Author: ClaireM

In Hearts and Hands by O.Henry, we are told the story of a marshall and a criminal on a train. Henry uses multiple techniques to build up the reader’s trust of the two people’s identities as a marshall and criminal. These techniques include the description and social standings. 

In the beginning of the story, the author gives a description of both the marshall and Mr.Easton. Mr.Easton is described as a person of “handsome presence with a bold, frank countenance and manner.” This gives the impression that Mr.Easton is a trustworth, honest young man. In contrast, the marshall is shown as “a ruffled, glum-faced person, heavily built and roughly dressed.” Based on appearance, the reader would assume that the marshall is the criminal and Mr.Easton is the marshall. This is because, in our society today, we are socially biased that a more kempt and tidy person is less likely to be a criminal. Through the description, the author of the story manipulates the reader to believe that Mr.Easton is the marshall. 

Secondly, another way the author makes the reader believe that Mr.Easton is the marshall is through his social standing. While he is talking to Miss Fairfield, he talks about his money and his luxurious life in Washington. It is clear that him and Miss Fairfield are of the same social class — a high social ranking. This is another way a bias is used to manipulate the reader’s thinking. Often, in society, people believe that the richer and higher class citizens are expected to be well-behaved and set an example instead of committing crimes. By showing the reader what social class Mr.Easton is in, the author makes it seem as though Mr.Easton is the marshall. 

Both of these factors lead up to the plot twist at the end of the story. Up to the plot twist, the glum-faced man is expected to be the criminal. O.Henry uses social biases of description and social standings to convince the reader of this. However, through the conversation of two nearby passengers on the train, the truth becomes revealed that Mr.Easton is the criminal and the other man is the marshall. 

Mr.Walter Mitty attempting to drive along with various other chores,

Gets distracted and imagines fighting in wars. 

His wife brings him back to focus, 

But Mr.Mitty continues to dream instead of his wife’s hocus pocus. 

As he passes the hospital, 

He imagines he saves someone’s life little by little. 

His real life is drab and dreary, 

He would rather have fictional events to keep him cheery. 

When he thinks of what to buy, 

His mind drifts to a courthouse full of outcry. 

His stories don’t have an end, 

He would rather only have the journey to comprehend. 

At the hairdresser awaiting his wife, 

Mr.Mitty imagines sacrificing his life. 

Constantly frustrated he can’t control reality, 

He turns to his fantasies that he can always oversee.   

At last Mr.Mitty gets to the parking lot, 

Welcoming his dreams of getting shot. 

In a recent article from Scientific American called If We’re Not Careful, Tech Could Hurt the Fight against COVID-19, the authors shed light on how new technology attempting to help the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic can actually lead to more destructive results. For example, even if one’s intentions and technology seem useful, it can lead to more distrust in science and even scams. If someone with little previous medical or ethical experience attempts to rush a project on COVID-19, it can backfire and cause even more deaths in the world. In this article, the authors ask four questions that every person making technology on COVID-19 should think about. These four questions cover the aspects of needs, action, credibility, and impact. 

The first question is “Are you listening to experts and vulnerable communities?” Answering this question should ensure that one has credible sources and can differentiate between helpful and harmful technologies. Through working with vulnerable communities, people can understand what others need and how to develop a solution. This is important as the base of a project to know that their project is working towards a good cause and people are willing to use it. The second question is “Can you join existing efforts?” Joining existing efforts can lead to a “jumpstart” to building something. Often, the most important part of a project is taking action and sparking the start. By joining efforts with big-name, professional companies, the technology can be more trustworthy and can receive proper funding. 

The third question is “Can your technology do what you say it’s going to do?” In millions of cases around the world, what is shown of a startup or technology is not what it truly is behind the scenes. This can be due to various reasons, such as lack of funding, mindset, or even the idea behind it. .In order to have successful technology in a large market such as present-day biotech or computer science needed for the COVID-19 pandemic, one’s technology has to be applicable and usable instead of only being written on paper. The fourth and final question is “How does your technology shift power?” This question is one of the most direct to the COVID-19 pandemic due to the need for urgent and impactful technology. A useful technology to shift power would impact people on a large scale. 

These four questions ensure that new technologies to help the COVID-19 pandemic are needed, applicable, credible, and impactful. In our world today, many startups and new products are being built to attempt to solve the pandemic. However, not all of these are good, and through the careful examination of these companies with these four questions, it can be seen how many companies bring harm and even greater complications.