publication of the story first appeared in
the weekly edition of New York World. For the second time, it got its place in O. Henry’s
collection The Four Million. It has also been developed as a short film “Trying to Get Arrested”
also.The Cop and the Anthem has several signature features of O. Henry’s trend of writing. For
example, the story is set in New York. It ends ironically. Also, there is an empathetic feeling
towards the mental state of a lower-class person. The importance of the story can be known
from the fact that it is still a part of several academic courses. It is also translated in certain
languages like Spanish, Japanese, and French.

The story flashes an unusual situation that makes it unique. For instance, the protagonist,
Soapy wishes to be in prison. He roams in New York streets and tries hard to get himself into
jail. It is because prison is the only comfortable place in the world for him. Likewise, Soapy
desperately wishes to go to prison because he fears the treading winter. He is a homeless man
and seeks shelter in such a dreadful place that is a nightmare for others.

The Cop and the Anthem signifies the trend of O. Henry’s series of New York stories. It was set
in 1901. The early 20th-century saw a sea of immigrants in the United States. Most of the
immigrants came from Europe. The people of contemporary life were aware of the pursuit for
economic gains. Therefore, to participate in the race of the American dream, many people
shifted to developed countries.

In New York City, the number of immigrants stroked a 9 million height. This created a lack of
jobs and basic facilities needed for modern life. For instance, people were homeless and were
forced to live in the streets in a miserable state. O. Henry would roam in the streets of New
York to get inspiration for writing about ordinary life.

He has witnessed an extremely helpless state of living. Therefore, in his stories, O. Henry
prefers the lower-part of social life. His character Soapy in “The Cop and the Anthem” is one
such street character. He also entitled his second collection of stories The Four Million after
seeing those people’s lives.

LITERARY ANALYSIS
 “The Cop and the Anthem” is a humorous story in a well-constructed structure. It is
sequenced chronologically with the protagonist as the main focus of the story. It develops the
attention of the readers at every new plan of Soapy because the events always turn against his
wishes. This creates a mocking experience for the protagonist.

Soapy tries hard to get arrested. However, when he hears the anthem of the organist, his
thoughts instantly change and he feels a positive power. This epiphany happens in the climax.
At the same time, he gets arrested and his desire to get a better life remains unfulfilled. The
writer also uses flashbacks to give a sneak-peek into Soapy’s past life.

Henry uses the realistic setting of New York City to give a strong context to the story. For
example, the life of Soapy corresponds to the lives of many such homeless people and their
problems. It helps in developing a realistic portrait of the social setting of the time. This setting
describes the communication gap between the rich and poor classes.

Also through third-person omniscient narration, the narrator gives an insight into the
psychological perspectives of Soapy’s personality. For instance, there is a conflict between his
internal world and outer reality. He is a disorder in the seemingly ordered social setting.
Furthermore, a detailed analysis is given below.

In the 19-20th century, English society was very much embedded in the class struggle. Most of
the works of different literary writers include the major theme of class difference. For instance,
in “The Cop and the Anthem” the main character is a homeless loitering man. In his efforts to
get into prison, he switches through different statuses. He is confused about his position in
society. Therefore, whenever Soapy tries to pretend to be elite, he is thrown out.

Similarly, when he becomes a penniless beggar and eats for free, he is also thrown out. When
he disguises as a woman chaser, he considers this deed below his status. Even then, he fails in
identifying a prostitute and gets trapped in his trick. At the end, when Soapy finally resolves to
earn a good name, he is rejected as a good citizen and is thrown in prison for his lurking around
like a vagabond.

Another flaw in the class difference that O. Henry identifies is that class indicators are flawed. It
is impossible to identify a character belonging to a certain class from his/her appearances. For
example, in “The Cop and the Anthem”, Soapy is well-dressed and well-spoken. He considers
himself a regarded person. On the contrary, he is a homeless poor man.

Likewise, he is confused for a well-to-do person by the restaurant staff first but after seeing his
“telltale trousers”, they get him out. Also, the low-class restaurant considers him a bill-paying
client. The police also identified him as a person who cannot commit any crime. When the cop
encounters him after breaking the shop window, he does not think of him as a criminal.
Similarly, when Soapy yells at the officer, he perceives Soapy as a football player and a “Yale
lad”.

Though, Soapy considers himself as a dignified person and pretends to be one. He fails to
identify those who appear well-dressed but are not. For instance, he becomes a “masher” and
flirts with a lady thinking her to be a privileged lady. However, the lady turns out to be a street
lady. She also confuses him for a customer. On another occasion, he snatches a silk umbrella
from an elite looking person. He turns out to be an umbrella thief, ironically. Likewise, the man
also thinks of Soapy as a high-class man. O. Henry depicts appearance as flawed in recognizing
the status of a person.

The language soapy uses also recognize him as an elevated person. He sometimes uses smart
and lavish language like “eleemosynary”. On the other hand, the prestigious and well-
mannered characters speak flawed dialogues. For example, a waiter says to him “No cop for
youse”. Also, a police officer utters “Lave them be”.

Henry is a remarkable writer in English short story writing. Most of his stories are short and
captivating. He is famous for his “twist endings”. For example, in O. Henry’s stories, the
situation often reverses or something unusual happens that changes the whole setup. He
creates the story “The Cop and the Anthem” in a playful and comic composition. For instance,
when the narrator praises Soapy’s confidence in him, he makes the language humorous. “Soapy
had confidence in himself from the lowest button of his vest upward” the narrator says.
However, this is not ironic. It is true of Soapy because he wears frayed trousers below his fancy
coat. Also, O. Henry does not want the readers to feel sad for him. He makes the story light and
comic.

At the beginning of the story, the style is a bit fanciful in the description of the upcoming
winter. The writer calls the dead leaf “Jack Frost’s card”. We can see the embellished
introduction of winter as if some officer is coming to warn the people to leave Madison Park.

Similarly, at the end, when Soapy listens to the anthem in the church, his emotions are
touched. There, the style shifts to melodious and motivational. He rejects his plans of getting
into jail and thinks of a productive life. The writing style becomes musical and aspiring that
captivates Soapy’s mind.

Most of O. Henry’s works have a certain level of empathy with the readers. He wrote for the
lower lot of people, therefore, there is a connection between the people and his characters. O.
Henry creates his character Soapy in “The Cop and the Anthem” keeping in mind the lives of
street people in New York City and the rest of the world.
 Henry would roam in the streets and would listen to the conversations and discussions of
common people. This gave him great inspiration for writing his short stories. He could feel the
situation of those people. Therefore, his works have an empathetic tone.

Likewise, the tone is sympathetic and accepting for Soapy. For instance, Soapy does not want
extravagant expenses or lots of money or food. His only desire is his survival, that is everyone’s
right. O. Henry in his life was always sympathetic towards poor people and would help people
like Soapy. That is why he portrays him as a self-respecting and dignified person.

The short stories of O. Henry are, in fact, in themselves a genre. His stories are mostly located
in New York with unusual endings. The “The Cop and the Anthem” represents the adventurous
one night of an interesting character, Soapy. His only goal is to get a room in jail for winter. In
his adventures, Soapy plans to annoy the citizens to become eligible for prison. For instance, he
crashes a shop window with a stone. He also tries to embarrass a woman and abuses a police
officer.

Likewise, the story can be traced from the viewpoint of realism. O. Henry presents a realistic
picture of early 20th-century English society. In New York, there was a sea of immigrants facing
homelessness and miseries. Similarly, the streets, the park, the city, and the prison are also
named realistically. This presents O. Henry’s serious approach to the issues of common people
in contemporary society.

The story “The Cop and the Anthem” uses third-person omniscient narration to convey its
message. In this story, only one character is the main focus. All the other characters are in
groups or are unimportant. Furthermore, the story is presented from Soapy’s point of view. He
is given importance and the narrator has access to his psyche. The other people also react to his
advances; however, these reactions are presented from Soapy’s perspective.

As Soapy is a character who likes to keep his privacy intact, the narrator also gives limited
information regarding him. For example, little is known about his past or future life. We do not
know how he fell in this dreadful life.

However, the information and description of the city and its places and events are realistic. This
develops a sense of connection between the narrator and the readers.

The anthem in “The Cop and the Anthem” serves as a moment of epiphany for Soapy. O.
Henry particularly relates Soapy’s mind changing scene with religion because the anthem is
played in a Church. Apparently, the story does not seem to keep religious mannerisms into
account. However, the significant moment of realization and hope comes out of Soapy’s regard
for the anthem.
 The song disturbs a revolutionary man inside a homeless wanderer. He feels a new strength to
do something extraordinary to make his wretched life better. He is resolute to “pull himself out
of the mire” and become a new man. He reminds himself that he still has time. He can make
the best out of it by going to New York’s downtown district to find work and “make a man of
himself again”.

The anthem also symbolizes the American dream that motivates everyone to take their part in
getting a better economic status in the world. It appears to signify the struggles for a
compatible economic standing in society. Despite his motivation, Soapy stays outside the
church away from the anthem. This depicts his status as a lower member of American society
who does not have any right to be one among the aspirants of the American dream.

As Soapy is so inspired by the anthem, he decides to live in freedom with money and home.
However, the dream is just an illusion for people like him. He, in a sense, does not deserve a
better life and gets arrested to be kept away from the race of elites.