To that end, I’ve collected some of the most expensive for you to look at here.īy the way, this is by no means a scientific experiment-I certainly don’t claim to have looked at every book sale on the Internet. Luckily, many of these are available on the Internet, and it’s actually pretty fascinating to see how old books and first editions are priced-it’s sort of like the art world, in that it’s not always clear why something is valuable. When you have a lot of extra cash burning a hole in your pocket, and your pocket is made of silk or gold or unicorns or something, then well-it’s probably an even better idea to spend it on a book. He has, in fact, provided for someone else – whom he deems far worthier of the money than himself – and ensured that she will have a life that she could doubtless only have dreamed of otherwise.When you have a little extra cash burning a hole in your pocket, it’s always a good idea to spend it on a book. He has ‘wasted’ money yet again – but this time, through selflessness rather than selfish improvidence. It is deeply ironic that Gillian’s final act in the story is to tear up a piece of paper worth, effectively, $50,000 to himself. As he writes in the note in the envelope, she has already given him ‘eternal happiness’.Īnother key feature of O. Henry gives us a final twist in which Gillian isn’t prepared to play the game at all: for him, knowing the woman he loves will be happy and rich is enough for him. If he gives away the $1,000 – and, indeed, this is what he does – he is deemed worthy of the reward and stands to inherit $50,000. If he takes the $1,000 and spends it on himself, he gets $1,000 and nothing else. Henry’s ‘One Thousand Dollars’, Gillian is in a similar situation. If we both say we’ll share it, we each get $25,000, and if we both say we want the $50,000 to ourselves, neither of us gets anything.īut if one says they’ll share and the other says they’ll take it all, the one who says they’ll take it all carries off the $50,000 and the would-be sharer goes home empty-handed. Game theory is a framework involving social situations among competing players, in which the decisions taken by those players will influence the outcome.įor instance, if I were offered $50,000, but there was another player who was also offered $50,000, and only one of us could get the money, what should happen? What if both I and the other player were offered an ultimatum: we would both be asked separately whether we wished to take the whole $50,000 for ourselves, or whether we’d prefer to share the money and take $25,000 each. We might analyse ‘One Thousand Dollars’ as an early example of game theory before game theory became a field of probability in itself. Will this change things? Does Young Gillian suspect that Miriam does return his affection, after all, and the only reason she rejects his advances is because he’s a gambler and wastrel? Once she realises he is a changed man, will he be able to woo her? And is he really a changed man, or just a very cunning one who has played the game very well? For surely, when Miriam is told she is now set to inherit $50,000 and the lawyers explain it’s because Young Gillian lost his one thousand dollars at the races, she will know this isn’t the truth – because she knows he actually gave it to her. After rejecting the material suggestions made by others (moving to Idaho and setting up as a rancher, opening a saloon, buying a woman expensive jewellery), Gillian comes to realise, when the blind man shows him his bank deposit book, that a simple and honest life can still bring one enough money to survive and be happy on.īut wait: there’s another twist (there are, in fact, several twists and turns in this very short story). To her, he will remain an extravagant and irresponsible wastrel.īut Gillian’s encounter with the blind man seems to have been a turning point. Indeed, instead she will ‘learn’ from the lawyers that she is inheriting a fortune because he failed the test his uncle set up for him. What’s more, he does this not to win her hand (he realises that is a lost cause) nor even in the hope that she will know what he has done.
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