Henry’s ‘A Retrieved Reformation’, Jimmy Valentine proves that even a cold-hearted criminal can change, but in the end, one’s past always catches up with them. Jimmy is released from prison after being caught robbing banks and starts robbing again within the first week. But on a job in Elmore, Jimmy’s life is changed.
What causes Reformation in Jimmy Valentine?
In A Retrieved Reformation, Jimmy Valentine started out as a burglar, breaking into safes. When he was in Elmore, hoping to start a shoe shop, he met a girl named Miss Annabel Adams, who changed him. When he met her, he forgot who he was, and became another man that would not do a crime for a million dollars.
How does the story A Retrieved Reformation end?
Jimmy Valentine’s reformation seemed to have been in vain, but it was “retrieved” at the last minute when the detective rewarded him for his unselfishness and courage by letting him walk away a free man.
Who does Jimmy Valentine fall in love with?
There Jimmy met Annabel Adams. He fell in love with her, and he found a new purpose in life. Jimmy changed his name and decided to transform himself into a hard working and a worthy man. One moral the story suggests is if given another opportunity, people can change.
How does Jimmy Valentine change throughout the story A Retrieved Reformation ‘?
Jimmy Valentine is a hardened criminal who immediately returns to safecracking when he is released from prison; however, after he unexpectedly falls in love, Jimmy changes his behavior and attitudes and becomes an honest businessman. But, later he must return to his former self, although it is only briefly.
Who is the protagonist in A Retrieved Reformation?
Spencer Character Analysis. The protagonist of “A Retrieved Reformation,” Jimmy is a safecracker and thief living in the American Midwest in the early 1900s.
Who is the antagonist in A Retrieved Reformation?
An “eminent” police detective and the antagonist of “A Retrieved Reformation.” Price is portrayed as the epitome of morality and hard work, and he serves as a foil to Jimmy Valentine’s criminal lifestyle.
Why was Jimmy compared to a Phoenix?
In colloquial language, the phoenix has come to mean a person who has emerged renewed after an apparent disaster. By alluding to a phoenix, the narrator casts Jimmy’s change of identity in mythic and violent terms: he must heroically destroy his identity as Jimmy Valentine so that he may emerge as Ralph Spencer.
How long Jimmy take to throw back the bolts and open the door of Adams vault?
Ans: Jimmy took ten minutes to open the door of the new vault.
Why does Jimmy ask for the Rose Annabel was wearing?
In “A Retrieved Reformation,” why does Jimmy ask Annabel for the rose she’s wearing before he cracks open the safe? He knows he will have to leave town, and he wants the rose the remember her by. In “A Retrieved Reformation,” why does Ben Price not arrest Jimmy Valentine.
How and why did jimmy open the vault?
When Annabel’s niece Agatha is accidentally locked in the new vault, Jimmy is forced to crack it open, thereby blowing up his cover of innocence. Cracking the vault of Elmore bank forces Jimmy to show his safecracking skills to the, until then, unsuspecting public. Afterwards, he walks away without a word to anybody.
Why did Ben Price act strangely towards the end of the story?
At the end of the story, Ben Price leaves without arresting Jimmy. The likely reason for Ben’s strange behavior can be found in the story. During a vault-showing at the Elmore Bank, a little girl, Agatha, is locked inside the walk-in safe. Agatha’s mother is frantic with worry that her child will die in the vault.
What is the irony in A Retrieved Reformation?
The look Jimmy shares with Annabel Adams the first time he sees her makes him forget his identity as a burglar. The fact that she is a banker’s daughter is an example of situational irony, as it puts Jimmy in close proximity to a safe he could easily rob if his safecracking compulsion were ever to return.
What is the climax of Retrieved Reformation?
Climax: Annabel’s niece, Agatha, gets locked into the new safe at the bank. his true identity while Annabel’s family and Ben Price all watch.
How was Agatha saved from the vault?
This caused panic in the family. No one had an idea how to rescue Agatha . When Annabel asked Jimmy to try to rescue Agatha, Jimmy used his burglary tools and opened the safe in less than ten minutes. This is how Agatha was rescued.
What happened in the Elmore bank?
At the bank, a new vault is unveiled, a ceremony to which many people are invited, Jimmy included. At the ceremony, one of Annabel’s nieces is accidentally locked inside the vault. This forces Jimmy to crack the safe to rescue the trapped girl.
What did Jimmy Valentine change his name to?
During the story Jimmy tries to change his name to Ralph D. Spencer. but that necessarily change who you are, Jimmy was just trying to hide his identity. A few weeks later after Jimmy was released a bank was robbed a few miles away.
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