Character Clues

Character Analysis

Names

Soapy's Name

We have no idea where Soapy got his name. Did he give it to himself? Did he have it before he became homeless? It's probably not the name he was born with. It's obviously ironic, because Soapy doesn't bathe much and is lacking in the hygiene area. Some of this is totally by choice. One of the reasons Soapy doesn't like going to shelters is because they make you take a bath in those places!
Soapy's name might also suggest his deeper desire for inner cleanliness. What is one of the things Soapy used to have and wishes to have again? That's right "immaculate thoughts" (41). Soapy needs to clean not only his body, but his mind, heart, and soul.

O. Henry's Name

Now we may not know where Soapy got his name, but we do know a little about how O. Henry got, or says he got, his name. See, O. Henry was in a federal penitentiary convicted of embezzling from an Austin bank when he started submitting stories using the name O. Henry. Yep. Although he was a man of many artistic talents, his first real short story efforts happened during the three years and three months he was in jail. He chose the name to help shield his prison record from the public, even after his release.

O. Henry used his pen name to hide a part of himself from the world. This makes us think that maybe Soapy's alias was a way to help him hide from the world, though in a very different way. While O. Henry was hiding what he thought people would see as a bad part of his life, Soapy is hiding all the good parts of himself from the world. If you followed Soapy around all night, you might never dream that he could be touched by a piece of religious music or appreciate natural beauty or be a good and loyal friend.