The stories of O. Henry are known to everyone who loves to read. All others are familiar with them thanks to the wonderful film adaptations of the works of a remarkable American writer. The phrases “sand is a bad substitute for oats”, “we will have time to reach the Canadian border”, “Bolivar can’t stand two” became winged, and their appropriate use indicates a good sense of humor and well-read interlocutor.
The secret of the success of the literary miniatures of O. Henry in their life truth, not aging and eternal. In turn, it is impossible to achieve such reliability if the author does not have experience and has not had the chance to experience difficulties. A carefree, well-fed and prosperous life does not enrich a person with the qualities necessary for a good writer.
O. Henry's real name is William Sidney Porter, he was born in North Carolina, in the small town of Greensboro. Orphaned early, the young man began to work, first at the pharmacy, then at the bank as a cashier. Here he suffered serious troubles, William was accused of embezzlement. Having gone on the run, the young man met different people, and, apparently, heard a lot of adventurous stories. Perhaps the part of the story “The Roads We Choose”, which tells about the robbery of a train, was conceived precisely then, and the phrase “Bolivar cannot stand two” turned out to be in tune with the mood of the clerk hiding from the law. However, the idea of ​​a future work could have arisen in the prison of Columbus (Ohio), where the future writer spent three years.
William Porter, thanks to his pharmacy experience, got a job in a prison infirmary. The prisoners were ill infrequently, and Aesculapius had enough time to try to write stories. Here the pseudonym O. Henry was coined. Why exactly this, about which the story is silent.
America is a country of great opportunity. The story, written by the prison prisoner, was published in 1899. The editor liked the MacClura Magazine, and it was called Dick-Whistler's Christmas Present.
In total, O. Henry wrote more than 270 short stories. Among them is “Roads ...” with the famous phrase “Bolivar cannot stand two”, the meaning of which is the ruthlessness of the “world of profit”. One person doesn’t kill another because he hates him, it’s just that the business is too close for two. And it does not matter if he shoots from the Colt, or kills a competitor in a more civilized - economic way. Nothing personal, just the Bolivar horse cannot stand two riders, and that’s it.
The characters of O. Henry's stories are diverse. Among them are petty clerks, and Wall Street aces-sharks, and literary colleagues, and street gangsters, and simple hard workers, and politicians, and actors, and cowboys, and laundresses ... But who is not in these short stories. The writer himself sometimes lamented that everyone would remember it as the author of small literary forms, and he promised everything that he would create a great novel, or at least a story.
In fact, in the aggregate, these short stories create a three-dimensional picture of American life at the beginning of the 20th century, in all its smallest details and variety, which could hardly be achieved even in the most voluminous epic work. And this canvas does not seem like scenes from a long and strange life, much of them is very similar to the events of our days. Maybe that’s why today you can often hear the phrase “Bolivar can’t stand two” when it comes to cynically eliminating a competitor ...