# Conscience in Art explained — Short Fiction

> Chapter companion for Short Fiction by O. Henry.

## What happens

Jeff Peters recounts a scheme with his partner Andy Tucker to swindle a Pittsburgh millionaire by stealing his ivory carving and then selling it back to him, with Andy's elaborate ruse designed to satisfy Jeff's conscience.

## Themes in this chapter

### Deception and Appearance vs. Reality

The entire scheme is built on deception: Andy steals the carving, fabricates a story about a duplicate, and Jeff poses as a professor to sell it back.

### Crime and Consequence

The theft and fraud are central to the plot, though the perpetrators escape without immediate consequence, highlighting the theme of crime without punishment.

### Humor and Irony

The irony of Jeff's 'conscience' being satisfied by a lie, and the humorous portrayal of the millionaire's gullibility and the con artists' cleverness.

## Character check-ins

### Jeff Peters

Narrator of the story; expresses a preference for legitimate swindling and a conscience that requires giving something tangible for money.

### Andy Donovan

Jeff's partner; devises the fraudulent scheme involving the ivory carving, showing his imaginative and unscrupulous nature.

### Unknown Narrator

The listener to whom Jeff tells the story.

## Key lines

> I never could hold my partner, Andy Tucker, down to legitimate ethics of pure swindling.

Jeff says he could never keep Andy from straying into dishonest schemes.

_Jeff establishes his own moral code and Andy's lack of it._

> When I take money I want to leave some tangible object in the other fellow's hands for him to gaze at and to distract his attention from my spoor.

Jeff insists on giving the victim something physical in exchange for their money.

_Highlights Jeff's peculiar conscience and his approach to swindling._

> It was his own. When I was looking at his curios yesterday he stepped out of the room for a moment and I pocketed it.

Andy reveals that the carving they sold was actually the one he stole from Scudder.

_The twist that reveals the full extent of the deception._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/conscience-in-art
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters