Kick the (bad) habits

This month’s story is full of verbal fun. In The Girl And The Habit by O Henry the playful use of language stands out above any other element of the story. As usual, you’ll get the most out of the story if you read it for yourself: http://writ.rs/ohenry. Let’s look at how O Henry really gets the most out of language in crafting this tale.

Firstly, note how the story starts in an unusual way with a dictionary definition of the word ‘habit’ and how this ties in with the title. This is significant because the concept of habit will be important later on. Notice also that the main character is called Miss Merriam, a name that is associated with dictionary publication.

But that’s only the start of the verbal fun and games.

Count how many allusions there are of a classical, biblical or historical nature. The first paragraph details literary and historical figures