Diagnostic Essay of "Of Hearts and Hands" by O' Henry

Have you ever lied to someone so you would not be embarrassed? In the short story, “Hearts and Hands” by O Henry, there is a character who gets on a train on his way to jail. He unexpectedly sits across from an old friend of his named Miss Fairchild who recognizes him. Mr. Easton got in trouble with the law, but doesn't want Miss Fairchild to know. He is escorted by the marshall, who out of the kindness of his heart, covers for Mr. Easton and says that he (the Marshall) did it. Miss Fairchild is led to believe that Mr. Easton is the Marshall, when, in fact, he is the prisoner. The personality traits of Miss Fairchild, Mr. Easton, and the Marshall all contribute to the surprise ending.

Miss Fairchild is an interesting character with many different personality traits. She seems to be smart, and rich. She comes from the east coast, and is adventurous enough to take a train out to Colorado during these violent western times. “I love the West, the air agrees with me here' said the girl irrelevantly.” She seems romantically interested in Mr. Easton, but does not seem to get as much interest from him.

Mr. Easton is the character who counterfeited the money. He got sentenced to seven years of prison for counterfeiting the money. He did not want to be embarrassed in front of this pretty girl. The Marshall covers for him with the lie, and saved his life. “You'll excuse me for speaking, miss, but, I see you're acquainted with the Marshall here. If you'll ask him to speak a word for me when we get to the pen he'll do it, and it'll make things easier for me there. He's taking me to Leavenworth prison. It's seven years for counterfeiting.” This quote proves that the Marshall has some nice qualities to his personality.

The Marshall is a very nice and kind person. When he made up the cover story for Mr. Easton, that showed that he was doing that out of the kindness of his heart. He was not required to do that. “You'll excuse me for speaking, miss, but, I see you're