A Review Of 'Whitewashing The Fence' By Mark Twain

Why do we still know O. Henry, Mark Twain, and John Steinbeck? Why do we have to learn about these people if they are authors that go way back? These three short story writers are still considered excellent authors all through 100 years. Because they are the first ones to introduce plot twists, social commentary, and character driven plot to the world their unique writing styles helped them withstand the test of time and create classic literature. It all started with them which is why they withstand the time of change and they created classic literature.

Mark Twain, has a unique writing style, social commentary. In the story “Whitewashing the Fence” Tom has to whitewash the fence as a punishment. Since Tom had to do his chores, he made

His very unique style is character driven plot that was one of the reasons that made him a common author. The character-driven plot is one of his styles and means the internal struggle of a character. He wrote, “The Pearl” which is one of his famous books. In “The Pearl”, Kino is a poor man that found The Pearl of the World which brings his family and him, bad luck and problems. When Kino and his family goes to the doctor, because his son, Coyotito, got stung by a scorpion, he builds up with rage and wrath when he knocks on the doctor’s door. On pg. 9 in the story it states, “ And as Kino raised his right hand to the iron ring knocker in the gate, rage swelled in him, and the pounding beat in his ears and his lips drew tight against his teeth, but with his left hand, he reached to take off his hat.” This quote is an example of the character-driven plot because he is trying not to be mad but instead he shows respect by taking off his hat. Kino makes a different choice by choosing to trust the doctor for help for his son, instead of going on a rampage every time he sees the doctor. This shows character driven plot by Kino internally struggling to be nice to the doctor for his son, Coyoito, and his family. Steinbeck lived during the Great Depression and in the story, there are a lot of situations in both his life and his

Henry’s unique writing style? O. Henry has a unique writing style, which are plot twists. For instance, plot twists are when he makes you think what’s going to happen and then suddenly changes it. In ¨After 20 Years¨, it’s basically about two friends who meet after 20 years! Doesn’t that sound crazy?! When Bob explains who Jimmy is and what their plan is to the officer, Bob doesn’t realize Jimmy is the officer. Without knowing that, he just keeps on going. He says, ¨You couldn’t have made Jimmy come out of New York, so we agreed that we would meet here again at the same time and day 20 years later.¨ ( pg. 227) After he said that, the officer went away because he realized that Bob is the criminal! So then, the officer, Jimmy, gets another officer to arrest him because he couldn’t turn his friend in. This shows that O. Henry uses plot twists as a part of the story and is the stylistic element. O. Henry has a unique writing style as the other authors do. They all have a wonderful style that we can use today. We all are influenced by these three amazing