After Twenty Years Cover Image

After Twenty Years

by O. Henry

Start Free Trial

Discussion Topic

A comparison and contrast of Bob and Jimmy in O. Henry's "After Twenty Years"

Summary:

In O. Henry's "After Twenty Years," Bob and Jimmy are old friends with contrasting life paths. Bob is a successful, yet morally dubious figure, involved in criminal activities, while Jimmy is a dedicated and honorable police officer. Despite their shared past, their choices highlight differences in character, with Bob's ambition leading to lawlessness and Jimmy's integrity guiding him to uphold the law.

Expert Answers

An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Compare and contrast Bob and Jimmy in "After Twenty Years."

Although Bob and Jimmy were best friends as boys, as adults they became two very different types of men. They were both from New York City, and they were only two years apart in age, with Jimmy being two years older. As young men of eighteen and twenty, they hadn't yet decided upon their respective career paths. Both felt equally committed to their relationship and so agreed to meet in twenty years to compare notes. Each of them remains true to that promise and arrives at the appointed meeting place at the appointed time.

Even at the time they parted ways, they had some differences. Jimmy thought New York was the best place on earth and never wanted to leave it, while Bob was interested in going west and making his fortune. Twenty years later, they had diverged significantly in their way of life and values. Bob, now known as...

Unlock
This Answer Now

Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.

Get 48 Hours Free Access

"Silky Bob," chose a life of crime, which led to his being wanted by the law in Chicago. He became wealthy by competing "with some of the sharpest wits going," but that means he probably tried to outsmart other criminals as well as deceive honest men in order to get his riches. Nevertheless, he is proud of his achievements.

Jimmy Wells, whom Bob describes as always having been a "plodder," became a law enforcement officer. Bob says he "always was the truest, staunchest old chap in the world." This proves to be a correct analysis of Jimmy's character. Jimmy did his best to remain true to their friendship, but he also valued truth and honesty, which meant he had to have his friend arrested. Jimmy seems humble; he doesn't lord it over Bob but sends another officer to take Bob into custody.

Both men are apparently intelligent and clever, but Jimmy proves to have the sharper wit in the end, which allows him to fulfill his "destiny" more successfully than Bob does, since Jimmy will continue his police work while Bob's days as a criminal are presumably over.

Approved by eNotes Editorial
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Describe the characters Bob and Jimmy in "After Twenty Years".

'Silky' Bob and Jimmy Wells, longtime friends who have parted ways, agreed to meet again in their favorite restaurant in New York City twenty years later.

O. Henry's story begins on the appointed evening in New York City. A policeman, whose beat includes the block on which the old restaurant known as 'Big Joe' Brady's was located, notices a man standing in the unlit doorway. The man explains that he is waiting for his old friend because they made an agreement to reunite after twenty years. 

Patrolman Jimmy Wells

  • Conscientious lawman: Wells is first and foremost an officer of the law: When the man in the doorway says that he is meeting an old friend after twenty years, Jimmy realizes that this man is his old friend, Bob. But, he makes no comment because he has seen a Wanted poster with a man who resembles Bob. Therefore, he is careful not to identify himself because he wants to be certain about his friend's resemblance to the man who is wanted by the law. 
    Wells then returns to the police station, verifies Bob's identity, and asks a plain clothes policeman to make the arrest because he does not have the heart to embarrass his friend. He gives the other policeman a note of explanation for Bob.
  • Loyal friend: After Bob lights a cigar, the flame reveals the face that is on the Wanted poster, confirming Wells's fears. Because Bob has been his friend and is loyal enough to return to meet him, Wells does not have the heart to arrest his old friend. So, he says with irony, "Hope your friend comes around all right."

'Silky Bob'

  • An adventurous character: Whereas Jimmy remains true to his personality of twenty years ago, Bob has gone a different direction in life. After he went out West, Bob "kept hustling around over it pretty lively" and lost touch with Jimmy as he involves himself in various questionable adventures.
  • An unethical man: He is also not ashamed of what he has done, boasting that the West has given him everything that he has wanted. He adds, "It takes the West to put a razor-edge on [a man]." And, he refers to Jimmy as "a kind of plodder, though, good fellow as he was."
  • A loyal friend: Nevertheless, Bob has not forgotten the love he has had for Jimmy Wells and in an act of strong loyalty, Bob travels over a thousand miles to meet his friend despite possible risks. 
  • A man who is touched by Jimmy's act of friendship: When he reads Jimmy's note, his hand is steady at first, but it trembles after he realizes that it has been his friend with whom he has talked in the doorway. This trembling may indicate his realization that the old love that the two of them had for each other is gone as well as his being touched that Jimmy has not wanted to embarrass him. 
Approved by eNotes Editorial
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Compare the differences between Jimmy and Bob in "After Twenty Years".

In the short story “After Twenty Years,” by O. Henry, we are told that the characters of Jimmy and Bob were, as young men, great friends. They were so close that, as young Bob left New York City to head west and make his fortune, the friends hatched a plan to meet again at the same restaurant in twenty years with the absolute confidence that they both would. And, indeed, they both did.

But, despite this similarity, as middle-aged men they are very different people from one another. Jimmy never left New York City. Nothing, we are told, could have pulled him away. We later learn that Jimmy is a cop, “strong and important,” as O. Henry writes.

We also learn that Bob has been all over the west and that, unlike Jimmy, he’s never made a real home anywhere for long. “I moved around everywhere, and I moved quickly,” he says. Still, Bob’s absolute belief and faith in Jimmy and his goodness never falters, which is a contrast to Jimmy. Although Jimmy has been loyal to Bob in the past, he is now more loyal to the law, and, although he can’t arrest his old friend directly, Jimmy nonetheless finds another cop to arrest Bob, who, we learn at the end of the story, has become a wanted criminal.

Approved by eNotes Editorial
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Bob is a very well-dressed man with a large jewel in his necktie. As this would suggest, he's also clearly a very wealthy man, an impression confirmed by his fine pocket watch covered with small jewels. Everything about his demeanor suggests great confidence and self-assurance. Unfortunately for Bob, he's a little too confident, divulging to the cop all the details about his life out West and about his planned reunion with his old pal Jimmy Wells. This confirms Bob's identity and allows the cop—who of course is none other than Jimmy Wells himself—to set Bob up to be arrested. Jimmy is able to carry out his duties as a police officer because, unlike his chatty friend, he's much more cautious in revealing personal details. He'll happily engage his old friend in conversation, but he won't forget that he's now a police officer and not the Jimmy Wells of old.

Approved by eNotes Editorial
An illustration of the letter 'A' in a speech bubbles

Compare and contrast Bob and Jimmy in O. Henry's "After Twenty Years".

O. Henry is not known for his subtle delineation of character. Both Jimmy and Bob, if not entirely flat, are uncomplicated characters whose psyches are explored very little. On the other hand, they are dynamic characters to the extent that, after twenty years, each has changed so much that they are both difficult to recognize.

Bob is a career criminal and a conventionally bad man, though we do not know the nature of his crimes. They must, however, have been fairly serious to make him the subject of a nationwide search. Despite his villainy, he evidently has a vein of sentiment, since he decides to keep an appointment with an old friend, running what is obviously a serious risk.

Jimmy has the same sentimentality, though it does not run very deep. He feels enough affection for Bob not to want to arrest the man himself but not enough to let him escape. He obviously has more conventional probity than Bob, since he has not only kept himself honest but actually become a guardian of the law, a vocation he clearly takes seriously. He is also more observant than Bob, since he recognizes him after all this time. Bob not only fails to recognize Jimmy but is initially taken in by his impersonator.

Approved by eNotes Editorial