Hearts and Hands (by O Henry)

O. Henry is the pen name of the American writer William Sydney Porter, known for infusing wit, gentle humour, and surprise endings in his short stories. “Hearts and Hands” is not an exception.

About the Story

“Hearts and Hands” by O. Henry is a story told during the course of a train journey to Denver.

Elegantly attired woman Miss Fairchild is seated on the train when two men arrive and take the seat facing her. Miss Fairchild knows this man, Mr. Easton, and starts chatting with him but is rather surprised to discover that he is handcuffed to the older man seated beside him.

As the woman continues to chat to Mr. Easton, she is really curious to know why he is handcuffed.

The man with Easton senses Easton’s embarrassment and says that Easton is a marshal and he is a criminal, and the two are headed for Leavenworth prison. “All marshals handcuff themselves to their prisoners to keep them from getting away. Mr. Easton knows his business,’ explains the old man. However in reality, Mr. Easton was the criminal and the old man was the police officer who was taking him to the jail.

Soon, the two head towards the smoker room (for smoking), Mr. Easton bids good-bye to the woman.

Passengers seated nearby, who listened to the conversation, start making comments in a hush-hush manner. One says that Mr. Easton looked too young to be a marshal. Another person says that Mr. Easton is not the marshal; he is the counterfeiter.

In the story, the author explores various ideas from pretence, identity, independence and honesty. Mr. Easton comes across as a polite person but the fact is that his life is based on deceit.

You get an impression that Miss Fairchild liked Mr. Easton and probably even wanted to make a relationship with him by saying that she loves the west and wants to live there. But she is also confused on seeing his handcuffed hands. So, you can say that the hearts and the hands were against each other.

The Marshal (police officer) also seems to be a man of compassion as he does not want Mr. Easton to be embarrassed in front of the woman, especially after he hears that the woman has feelings for him. So, even in this case, although his hands were forced to do his duty, his heart made him feel pity for Mr. Easton.

So you can see how the title “Hearts and Hands” of the story is apt.

The twist in the end makes the story interesting, and it also delivers an important message that we should not always take things at face value.