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Examples Of Situational Irony In The Ransom Of Red Chief

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“The ransom of red chief” by O.Henry is a short story where two men kidnap a young boy, and it is filled with situational irony. Situational irony is when something happens that you wouldn't expect to happen. In this story, situational irony occurs through the town’s name, the kidnapping event, and the dad’s reaction to the kidnapping. To begin, situational irony occurs through the location of Summit, Alabama. a summit generally refers to the top peak of a mountain. However , this particular town is the exact opposite. The text states,”There was a town down there, as flat as a flannel cake, and called summit, of course”(O.Henry 11). This mean that although the town's name the peak of a mountain, it actually is very flat. The text also states,”About two miles from summit was a little mountain, covered with a dense cedar brake”(O.Henry 12). This statement proves that there is a mountain only two miles away. However the town with the name that means peak of a mountain is as flat as a pancake. Therefore, the towns name of summit is an example of situational irony. …show more content…

Usually if a kid get kidnapped he wouldn't be excited to be kidnapped he would be freaking out unlike red chief wanting to play games and all those things. The text states,”I will let you play the black scout today”(O.Henry 18). This means that he wants to play a game but he's going to let bill be the black scout this year. The text also states,” He is your playmate for the day i'm going away for a while on business”(O.Henry 18). What he means here is he's going to have his hands full with that rotten kid. However they kidnapped a boy and the whole town does not like the kid and doesn't want him back so there's going to be a lot of trouble between the kidnappers and the

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192 Words | 1 Pages

In “The Ransom of the Red Chief” by O. Henry there is a bunch of ironies. One example of Irony that can be found in this short story is “There was a town down there, as flat as a flannel-cake (pancake), and called Summit, of course.” (Henry 5-6). To know if this an example of irony we must analyze the sentence. There was a town down there (implying that the town is under where they are standing), as flat as a pancake flannel-cake, and called Summit (peak of a mountain), of course.

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744 Words | 3 Pages

One of the first instances of situational irony is when the “would be” kidnappers first carry little “Red Chief” off to their lair. The reader expects the kidnappers to be serious and smarter than they are in the story. They try to be serious but they just can’t control themselves. However, the kidnappers do not behave as the reader would expect, instead they act kind of scared of “Red Chief”.

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431 Words | 2 Pages

In the story “Invitation to a Murder” by Josh Pachter, situational irony is used as the plot foundation for the story. The author communicates numerous occasions throughout the story in which situational irony is utilized. The first circumstance of situational irony is located in the title, “Invitation to a Murder”. This was situational irony due to the fact that they were supposedly invited to witness a murder, but they were truly invited to be a part of the murder. They became part of the murder when they all decided that they would force her to drink from the amber bottle.

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740 Words | 3 Pages

To start off on The Ransom of red chief story and movie that is filled with miniature similarities and differences. In the beginning two criminals Bill and Sam come to Summit looking for a ransom so they decided to kidnap Mr. Dorset’s son Johnny, and for return 150 dollars. The story and movie are somewhat similar but has individual differences. Meanwhile the story is originally told as stated above on the other hand the movie has a little twist.

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655 Words | 3 Pages

Dramatic irony is the contrast between what the reader knows to be true and what the character knows to be true (Arp 360). The dramatic irony employed by Jackson tells us that even though there was no particular reason as to why the villagers carry out their tradition, they still know how to do it. They blinding follow the tradition without questioning whether it’s ethical or not. The title also has element of irony in it. A reader can judge what the story might be like, or what the ending might be like.

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420 Words | 2 Pages

Two kidnappers steal a little boy from a small town to get rich off of the ransom. Soon they realized that the little boy was so aggravating, and irritating that when they tried to return him, they had to pay a ransom to give him back. In the “Ransom of The Red Chief” by O. Henry, situational irony is used throughout the story. Most authors like O. Henry use situational irony to make us have a sudden emotion. In “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant situational irony is used to makes the reader feel pity for the characters.

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526 Words | 3 Pages

Another example of irony would be when Huck meets the Grangerfords, who appear to be a very civilized and respectable family but it is soon revealed that they have been involved in a 30 year feud with another family that has caused many deaths on both

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657 Words | 3 Pages

One example of situational irony is first, the name “Fortunato” means “Fortunate” in Italian, but Fortunato is actually very unfortunate. Next, the word “cask” means “wine barrel,” but coffin also comes from the same word. So in other words, Fortunato believes he will reach a cask of wine, but in all actuality he will reach his coffin. Also, another great example of situational irony comes when Montresor has just dismembered Fortunato and exits the catacombs. Then, Montresor claims, “My heart grew sick-“(240).

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774 Words | 4 Pages

In “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, there are many examples of situational irony. For example, when Johnny Dorset is feeling the opposite of what a kid that was just kidnapped would be emotionally feeling. Johnny plays a game of pretend with his kidnappers, Bill and Sam, and only one person out of the three are having fun. The game includes hurting Bill until he finally loses his mind and cannot take anymore of Johnny’s games. He is not missing home, not begging for mercy, but what he is doing is having fun playing rough with the people who kidnapped him.

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482 Words | 2 Pages

Have you ever kidnapped a child? In the story of The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry. Two men whose names were Sam and Bill decide to kidnap a child from a little town called Summit in Alabama. They find a nice rich man with a little 10 year old child, and also the child was young enough to not understand what was going. They kidnap this child and take him to a cave they stock with provisions but the kid is really annoying.

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408 Words | 2 Pages

The narrator, later on says, “Omelas sounds in my words like a city in a fairy tale, long ago and far away, once upon a time” (Le Guin 3). The mood and narrator’s words make it seem like the City of Omelas is a utopia. However, a 10-year-old is tortured and locked away in a basement, crying (Le Guin 4). This scene proves the short story is situational irony because based on the extensive descriptions of the city’s happiness it would be a utopia, but it is not. Situational irony is a contrast between what is expected and what occurs.

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541 Words | 3 Pages

No one can defeat Death There once was a young woman, who strived to be immortal, this caused her to bind herself away from the world for years. She decided one day that she had conquered death by changing her fate and goes to venture the town where she met a strange man, who insults her, filled with anger she decides to go after him where she faces death. A very similar situation is portrayed in “The Masque of the Red Death” with the character Prince Prospero, who believes that he has changed his fate by locking himself in his palace for years but this doesn’t end well for him as he faces death in his own home. In “The Masque of the Red Death”, written by Edgar Allen Poe, irony and symbolism to is used prove that death is inevitable.

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687 Words | 3 Pages

This device also introduces other emotions in readers. By looking at the stories "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant and "The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, which utilize situational irony to create feelings of justice and humor, it becomes clear that authors use the device to create emotions other than surprise. The juxtaposition of what the reader expects and what actually happens mirrors what happens in real life. A person could expect one thing to happen, and when another event entirely occurs, they could feel anything from exuberance to anger. As happens so often with literary techniques, situational irony produces an effect that creates real

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939 Words | 4 Pages

The fact that the house continues to do its daily tasks without knowing the residents have perished is the overshadowing example of situational irony in the story. The fact that the house survived a nuclear fallout yet ends up being destroyed by a fire caused by a tree branch falling is a perfect example of situational irony in the story. Finally, the poem used by Ray Bradbury is ironic because it was one of Mrs. McClellan’s favorite poems and it happens to describe the present situation in the story. All of these examples of situational irony engage the reader in a very unique

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492 Words | 2 Pages

He says shocked.” In most kidnappings the kids want to go home and not be held captive. But in the ‘the ransom of the red chief’ the little boy is so fascinated and adventurous and that he would rather be kidnapped then be at home.

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