Ordinary People

“The Skylight Room” was originally published in O. Henry’s 1906 short story collection entitled The Four Million, which also contains his most famous story, “The Gift of the Magi.” This title of the collection is explained in a one-paragraph preface, in which the author states that even though it has been said that there are only four hundred people in New York City who are “really worth noticing,” in reality there are well over four million. In this way, the intention of the collection is to combat classist attitudes by showing that the stories of ordinary people are just as interesting and important as the stories of the elite. The author makes the protagonist of “The Skylight Room,” Miss Leeson, an ordinary person, giving her a regular job as a typist and even putting her in impoverished circumstances. However, the author also makes something extraordinary...