24 pages • 48 minutes read
O. HenryThe Cop and the Anthem
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1904A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
Blackwell Island
Blackwell Island, the site of Soapy’s prior imprisonment, is a motif that lingers in the background as an idealized place of safety. For Soapy, it is “heaven” and a “winter home” similar to elite residences on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. The romanticization of imprisonment is comical but also tragic, reflecting both Soapy’s pride—he sees Blackwell Island as a place where he could be a “gentleman”—and his destitution:
Three months in the prison on Blackwell’s Island was what he wanted. Three months of food every day and a bed every night, three months safe from the cold north wind and safe from cops. This seemed to Soapy the most desirable thing in the world (36).
Blackwell Island also develops Social Class and the Cycle of Poverty and Crime, as Soapy has been there repeatedly and is once again headed to the prison as the story ends, despite his resolutions to change his life.
Soapy’s Seat in the Park
The story opens by twice describing Soapy “moving restlessly” on his seat in Madison Square. As Soapy is unhoused, this seat is the closest thing he has to a home, and his “restlessness” reflects his obvious dissatisfaction with it. Hoping to return to prison, he “le[aves] his seat” to attract a cop’s attention (37). After his many failed endeavors to do so, he begins to return “home”—although “home [is] only a seat in a park” (40).
Soapy’s seat therefore relates to the theme of poverty, symbolizing the lower-class status from which Soapy cannot escape. His metaphorical efforts to leave his seat are no more successful than his efforts to be seen by those around him until the moment his goal changes, at which point his arrest intervenes to thwart him yet again.
The Anthem
The song that Soapy hears as he passes by a church comes at the story’s climax and marks a turning point. Referred to as an “anthem” and “[s]weet music,” this song brings about an epiphany that impacts Soapy’s entire outlook on life, filling him with hope regarding the possibility of a better tomorrow. The song thus changes the entire mood of the piece, and the imagery O. Henry uses to describe the scene underscores the change: A bright, peaceful moon shines and birds twitter as the music fills Soapy’s ears. The moment is short-lived, however: Soapy quickly encounters a cop and is taken back to prison despite his newfound sense of purpose. The anthem thus symbolizes the illusory nature of “Freedom” and the American Dream, which evade Soapy just as he recommits to pursuing them.
The Umbrella
The theft of the umbrella marks Soapy’s final attempt to get arrested. It is made of silk—a luxury good—so Soapy likely hopes its value and the well-to-do status of its owner will attract the attention of the police. Like so much in the story, however, the episode proves ironic: The “owner” of the umbrella apparently stole it himself, so he is reluctant to involve the police. Besides underscoring the haplessness of all Soapy’s efforts, the scene highlights the arbitrariness of social class, as the “umbrella man” seems at least as morally gray a character as Soapy but is far more prosperous.
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By O. Henry
