Examples Of Situational Irony In The Ransom Of Red Chief

“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.

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