The Cop and the Anthem

Soapy, a homeless man in New York City, was sitting on a bench in Madison Square, looking for ways to get himself arrested so that he could be taken to Blackwell’s Island for three months. Winter was approaching, and he had no means to support himself. Will the police arrest Soapy when he breaks the glass of a shop window? How many attempts will Soapy make to get himself arrested? Read this interesting story in which O. Henry critiques a society that undermines the poor and fails to provide justice.