Character Analysis of Soapy from “the Cop and the Anthem”

Character Analysis of Soapy from “The Cop and the Anthem”

The story “The Cop and the Anthem” by O Henry takes place in Madison Square, New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. The main character, Soapy, is a homeless man. He tries unsuccessfully to commit six minor crimes in an effort to be sent to jail so that he can survive the cold winter, but he is arrested only when he does not want to go to jail anymore at the end. Like many homeless people struggling at the bottom of society, Soapy has his pride, but he lacks ambition.

Soapy has his pride that is reflected through his values of personal freedom and privacy. He makes the park bench his home during warm-weather seasons and the prison his warm quarter in the winter for the reason of his pride. He thinks that the park-bench home gives him personal freedom and free accommodation in a prison is less sacrifice of his personal privacy than a charity shelter. There are all kinds of free shelters Soapy can go to in New York City, but he stays away from them. He argues that such charity always suggests an invasion of personal privacy. According to Soapy, the price for charity is not coin, but deep inquiries of personal privacy and bath humiliation. Three months in the prison on Blackwell’s Island is his dream plan. Because of his pride, Soapy is determined to achieve his jail-shelter goal throughout the whole story. This makes the great irony of his crime attempts, that is, every crime he tries to commit is to defend his pride and obtain a relatively dignified way to freedom.

Although Soapy makes persistent efforts to achieve his jail-shelter goal, he is not ambitious enough to resolve his plight, just as the story indicates that his “hibernatorial ambitions” are “not of the highest.” His lack of ambition is illustrated in three aspects. First, compared with fortunate New Yorkers who spend the winter in a warm place like Palm Beach, Soapy is satisfied with the warm prison. Secondly, he has been in a life cycle of the park-bench and the prison for years. Although he faces many difficulties to get a jail room in the winter, Soapy does not have strong desire for a change. Thirdly, he does not want to work and depends on prison for his basic needs. His soul is finally aroused by the anthem played on