Mammon and the Archer Flashcards
by O. Henry — tap or click to flip
Flashcard Review
Flashcards: Mammon and the Archer
Why is Richard Rockwall anxious at the beginning of the story?
He is in love with Miss Lantry, who is about to sail to Europe for two years, and he has almost no time alone with her to declare his feelings.
What is the only opportunity Richard has to be alone with Miss Lantry?
He can meet her at Grand Central Station at the 8:30 train and share a cab ride down Broadway to Wallack's Theatre, a trip lasting only six to eight minutes.
Why does Richard stop the cab during the ride to the theatre?
He claims he dropped his mother's ring and needs to get out to retrieve it from the street.
What happens immediately after Richard gets back in the cab?
A massive traffic blockade traps their cab for two hours at the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue, and Thirty-fourth Street.
How does the evening end for Richard and Miss Lantry?
Richard proposes during the two-hour traffic jam, and Miss Lantry accepts. They become engaged.
Who is Kelly, and why does he visit Anthony Rockwall the next day?
Kelly is the man Anthony hired to orchestrate the traffic blockade. He comes to settle accounts and collect his payment of thirteen hundred dollars.
How much did Anthony Rockwall spend to create the traffic jam?
He gave Kelly $5,000 in cash upfront, and Kelly spent an additional $300 of his own, totaling $5,300 to pay off cab drivers, express wagons, truck drivers, motormen, and police officers.
How did Anthony Rockwall make his fortune?
He made his fortune as the manufacturer and proprietor of Rockwall's Eureka Soap.
What is Anthony Rockwall's core belief about money?
He believes money can accomplish anything. He says he has searched the encyclopedia from A to Y looking for something money cannot buy and has found nothing.
How does Aunt Ellen's view of the engagement differ from the truth?
She believes the sentimental power of the mother's ring caused the lucky traffic delay, when in reality Anthony paid thousands of dollars to stage the entire blockade.
Who is G. Van Schuylight Suffolk-Jones?
He is Anthony Rockwall's aristocratic neighbor on Fifth Avenue who looks down on the Rockwall mansion with contempt, representing old-money snobbery.
What does Richard mean when he says money cannot buy entry into exclusive social circles?
He refers to the rigid social rules of New York high society that dictate every minute of a socialite's time, making it impossible for him to find a private moment with Miss Lantry despite his wealth.
How does the story resolve the debate between money and love?
It suggests that money and love are not truly opposed. Anthony's money created the opportunity, but Richard's genuine love won Miss Lantry's heart during that opportunity.
What does the story suggest about appearances versus reality?
Events that appear to be romantic coincidence or good luck are actually the result of calculated, expensive manipulation, though the love itself is genuine.
How does the story portray the relationship between old money and new money?
Anthony Rockwall, the self-made soap millionaire, is looked down upon by old-money neighbors like Suffolk-Jones, but Anthony's practical use of wealth proves more effective than aristocratic pretension.
What role does sentimentality play in the story?
Aunt Ellen represents pure sentimentality, believing love conquers all through the lucky ring. The story gently mocks this view while showing that Anthony's unsentimental pragmatism actually made the romance possible.
How does O. Henry use dramatic irony in the final scene with Aunt Ellen?
The reader learns the truth about the staged blockade before Aunt Ellen delivers her speech crediting the ring. Her earnest belief in love's power is ironic because money literally bought the time she credits to fate.
What is the function of the story's epilogue with Kelly?
It serves as the classic O. Henry twist ending, reversing the reader's understanding of the traffic jam from a lucky accident to a carefully paid-for scheme, and proving Anthony's philosophy correct.
What does Anthony's final question to Kelly about a "fat boy without clothes shooting arrows" refer to?
It refers to Cupid, the Roman god of love. Anthony jokes about whether Cupid was present at the scene, playfully acknowledging that while he bought the opportunity, love still played its part.
How does the narrator break the fourth wall near the story's end?
The narrator directly addresses the reader, saying "The story should end here. I wish it would as heartily as you who read it wish it did," before revealing the twist about Kelly.
What does "Mammon" mean in the context of the title?
Mammon is a biblical term for wealth or material greed, personified as a false god. In the title, it represents Anthony Rockwall's faith in the power of money.
What does "contumelious" mean as used to describe Suffolk-Jones's nostril?
It means scornfully insolent or disdainful. Suffolk-Jones wrinkles his nose contemptuously at the Rockwall mansion's gaudy architecture.
What does Anthony mean by "burn a few punk sticks in the joss house to the great god Mazuma"?
He is humorously telling Richard to show respect for money. "Mazuma" is slang for money, a "joss house" is a temple, and "punk sticks" are incense -- so he means "worship at the altar of wealth."
Who says "There are some things that money can't accomplish" and what is its significance?
Richard says this to his father, establishing the central conflict of the story. The ending proves him wrong when Anthony's money orchestrates the very opportunity Richard said was impossible to buy.
What does Anthony mean when he says "I've seen Father Time get pretty bad stone bruises on his heels when he walked through the gold diggings"?
He means that money can effectively slow down or overcome the constraints of time, foreshadowing his plan to literally buy Richard extra time with Miss Lantry.
What is the significance of Kelly saying "I can lick the man that invented poverty"?
It echoes Anthony's belief in the supreme power of money. Even Kelly, who was hired to create the blockade, shares the pragmatic view that money matters above all else.