Quotations and Literature Forum

Hi everyone,
Have you read "The Cop and The Anthem" written by O. Henry? I have a presentation of the prose. However, there are some I dont understant clearly. Could you help me?

Firstly, Soapy is the one who appreciate his face. He thinks labour can make money and food, etc; he hates to be offered by the charities in spite of his poverty and homless. However, he thinks of breaking the law so that he can be in jail for 3 months during the winter because he thinks a prison is a place that gives him food and accomodation. A problem here is why he doesnt find a job to earn for his living. This way seems to appropriate his personality.. what is your opinion about that?

Next, Does the character, Soapy, strike you as a believable human being or a compostite character based on several real counterpart?

Thnx

I have read it in my college days. And I think one can never understand another person until he stands in that person's shoes. In case of Soapy, a tramper downtrodden by the society, a criminal in the cop's eyes, penniless, and deprived of all intimate relations such as parents, a wife or a child, or friends, jobless, shorn of all self-esteem and sense of self-value, I believe a reader cannot be truly sympathetic with him until he/she has similar experience.

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A reed is more than a reed when it thinks.

Thanks for ur answer. Anyway i have a question about the prose. How do the opening paragraphs establish the author 's tone as well as the setting?