" A SERVICE OF LOVE " is one of O. Henry's most famous article, telling moving love story about a pair of poor young husband and wife .
The couples,who are lovers of art, gave up their pursuit of the of art in order to fulfill the other side, and this at the same time showed the frustration and hardship of the roots of 19th Century America class life .
The pure love between Joe and Delia gives me deeply impression. They both secretly sacrificed their time and chances to earn enough money to support their spouse(配偶). Delia works in a laundry(洗衣店) for two weeks. They cheat each other so that one of them can win the opportunity to realize his or her dream of Art.
Until one-day Delia’s hand was burned with a smoothing-iron, do they find out the reality. This kind of ending eulogize(赞扬) of the love between ordinary people.
In “A Service of Love”, O. Henry inputs the comment to an inside view, which is conveyed by the conversation between Joe and Delia: “When one loves one’s art no service seems too hard—just when one loves”. The theme is straightly revealed(揭露) from the beginning and restated by to the end.
What’s more, I think the author wants to tell us that the society still has charm and has not become vicious(恶毒).
Either the upper class or lower class can get chances to search their happiness. O. Henry has a great understanding of the trials of the lower class, and he frequently pictures the lives of ordinary people of early twentieth century America with warm and sympathetic colors. Monetarily they were poor, but they are mentally wealthy.
We may laugh with tears after finishing reading the story. O. Henry carries an abundant good humor with hum and sees the bright and amusing side of things.
Besides, the real charm of tales of this story lies not only in the twist ending, but also in the reversal reflected from the twist ending of his characters' humanity. The kind of endings serves to light up the humanity of characters, to show the author's love and hatred and thus to arouse the readers’ sympathy.
The author uses different kinds of devices to add wry humor to enhance the theme. If we ponder deeply over the twist endings and the radiant effects, we will find the root of society system is the field of the humanity.
This beautiful love story not only phrases the happiness between the couples, but also shows the great side of the humanity. Human being has many virtues from ancient times to the present. They are kind, brave, honest, hard working, polite, thrifty, generous, hospital and so on.