# A Cosmopolite in a Café explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by O. Henry. ## What happens The narrator sits in a crowded café and meets E. Rushmore Coglan, a man who claims to be a true cosmopolite—a citizen of the world with no attachment to any specific place. Coglan derides patriotism and local pride, arguing for global brotherhood. However, when a stranger insults Coglan's hometown of Mattawamkeag, Maine, he starts a violent fight, revealing that his cosmopolitanism is a facade. ## Themes in this chapter ### Deception and Appearance vs. Reality Coglan's cosmopolitan persona is revealed as a pretense when he violently defends his hometown. ### Humor and Irony The irony of a self-proclaimed world citizen fighting over local pride provides a humorous twist. ### Nostalgia and the Passage of Time The narrator's reflections on the café scene and the changing nature of urban life evoke a sense of nostalgia. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown Narrator The narrator observes and reflects on the café scene and engages in conversation with the cosmopolite. ### E. Rushmore Coglan Claims to be a cosmopolitan citizen of the world, but ultimately shows fierce loyalty to his hometown. ### Dark-haired young man A patron who cheers for 'Dixie' and later expresses a cryptic desire to be a periwinkle. ## Key lines > I invoke your consideration of the scene—the marble-topped tables, the range of leather-upholstered wall seats, the gay company, the ladies dressed in demi-state toilets, speaking in an exquisite visible chorus of taste, economy, opulence or art; the sedulous and largess-loving garçons, the music wisely catering to all with its raids upon the composers; the mélange of talk and laughter—and, if you will, the Würzburger in the tall glass cones that bend to your lips as a ripe cherry sways on its branch to the beak of a robber jay. The narrator describes the lively café atmosphere: marble tables, leather seats, elegantly dressed women, attentive waiters, music, chatter, and tall glasses of Würzburger beer. _Sets the scene and establishes the cosmopolitan setting._ > He took the great, round world in his hand, so to speak, familiarly, contemptuously, and it seemed no larger than the seed of a Maraschino cherry in a table d’hôte grape fruit. Coglan spoke of the entire world as if it were tiny and insignificant, like a cherry seed in a grapefruit. _Highlights Coglan's grandiose and dismissive attitude toward geography._ > Originally from Mattawamkeag, Maine, he said, and he wouldn't stand for no knockin' the place. The waiter reveals that Coglan is actually from Mattawamkeag, Maine, and started a fight when someone insulted it. _The ironic revelation that undermines Coglan's cosmopolitan claims._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/a-cosmopolite-in-a-caf - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters