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Situational Irony In 'Ransom Of The Redchief'

675 Words3 Pages

Two kidnappers steal a little boy from a small town to get rich off of the ransom. Soon they realize that the little boy is so aggravating, and irritating that when they try to return him, they have to pay a ransom to give him back. In the “Ransom of The Redchief” by O. Henry, situational irony is in use throughout the story. Most authors like O. Henry uses situational irony to make us have a sudden emotion. In “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant situational irony makes the reader feel pity for the characters. Throughout story's many authors use situational irony to affect the reader's emotions.
“The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant uses situational irony to make the reader feel upset for the characters. For instance Madame Loisel always feels …show more content…

Henry uses situational irony to instill humor into the reader. In “The Ransom of Redchief” two kidnappers kidnap a little boy hoping to get a good ransom off of him. The little boy starts to play Indian chief, and begins to have a blast. Soon he starts making the kidnappers afraid of him, by almost scalping them, and stoning them. Soon the kidnappers are afraid of the little boy while the “boy seemed to be having the time of his life” (40). This situational irony brings humor to the reader. O. Henry is able to use situational irony by making the kidnappers afraid instead of the boy. “The Ransom of Redchief” also is able to make us feel humor. Also the “The Ransom of Redchief”, O. henry is able to instill more humor into the book. When they want to return the little boy back to his home, the father demands that they have to pay a ransom. At first the kidnappers will not do that, but they start realizing how much of a pest the boy really is. Soon they took the deal and the kidnaper thought “I should have been abstraction the fifteen hundred dollars… Bill was counting out two hundred and fifty dollars into Dorset's hand” (53). This situational irony makes the reader smile, because of the humor. O. Henry in “The Ransom of Redchief” uses situational irony to instill humor through the entire

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