To begin with, an example of irony to send a message is shown through Soapy's first attempt to go to prison for the winter. Soapy's ideal winter is spent in Blackwell Prison, The Island, rather than finding shelter because he doesn't like the way the shelter meddles in his personal affairs. Now comes the hardest part for Soapy: being admitted by the police to prison. The very first attempt he makes is to go to an expensive restaurant and do what today is called "dine and dash." However, at first glance at Soapy's frayed slippers and broken shoes, he was kicked out before he could steal any food. Upon entering the restaurant, “strong, ready hands turned him over and carried him silently and hastily to the sidewalk and avoided the dastardly fate of the threatened mallard duck” (O. Henry 21). Before entering the restaurant, Soapy was excited and ready to make his dreams come true, but when security immediately kicked him out, he left feeling discouraged and disappointed. Additionally, the idea of ​​Soapy not getting what he wants is introduced early on in the short story from the first example, where Soapy is kicked out of the restaurant because of his appearance before he can commit a crime. In the words of Frederick Law of Short Story Criticism, the unclean clothes Soapy wore were the reason he was thrown out of the restaurant without hesitation during his annual trip to the island (201). So far in Soapy's attempt, the least desired punishment is received, and here he is physically kicked out, rather than calling the police. The ironic situation here is a surprise because one would think that Soapy would receive whatever punishment he wants, but the message to readers begins to be sent...... middle of paper ...... trying to harassing a young lady in front of the police, but to his surprise, she actually enjoyed his company. Soapy mentally prepared himself for his hopefully final attempt; he straightened his shirt and walked towards the women ready to finish his mission but she immediately started playing along with his shenanigans. Anything Soapy said to offend her made her laugh and she would return the dialogue with something completely made up instead of going to the police officer nearby. After several minutes of agitation, the Soapy woman began to have enough: “While the young woman was playing with the ivy hanging from her oak tree, Soapy passed in front of the policeman overcome with sadness” (O. Henry 23). Contrary to Soapy's expectations, the woman was happy with what he was doing and Soapy became extremely angry. The irony of the situation here shows that