Prompt #1:
Why do you think Jimmy decided not to arrest Bob himself? explain the factors that may have contributed to Jimmy’s decision. Be sure to cite specific evidence from the text to support your answer.
Jimmy, despite his seemingly unwavering loyalty to his profession and support of the law, was ultimately still unable to arrest Bob, his longtime friend, and hence found someone else to make the arrest for him. In his note, Jimmy writes: “I was at the appointed place on time. When you struck the match to light your cigar I saw it was the face of the man wanted in Chicago. Somehow I couldn't do it myself, so I went around and got a plain clothes man to do the job.” Another possible thought is that Jimmy wanted Bob to experience the moment he was waiting for for 20 years, even if the other person was an undercover policeman. He may have wished for Bob to experience the warm feeling that comes with meeting an old friend before arresting him, something that would not be possible if Jimmy himself revealed his identity as he has presented himself as a policeman, not Jimmy, to Bob from the very beginning. It is interesting to note that this may not have happened if Bob recognized Jimmy straightaway—Jimmy was forced to stick to his role as a policeman after Bob’s comment "It's all right, officer, [...] I'm just waiting for a friend. It's an appointment made twenty years ago."
Prompt #2:
It has been said that this is a story about divided loyalties. comparing the loyalties of the two main characters. How are they alike and different? Be sure to use specific examples from the text to support your claims. Why do you think O. Henry chose the twenty-year rendezvous in New York as the setting? (250w)
After Twenty Years can definitely be viewed as a story about divided loyalties, comparing the two differing loyalties of the two main characters. Both characters are loyal to each other to some extent; however, Jimmy's loyalty to his profession and ethical values outshines that towards his friend. It is interesting to note that the two characters O. Henry decided to base his story upon are complete polar opposites—Jimmy is a legally upstanding policeman, the strong arm of the law, while Bob is a wanted man, a criminal. This contrast then serves to justify Jimmy’s betrayal of Bob, due to their similarly contrasting loyalties. However, while Jimmy is viewed in a positive light as the morally upstanding and respectable character in this story, Jimmy’s unwavering dedication to the law still amounts to the betrayal of his friend, the main argument against Jimmy’s character. This is emphasized through Henry’s choice of vocabulary with cold, unemotional connotations, such as “stalwart form,” as well as a noticeable lack of emotional descriptions of Jimmy.
Prompt #3
Based on what you know about Bob, write a letter from Bob to Jimmy in response to Jimmy’s note. Explain what Bob might have been thinking on the night he was arrested. Be sure to cite specific evidence from the text in your letter.
JIMMY:
Hello, Jimmy. You definitely had me there—never in a thousand years would I have thought that the policeman that stopped to talk would be my friend of twenty years. Then again, at least it was nice to see you again after all that time, even if I didn’t recognize you.
Never would I have thought that my best friend of all these years would just leave me like that either. What happened to our twenty years of friendship? Did that all amount to nothing? Yes, I get that you’re a police officer now, and this is your job, but shouldn’t morals, shouldn’t basic empathy come before that?
I would’ve never betrayed you, Jimmy. I came a thousand miles for you, just for this?
- BOB
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