# Compliments of the Season explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by O. Henry.

## What happens

A tramp named Fuzzy finds a lost rag-doll from a millionaire's mansion, returns it for a reward, but then insists on exchanging Christmas compliments with the lady of the house, recalling a forgotten code of gentlemanly conduct.

## Themes in this chapter

### Social Class and Wealth

The stark contrast between the millionaire's mansion and Fuzzy's life as a tramp, and the reward of $100 for a rag-doll.

### Nostalgia and the Passage of Time

Fuzzy's memories of a past life of gentility and the ghost of noblesse oblige that briefly returns to him at Christmas.

### Deception and Appearance vs. Reality

Fuzzy's drunken pretense of being a gentleman and the lady's initial condescension, contrasted with his genuine, if fleeting, adherence to old customs.

## Character check-ins

### Fuzzy

A drunken tramp who finds the lost rag-doll and returns it for a reward, then insists on exchanging Christmas compliments with the lady of the house.

### Black Riley

A thug who tries to take the doll from Fuzzy for fifty cents, later waits outside the mansion with his gang to rob Fuzzy of the reward.

### The Child

The millionaire's daughter who lost her rag-doll Betsy and is overjoyed at its return, but shows fear and hatred toward Fuzzy.

### James

The butler or footman who escorts Fuzzy through the mansion and is compelled by Fuzzy to allow him to see the lady of the house.

### The Lady

The lady of the mansion who receives Fuzzy, exchanges Christmas compliments with him, and orders the car to take him wherever he wishes.

## Key lines

> Fuzzy was a soldier of misfortune. The road, the haystack, the park bench, the kitchen door, the bitter round of eleemosynary beds-with-shower-bath-attachment, the petty pickings and ignobly garnered largesse of great cities—these formed the chapters of his history.

Fuzzy was a homeless wanderer, surviving on charity and scraps, with a life story made up of sleeping rough and begging.

_Describes Fuzzy's life as a tramp._

> Upon a gentleman certain things devolve. Especially at the Christmas season.

A true gentleman has certain duties, particularly at Christmas.

_The narrator's comment on Fuzzy's sudden sense of obligation._

> He saw something beneath the rags and Scotch terrier whiskers that she did not understand.

The lady noticed a hidden quality in Fuzzy that puzzled her.

_The lady's perception of Fuzzy's past gentility._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/compliments-of-the-season
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters