...The Ransom of Red Chief It is funny how things do not always work out the way we expect them to. No matter how long we plan or how impossible we think something may be, it can still happen. Bill and Sam thought they had an easy job and easy money right in front of them. O. Henry’s “The Ransom of Red Chief” represents irony as the desperation of two men, a kid’s hellish imagination get the best of them, and the bond between father and son are over estimated. Bill and Sam had only six hundred dollars between the both of them and they needed two thousand more to pull a scheme in Illinois. They had the bright idea to kidnap a kid and get the two thousand as a ransom. They wrote out the ransom note after having held the boy captive over night in a cave and they signed it “two desperate men.” Bill had been going out of his mind dealing with the boy’s wild imagination. He was about to break down and walk away without the money; he had enough. O. Henry: Red Chief was sitting on Bill’s chest, with one hand twined in Bill’s hair. In the other he had the sharp case-knife we used for slicing bacon; and he was industriously and realistically trying to take Bill’s scalp, according to the sentence that had been pronounced upon him the even before (281.) They were no longer desperate for the money but desperate to give the boy back. They lowered the ransom to only fifteen hundred because they realized no one would pay two thousand dollars for the return of “that forty-pound chunk of freckled...
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...«The Ransom Of Red Chief» O.Henry. Analysis. O.Henry was a prolific American short story writer, a master of surprise endings, who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City. William Sydney Porter was born in Greensboro, North Carolina. When he was three, his mother died, and he was raised by his paternal grandmother and aunt. At the age of fifteen he left school. In 1897 he was convicted of stealing money. In prison he started to write short stories to earn money to support his daughter Margaret. After three of the five years sentence he came out of the prison. In 1901 he changed his name to O. Henry and died of cirrhosis of the liver on June 5 1910 . It is shown by the authors way of writing that the genre of the Ransom Of The Red Chief is a non-fiction because the characters, places, the events and actions in the story seem almost real. O. Henry describes the characters in a very delicate manner. He shows that Red Chief is a very active and mischievous kid . He has made the life of his kidnappers hell. The author uses chronological order to tell the story and to state the events that took place. He starts by introducing the main characters , the setting , then makes his way through by adding some twists and turns. The story finishes with a touch of irony . -They kidnapped Johnny. -They sent a letter to the father with demands. -The father replies the letter by an offer. -They accept the offer. -They return Johnny and pay the father the...
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...The plot of the story “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O.Henry I have to honestly admit that with all due respect to gifted writers who write voluminous novels, undoubtedly deserving respect for their well-weighed plot and images of heroes, perceptible and heart-piercing description etc., still with big respect I treat authors (surely talented) of short lambent stories. Furthermore, there is a need to “squeeze” almost everything in some pages, whereas novelists would require at least hundred pages. Thus, in my view one of the recognized masters of such genre is, undeniably, O.Henry. His impressive, common story “The Ransom of Red Chief” would make many people smile and think about life much easier. The story of two unlucky swindlers, Sam and Bill, who decided to make a pretty penny out of kidnapping, cannot leave someone untouched. Interesting and edifying story teaches us that there is no such thing as a free lunch, also that opportunities make thieves. Needing money, swindlers kidnap the boy, hoping to receive repayment in two thousand dollars (rather great sum for 1910s) from his wealthy father. Everything could have been easy, if the boy was “homebody”, however he was mischievous. The brigands made a serious mistake: they should have carefully chosen the captive. I think the plot of this story is to think properly before doing something and that everyone gets what he deserves. For instance, two hooligans suffered from their own conspiracy, instead of Dorset’s. In addition, at...
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...Bruke Zozaya 3/1/16 3rd period Book Reflection Anne, Frank. The Diary of a Young Girl. Doubleday, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036 Summary: Anne Frank’s diary starts in 1942 in Holland where Anne lives with her family. Anne gets the diary as a 13th birthday present. When she first writes, Anne lives a pretty normal kind of life. She goes to school, has a group of friends, has crushes, and does her homework. However, things are getting bad with the whole Nazi situation. Germany is trying to take over Europe and Hitler has imposed a lot of strict rules on the Jews. They wear yellow stars on their clothes so they can be identified at all times, they can only shop in certain stores, etc. But Anne’s life is okay. Then, suddenly, her sister is about to get sent off to a concentration camp (that’s where they kill the Jews and people who help the Jews) so Anne’s whole family move into this tiny secret space in Mr. Frank’s office building. The Van Daans also move in. The diary charts Anne’s life in the Secret Annexe (what they call the hiding place). They all live in fear of being found and sent to their deaths. At the same time, they have to keep on living their day to day lives, so there’s a lot in the book about how Anne’s days go, how she feels, and the daily rituals. Anne starts out as a young teenager but matures both emotionally and physically through the two years she’s in hiding. She and her mom go through tough times, but she and her dad remain close almost...
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...“Irony on Red Chief” The irony in the “The Ransom of Red Chief “creates humor and develops a theme by helping the readers understand what it happening between Bill and Sam. The type of irony this story has is a Dramatic Irony. It has a Dramatic Irony because the audience is aware of something the characters in the story are not. The story “The Ransom of Red Chief” uses humor to develop a theme. I think that the humor is between Bill and Red Chief. In paragraph 23 it states,” Just at daybreak, I was awakened by a series of awful screams from Bill”. To me this is funny because you could never think a child could hurt a grown man intentionally. In paragraph 24 it states,” I jumped up to see what the matter was. Red Chief was sitting on Bill’s...
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...The Ransom of Red Chief has a unexpected tone for kidnapping a child. The tone of the passage is humorous because it is about two kidnappers who are bargaining for money and end up paying money. The author shows us it is humorous by the language that appeals to the senses, the process by which the writer reveals character, and the author’s choice of words. The first way the author keeps the tone humorous is by imagery or language that appeals to the senses. The author uses imagery for a lot of the passage such as, flat as a flannel-cake in describing the town Summit using sense of sight, and crackle of a twig and rustle of a leaf using sense of hearing. On page 1 it says, “ The kid was a freckle-faced boy of ten, with bright red hair,” and with this sentence we are able to imagine what this boy looks like from just the words in the text. Another example is on page 8, “ The Black Scout jumps on Bill’s...
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...Our class read the book and watched the movie “ The Ransom of Red Chief.” I would like to discuss the topic “ Is there a difference in the book and the movie?” In this paragraph I would like to discuss the differences in the book and the movie. For example, when they write the ransom note they sign the note “ Two fierce and desperate kidnappers” in the movie; in the book they sign the note “ Two desperate men.” Another difference is, in the book the dad doesn’t go out and look for the boy, he just makes the kidnappers pay him $250; in the movie the dad dress up in many different diquises and goes out and looks for the boy. In this paragraph I would like to discuss the alikes in the book and the movie. For example, the...
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...Dick's Christmas Stocking" (1899). He used a pseudonym, Olivier Henry, only once and changed his pen name to O. Henry, not wanting his readers to know he was in jail. He published 12 stories while in prison. After serving 3 years of the five-year sentence, he was released for good behavior. He moved to New York City in 1902 and wrote a story a week for the New York World, and also for other publishers. His first collection of stories was "Cabbages and Kings" (1904). The next collection, "The Four Million" (1906), included his well-known stories "The Gift of the Magi", "The Skylight Room" and "The Green Door". One of his last stories, "The Ransom of Red Chief" (1910), is perhaps the best known of his works. Among its film adaptations are Ruthless People (1986) with Danny DeVito and Bette Midler, The Ransom of Red Chief(1998), The Ransom of Red Chief...
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...presented in a story, it can create a great level of humor. O. Henry uses both Situational and verbal irony to create a hurmoustone throughout his story, “The Ransom of Red Chief.” Both situational and verbal irony are used throughout the story to develop humorous tone. Situational irony is used in many instances in the story to create humor. One of the first instances is when the would be kidnappers first carry “Red Chief” to their lair. The reader expects the kidnappers to be ruthless and in control. However, the kidnappers do not behave as the reader would expect, instead they let him go with no restraints and “red Chief” openl threatensthe kidnappers and they do nothing about it. This is clearly shown in the text when it states, “I’m Old Hank, the trapper, Red Chief’s captive, and I’m to be scalped at daybreak.” (O. Henry 2), and, “... and announced that, when his braves returned from the warpath, I was to be broiled at the stake at the rising of the sun.” (O. Henry 2). This creates a...
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...One thing someone could learn from this story is that you should never hold a small child hostage for money. In “The Ransom of the Red Chief” by O’Henry, Sam and Bill are in need of some money and decide to hold a ransom. They kidnap a little boy and find out that he is one of the most irritable people ever. One can infer from this story is that the people we originally thought to be antagonists might actually be the protagonists. In the beginning our main characters, Sam and Bill, are in need of money but can’t get any. That is when they decide it would be a good idea to kidnap a child and hold him for ransom. Here, the reader can see that they are going to be following the antagonists around. When they finally get Johnny to the cave...
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...That is what Ransom of Red Chief and home alone have in their theme. Theme is the message or lesson in the story, movie, book etc. It states in Ransom of Red Chief they said hey little boy, do you want some candy and a nice ride is what Sam and Bill said when they tried to take Red Chief. In Home Alone the crooks try to break into the house and steal the family's belongings, but Kevin knew that they were coming and fought them off with stuff around his house because he didn’t know them. Those are both examples of beware of strangers Another example is don't judge a book by it’s cover. In Ransom of Red Chief looked like a calm respectful kid who wouldn't hurt anybody, but it turns out that he is a rowdy kid that doesn’t like to listen to anybody,...
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...In class we have been reading “The Ransom of Red Chief.” Yesterday, we watched the movie and it was somewhat like the short story. For an example, in the short story it said that Bill and Sam asked Johnny (Red Chief) did he want some candy, but in the movie they didn’t ask him. Another difference is in the book it said Red Chief tried to scallop Bill, but in the movie Red Chief did scallop Bill. The last difference is when Sam and Bill wrote Ebenezer Dorset the Ransom Letter. In the book it said Bill and Sam gave the letter to a mail carrier, but in the movie he gave it to a little boy to deliver it. Those are some of the differences between the movie and the book. In the movie and short story there are a lot of similarities. One example is...
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...In the late 1800’s, two writers with very different backgrounds, wrote surprisingly similar stories. Guy de Maupassant was born in France and was largely known for his work in short stories. O. Henry, born a little later than de Maupassant, was a southern American writer who also specialized in short stories. Both were known for ending their stories with unexpected plot twists. Two of these stories, The Necklace by Maupassant and Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry have very different settings and characters however several aspects of the stories show remarkable similarities. In both of these stories the main characters make a decision that looks like it will help them but something goes wrong the decision puts them in a situation worse than...
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...How Red Chief Creates Irony The situation irony in the Ransom of Red Chief creates humor and develops them because when Red Chief was kidnapped it caused a situation in the story. I know it was this irony because of the story is wrote and the situation in it. In the story it shows how irony was created by humor and how irony develop into a theme. In this paragraph I would like to talk about how irony is created by humor in the story. In paragraph #16, sentence #1 it states " I like this fine. I never camped out before; but I had a pet 'possum' once, and I was nine last birthday." What I think this quote means is that even know him got kidnapped he having fun. This story show that there is a problem but he is do things he has never...
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...The Ransom of Red Chief The Ransom of Red Chief It is funny how things do not always work out the way we expect them to. No matter how long we plan or how impossible we think something may be, it can still happen. Bill and Sam thought they had an easy job and easy money right in front of them. O. Henry’s “The Ransom of Red Chief” represents irony as the desperation of two men, a kid’s hellish imagination get the best of them, and the bond between father and son are over estimated. Bill and Sam had only six hundred dollars between the both of them and they needed two thousand more to pull a scheme in Illinois. They had the bright idea to kidnap a kid and get the two thousand as a ransom. They wrote out the ransom note after having held the boy captive over night in a cave and they signed it “two desperate men.” Bill had been going out of his mind dealing with the boy’s wild imagination. He was about to break down and walk away without the money; he had enough. O. Henry: Red Chief was sitting on Bill’s chest, with one hand twined in Bill’s hair. In the other he had the sharp case-knife we used for slicing bacon; and he was industriously and realistically trying to take Bill’s scalp, according to the sentence that had been pronounced upon him the even before (281.) They were no longer desperate for the money but desperate to give the boy back. They lowered the ransom to only fifteen hundred because they realized no one would pay two thousand dollars for the return of “that...
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