"The Ransom of Red Chief" is a short story written by O. Henry, first published in 1910. The story tells the tale of two conmen, Bill and Sam, who kidnap the son of a wealthy man in the hopes of extorting a ransom from his father. However, things don't go as planned when the child, known as "Red Chief," proves to be more trouble than they bargained for.
The story begins with Bill and Sam discussing their plan to kidnap a wealthy man's son and hold him for ransom. They decide on the son of a wealthy businessman named Ebenezer Dorset, who they believe will be willing to pay a large sum of money to get his son back.
The two men travel to the small town of Summit, where they successfully kidnap Red Chief and take him to a remote cabin in the woods. However, things quickly start to go awry when Red Chief proves to be a handful. He is mischievous and uncooperative, constantly causing trouble and making demands.
Despite their efforts to keep Red Chief in line, the two conmen are unable to control him. He becomes increasingly demanding and difficult to handle, making their lives a living nightmare. They begin to regret their decision to kidnap him and start to consider letting him go.
Ultimately, Red Chief's father refuses to pay the ransom, stating that he would rather pay to have his son returned to him than give in to the demands of the kidnappers. In the end, Bill and Sam are left with no choice but to release Red Chief and return him to his relieved father.
"The Ransom of Red Chief" is a humorous and entertaining story that highlights the consequences of greed and the dangers of underestimating the power of a young child. Through the antics of Red Chief and the misadventures of Bill and Sam, O. Henry presents a cautionary tale that is both amusing and thought-provoking.
The Ransom of Red Chief Irony
Instead, he plays make-believe with them, pretending to be a Native American warrior named Red Chief who has taken Bill and Sam captive. Henry whose real name was William Sydney Porter and who was known for his comical stories. After half an hour, Bill returns to camp, wiping his face with a red handkerchief, while Johnny creeps along like a scout behind him. Court Essay The Court I attended was Court of Justice. In The Gift of the Magi, O Henry uses verbal, situational and dramatic irony to tell his story.
Summary about The Ransom Of Red Chief Essay Example
This point of view allows for the humor of the story to shine through, including in Sam's misuse of the language. The kidnappers expect to gain money by kidnapping a child but the plan gets spoiled and they are compelled to give away some of their money. His posthumous stories, translations, and adaptations for film and television attest to the enduring appeal of his work. Bill and Sam may be newcomers to Summit, but Johnny shows his allegiance to them by apologizing. The prosecuting team said that Red Chief was hounded down by those two kidnappers and lured in by some candy that they had hidden. Punished By Victor Rios: Chapter Analysis 601 Words 3 Pages Victor Rios, author of Punished: Policing the Lives of Black and Latino Youths grew up in Oakland, California. He is holding court and enjoying it.
The Ransom of Red Chief Summary and Analysis
Many believed he was innocent, and he fled to Honduras to mount a defense. With a PREMIUM account, you can: Have unlimited access to all exercises on bitgab Get discounts on bitgab Academy courses Join unlimited group classes Get a 100% discount on private classes with bitgab teachers Ask questions to our teachers anytime. It may be internal or external. The final twist, that the kidnappers not only do not get the ransom, but end up paying to get out of the situation, is a particularly brilliant example of irony at work. Some of these include: Private and unlimited access to bitgab for all students and teachers in your school, using your own unique subdomain yourschoolname. As Bill explains his reasoning, Sam sees that Johnny is in fact standing eight feet behind Bill, grinning. Nor is the story without its scenes of comic pathos, all related by Sam, as when Bill apologizes for releasing Johnny, then turns to find the boy behind him and seems for a time to be losing his sanity.
The Ransom Of Red Chief Analysis
Calling himself "Red Chief", the boy proceeds to drive his captors to distraction with his unrelenting chatter, malicious pranks, and demands that they play wearying games with him, such as riding 90 miles on Bill's back pretending to be an Indian scout. It follows two men who kidnap and attempt to ransom a wealthy Alabaman's son; eventually, the men are driven crazy by the boy's spoiled and hyperactive behavior, and end up having to pay the boy's father to take him back. It leaves the reader in amazement. Situational irony occurred here because what happened is the opposite of what as expected. The so-called victim is ''having the time of his life'' camping out. Henry, turns the expectations of the audience around by making them feel sorry for the kidnappers, not the so-called victim. Mankato, MN: Creative Education.
The Ransom of Red Chief
Although this would eventually lead to one of his first encounters with bad police officers, as he was severely beaten for what he had done. Henry first published in The Saturday Evening Post. Calling himself "Red Chief" in a fantasy game of cowboys and Indians, the boy drives both men crazy—but particularly Bill. The kidnappers are sure of their plan and they think that it will work out perfectly but at the end, the opposite thing happens. Later Red Chief makes a long, meandering speech, jumping from subject to subject in that way that kids do. The sophisticated con men, Sam and Bill, select Summit, Alabama, for the scene oftener crime because they think that the country bumpkins will be easy to fool: their law officers inept, their bloodhounds lazy, and their weekly rural newspapers ineffectual. Bruised, disheartened, and their hopes reduced by the trials of parenting, Bill and Sam hand over the cash and trick the unhappy boy into returning to his wealthy father.
