Mil dólares de O. Henry: análisis del cuento y su mensaje sobre la herencia

A Thousand Dollars, de O. Henry

This story is about a young man who is very damaged. Live your game live. His uncle dies and he inherits 51,000 dollars. He only knows about 1,000 dollars, though. His uncle decides to test him: if he spends responsibly, he will receive the other 50,000 dollars, but if he doesn't, it will be left in the hands of another woman he loves. After he learns about the other money, he decides to give it all away by lying and saying that he lost all the gambling money.

O. Henry's story "A Thousand Dollars" opens with a brief, polite conversation between a young man and a lawyer. The lawyer offers the young man a thousand dollars, his apparent inheritance from a recently deceased uncle. "Young Gillian," the young man in question, laughs at the peculiar and specific amount of his heritage. He marvels that if his uncle had given him a much larger or smaller amount of money, he would understand the legacy better. As it is, however, he is bewildered and stunned by the legacy of exactly one thousand dollars.

Mr. Tolman, the lawyer, gives young Gillian the money and further explains the conditions of her uncle's will. The will stipulates that the young man must spend the money and bring receipts for his purchases to the attorney's office. In fact, he should take into account how he spends every cent of his inheritance.

The young man, still in awe of his uncle's definitive legacy, leaves the lawyer's office and goes to his club. Upon entering the club, young Gillian approaches a fellow member, Old Bryson, and asks for advice. He explains that his uncle, who was reportedly worth almost half a million dollars, left him only an inheritance of one thousand dollars. He asks Old Bryson for advice on exactly how to spend the money.

Old Bryson questions him about the rest of his uncle's fortune. Young Gillian explains that her uncle left a considerable part of his fortune to science, particularly the study of bacteria. He also claims that his uncle's staff, "the butler and the housekeeper," are each going to inherit $10 and a ring. A Miss Hayden, a member of his uncle's household, will inherit an identical legacy.

Old Bryson reminds him that his uncle had always given him money and that he had never been a wise spender. Young Gillian acknowledges the truth of the statement, referring to his uncle as "the fairy godmother" of generous allowances. Still, he is dismayed by the pittance of an inheritance he receives from his uncle's estate. In his dismay and disbelief, he asks Old Bryson how he should spend the thousand dollars.