The Green Door (Henry)

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O. Henry

The Green Door

 

Summary of the Short Story
from the Collection «The Four Million»

Microsummary: A young adventurer followed a mysterious clue to a green door, where he found a starving girl. He helped her by providing food and company, believing fate had brought them together.

Rudolf Steiner, a young piano salesman and true adventurer, was walking down the street one evening when he encountered a giant African man dressed in a colorful outfit. The man handed him a mysterious card with the words "The Green Door" written on it.

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Rudolf Steiner — young piano salesman; true adventurer; pleasing presence, watchful; curious, romantic, helpful.

Intrigued, Rudolf decided to follow the clue and found himself in a building with several green doors. He knocked on one of them and discovered a young woman inside, who was starving and alone in the city.

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The Girl — young woman in her late teens; starving, alone in the city; thin, pale, grey eyes, chestnut hair; resilient, grateful, honest.

Rudolf quickly went out to buy food for the girl, bringing back an array of groceries and restaurant items. They shared a meal together, and the girl began to regain her strength. She told Rudolf her story of being a shop girl with insufficient wages, losing her job due to illness, and eventually finding herself in desperate circumstances.

"You try going without anything to eat for three days and see!"

Rudolf sympathized with her and promised to return the next day to check on her.

"I'm coming back to-morrow to see how you are getting along. You can't get rid of me so easily."

When he left the girl's apartment, Rudolf continued to explore the building and discovered that all the doors were painted green. He then confronted the giant African man, who revealed that the mysterious cards were actually advertisements for a play called "The Green Door."

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The Giant African Man — large, fantastically dressed man; distributes cards for a dentist and a play; dignified, good-natured, mysterious.

Despite this revelation, Rudolf still believed that fate had led him to the girl.

The next day, Rudolf returned to the girl's apartment as promised. They continued to bond over their shared experiences of being alone in the city, and Rudolf lied about how he had found her, saying it was a mistake. The girl seemed to accept his explanation, and they continued to grow closer. Throughout the story, Rudolf's adventurous spirit and willingness to help the girl in need demonstrated his kind and caring nature, while the girl's resilience and honesty made her a sympathetic character. The mysterious cards and the giant African man added an element of intrigue to the story, ultimately leading Rudolf to believe that fate had played a role in bringing them together.