How Is The Irony Used In The Ransom Of Red Chief

Humor Elements “Sometimes we let life guide us and other times we take life by the horns. But one thing is for sure: no matter how organized we are, or how well we plan, we can always expect the unexpected.” Brandon Jenner. O Henry’s, “The Ransom of Red Chief” uses high comedy which involves irony, satire, and wordplay to reveal the universal truth to always expect the unexpected. The story is about Sam and Bill who kidnapped a child named Johnny. They thought they would be in control, but Johnny changed their mindset very quickly. Irony shows the oddity of the whole story. Hyperboles are used to amplify the characters’ features and the plot. Because Henry uses certain humor elements, the story makes more sense and constructs a theme.

In the story, Sam said, “The fun of camping out in a cave had made him forget that he was captive himself” (68). This shows that Sam was joking around because somebody would never really forget they were really being held captive. Being kidnapped is not typically a fun situation to be in, but Sam made it seem different. At this point in the story, Sam did not know that Johnny was going to turn out to be a major problem. The author makes it sound believable with his use of irony. Ebenezer said, “It is useless for the most skillful detectives to attempt to find him” (71). This is irony because Sam and Bill did not expect to get this letter from Ebenezer. Situational irony was used to elaborate on always expecting the unexpected because you never know what the outcome will