The Beauty of Human Nature in O。 Henry’s Short Stories Abstract O。 Henry is one of the most famous writers in America in the early 20th century, and one of the giants of short stories in the world。 He also plays an important role in American literature。 O。 Henry is famous for his short stories and his short stories are known for their “unexpected endings”, which are also called “O。 Henry ending”。 He creates more than 300 short stories in his life and the works reflect his attitude towards life, people and society。 Most of O。 Henry's stories are set in his own time, the early 20th century。 He pays attention to describing the life of the “small potatoes” of the society and portrays various types of characters in his stories。 He tried to explore the goodness and the evil of human nature at that time when money dominated everything。 At that time, the evil of human nature was so common that the beauty of human nature became praiseworthy。 In his short stories, O。 Henry tries to expose deeply the social evil of upholding money and also admires their beauty of human nature。 It shows his yearning for the beautiful human nature and a healthy society。

This thesis consists of three parts。 The first part is introduction。 It mainly describes something about O。 Henry, the purpose, significance of the study and the literature review。 The second part is the body, which also includes three parts。 Firstly, it introduces the Age of Realism and what the human nature is。 Secondly, it describes the specific beauty of human nature in O。 Henry’s short stories and gives the supporting details。 Lastly, it explains the reasons why O。 Henry focused on the beauty of human nature in his short stories。 It can be discussed from two aspects, one is the life experiences and the other is the social background。76614

This thesis will help people have a better understanding about O。 Henry’s short stories and have another perception and insight in human nature。 And people will praise the beauty of human nature more and make our society more beautiful。

Keywords: O。 Henry; short stories; human nature; the beauty of human nature

欧•亨利短篇小说中的人性美

摘  要欧•亨利是20世纪美国著名的作家，也是世界三大短篇小说巨匠之一，在美国文学界扮演了重要的角色。欧•亨利以他的短篇小说闻名，他的“欧•亨利式结尾”更是享誉文坛。他一生创作了300多篇短篇小说，他的作品也反映了他对生活，人民以及社会的态度。欧•亨利的小说多以20世纪美国社会为背景，注重描绘小人物的生活，他在作品中塑造了各种性格的小人物，探索他们的人性善与恶。在那个金钱至上的年代，人性的恶表现得淋漓尽致，而人性美就显得十分可贵。欧•亨利在自己的短篇小说中揭露了金钱万能、唯利是图的社会罪恶，赞美小人物的人性美，反映了他对健康人性和健康社会的向往与追求。

论文分为三个部分。第一部分是引言，主要介绍了一下欧•亨利的相关情况，研究的目的、意义，以及文献综述。第二部分是正文，主要包括三个章节。第一章节首先对现实zhuyi和人性进行介绍；第二章节介绍欧•亨利短篇小说中具体的人性美，概括小说所体现的人性美，并找出对应的小说加以佐证。第三章节主要介绍欧•亨利对人性主题如此执着的原因，具体分为人生经历和社会背景两个方面进行论述。

希望通过本文能让人们对欧•亨利的短篇小说有更深的理解，对人性有更深的感悟，并能够对人性美的一面加以赞美和推崇，构建一个健康的社会。

毕业论文关键词：欧•亨利；短篇小说；人性；人性美