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How Is Situational Irony Used In The Ransom Of Red Chief

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In many stories irony is used as humorous and suspenseful due to the characters. In this particular short story the author uses humorous irony but also has a humorous tone to create the difference of the plot. In this short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, he uses a different scenario of irony in which case is when a young boy gets kidnapped by two men. Even though the child has been captured, he ends up having the upper hand. Both situational and verbal irony are used throughout the story to develop a humorous tone. Situational irony is used in many instances in the story to create humor. 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 …show more content…

“Red Chief” does not listen, he is disobedient to the ones who have captured him. Instead, the situation is the other way around. This is clearly portrayed in the text when it reveals, “‘Aw, what for?’ says he. ‘I don’t have any fun at home. I hate to go to school. I like to camp out. You won’t take me back home again, Snake-eye, will you?’ … ‘I never had such fun in all my life’” (Henry 2). This helps develope a humorous tone because usually most would believe that the child would be begging to be returned home, but in this case in the story he would rather stay with those who had abducted him. A final example of situational irony is when “Red Chief’s” father responds to the ransom note. The reader expects that the father will be frantic or worried about getting his child home safely, and be willing to pay a ransom for getting his son back into his own care. Again, the father does not react as expected, instead he knows that his son is not tolerable for a long period of time as which means he is not worried about his child very much due to they will be willing to

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