# The Making of a New Yorker explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by O. Henry. ## What happens Raggles, a poet who lives his verses and studies cities as individuals, arrives in Manhattan expecting to find its unique soul. Instead, he is met with cold indifference, egotism, and a sense of being utterly ignored. After being struck by a vehicle, he awakens to the sudden, overwhelming kindness of strangers—including the very types he had earlier condemned—and realizes he has finally found the heart of the city, defending it fiercely even from a hospital bed. ## Themes in this chapter ### Nostalgia and the Passage of Time Raggles's longing for the rough, familiar kindness of other cities contrasts with Manhattan's cold modernity, highlighting a nostalgic yearning for a simpler, more communal past. ### Humor and Irony The ironic twist that Raggles finds the city's heart only after being struck by a vehicle, and his subsequent fierce defense of New York against a fellow patient, underscores the story's playful tone. ### Deception and Appearance vs. Reality Manhattan initially appears as a heartless, egotistical place, but the accident reveals a hidden layer of genuine human compassion, challenging Raggles's first impression. ## Character check-ins ### Unknown Narrator The third-person narrator who chronicles Raggles's journey and perceptions of various cities, ultimately revealing his transformation into a New Yorker. ### Billy Keogh Not present in this chapter. ### Andy Donovan Not present in this chapter. ### The Captain Not present in this chapter. ### Johnny Atwood Not present in this chapter. ### Jim Not present in this chapter. ### Lorison Not present in this chapter. ### David Mignot Not present in this chapter. ### Samuel Tansey Not present in this chapter. ### Annie Williams Not present in this chapter. ### Ranse Truesdell Not present in this chapter. ### Octavia Beaupree Not present in this chapter. ### The General Not present in this chapter. ### Miss Alice Not present in this chapter. ### Jeff Peters Not present in this chapter. ### Willie Robbins Not present in this chapter. ### The Colonel Not present in this chapter. ### The Doctor Not present in this chapter. ### Curly Not present in this chapter. ### Aileen Not present in this chapter. ### Fergus O'Hollihan Not present in this chapter. ### Mame Dugan Not present in this chapter. ### Hetty Pepper Not present in this chapter. ### The Hermit Not present in this chapter. ### Whistling Dick Not present in this chapter. ### Dan McMullen Not present in this chapter. ### Lawyer Gooch Not present in this chapter. ### Grandemont Charles Not present in this chapter. ### Van Sweller Not present in this chapter. ### Simmons Not present in this chapter. ### Dry Valley Johnson Not present in this chapter. ### Yancey Goree Not present in this chapter. ### Barney O'Connor Not present in this chapter. ### Curtis Raidler Not present in this chapter. ### Dicky Maloney Not present in this chapter. ### Shamrock Jolnes Not present in this chapter. ### Cork McManus Not present in this chapter. ### Denver Galloway Not present in this chapter. ### Teddy Westlake Not present in this chapter. ### Frank Goodwin Not present in this chapter. ### Beelzebub Blythe Not present in this chapter. ### Thomas McQuade Not present in this chapter. ### Tom Hopkins Not present in this chapter. ### Soapy Not present in this chapter. ### Ives Not present in this chapter. ### Webb Yeager Not present in this chapter. ### Nevada Warren Not present in this chapter. ### Mr. Morley Not present in this chapter. ### Mac McGowan Not present in this chapter. ### Señor Goodwin Not present in this chapter. ### Young Murray Not present in this chapter. ### Luke Summers Not present in this chapter. ### Jimmy Valentine Not present in this chapter. ### Mr. Peters Not present in this chapter. ### Uncle Bushrod Not present in this chapter. ### Vallance Not present in this chapter. ### Mrs. Conant Not present in this chapter. ### Joe Larrabee Not present in this chapter. ### Maggie Toole Not present in this chapter. ### Injunction Cherokee Not present in this chapter. ### Old Uncle Jake Not present in this chapter. ### George Ringo Not present in this chapter. ### Doc Millikin Not present in this chapter. ### Cricket McGuire Not present in this chapter. ### Tom Lawson Not present in this chapter. ### Tonia Perez Not present in this chapter. ### Willard Geddie Not present in this chapter. ### Francis Kearny Not present in this chapter. ### Mr. Blinker Not present in this chapter. ### Señor White Not present in this chapter. ### Perry Rountree Not present in this chapter. ### Fuzzy Not present in this chapter. ### Buck Patterson Not present in this chapter. ### Tobin Not present in this chapter. ### Robert Walmsley Not present in this chapter. ### Thomas McLeod Not present in this chapter. ### Jacob Spraggins Not present in this chapter. ### Thacker Not present in this chapter. ### Bob Hart Not present in this chapter. ### Billy Pemberton Not present in this chapter. ## Key lines > Without money—as a poet should be—but with the ardor of an astronomer discovering a new star in the chorus of the milky way, or a man who has seen ink suddenly flow from his fountain pen, Raggles wandered into the great city. Penniless, as befits a poet, yet filled with the excitement of an astronomer finding a new star or a writer whose pen suddenly flows with ink, Raggles entered the vast metropolis. _Establishes Raggles's poetic, romantic nature and his high expectations for New York._ > The thing that weighed heaviest on Raggles’s soul and clogged his poet’s fancy was the spirit of absolute egotism that seemed to saturate the people as toys are saturated with paint. What most oppressed Raggles and stifled his poetic imagination was the overwhelming self-absorption he perceived in the people, as if they were toys drenched in paint. _Captures Raggles's initial despair and the central conflict of the chapter._ > He had found the heart of his new city. He had discovered the true, compassionate soul of Manhattan. _The pivotal moment of transformation, marking Raggles's acceptance and love for New York._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters/the-making-of-a-new-yorker - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_41_se/chapters