22 pages • 44 minutes read
O. HenryOne Thousand Dollars
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1919A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
One Thousand Dollars
The money in the title of the story symbolizes the dichotomy between rich and poor. For the poor, $1,000 is life-changing, while for the rich it seems like a trifle. This juxtaposition plays out as Gillian travels across New York City in a cab trying to decide what to do with the money. For the cab driver, the money would change his life, as it would for those whom Bryson suggests as beneficiaries. For the blind man, $1,000 was the sum total of a life of hard work. For Miss Lauriere, by contrast, it was almost an insult. She would rather have no necklace than one that cost only $1,000.
For Gillian, in the end, the $1,000 symbolizes his love for Miss Hayden. The money is inconsequential to him, but it is not for Miss Hayden. The gift represents his love for her even though she does not return his affection.
The Cab
The cab is both Gillian’s mode of travel around New York and the vehicle of his moral redemption. It symbolizes his transformation from selfish and uncharitable to selfless and charitable. With each stop, Gillian changes more, eventually deciding that instead of spending the money on material goods or himself, he will give it to Miss Hayden, who needs it. Through this journey, he also realizes that he does not need money to be happy.
The Pendant
The pendant Gillian offers to buy Miss Lauriere symbolizes the frivolous and shallow nature of his lifestyle and relationships. While beautiful and expensive, the pendant would have been a waste of money because Miss Lauriere saw it only for its financial value, not its sentimental value. She would probably treat it as carelessly as she treated Gillian. Her response, that another woman has a more expensive necklace, shows his money would have been wasted on the purchase of the pendant just as his affection is wasted on Miss Lauriere.
Related Titles
By O. Henry
