During the story, “The Ransom of Red Chief” two desperate men begin to search for a child to capture, using him as ransom leverage. While holding the child hostage, he begins to act up with vigor. After some time, these two abductor’s outcomes are extremely unexpected. O. Henry uses the characters’ interactions to create an unanticipated ending. The author creates an unforeseen outcome in various ways. One instance is that the young boy gave a very long, pointless, obnoxious speech. The two kidnappers were extremely annoyed and responded with requesting that the child leave when prompted, the child firmly responded that he did not wish to return home for as long as possible. Obviously, the child wishes to surrender the kidnappers’ sanity and become the authoritative figure in the situation. Generally, those who are more intelligent tend to take advantage or exploit the lesser individual. Yet another example of this is very apparent. One day, Bill began to “play” Indian with the young child, pretending to be Old Hank the trapper. During the “play” time, the boy threatens to scalp Bill by daybreak. Bill wakes up just at daybreak, screaming in terror like a woman, in response to the boy’s empty threat of scalping. Clearly, the child wished to break Bill’s spirit because he wanted him to give into his antics and put himself in charge of Bill. …show more content…
During Bill and the child’s alone time, the boy grows aggressive towards Bill. He begins to threaten the man with “smashing you with a rock half as big as a coconut”. Previously, the child put a “red hot potato” down Bill’s back and mashed it with his foot, presumably scoulding Bill. Bill responds by boxing the child’s ears, and grows weary of what else the Red Chief may be capable of. Evidently, the boy requested dominance over Bill by breaking his soul, will, and sanity, because he required power to manipulate the situation to benefit himself and to force Bill into