Use Of Situational Irony In The Ransom Of Red Chief

Stories can produce a variety of emotions through situational irony. Situational irony can create humorous impact on the audience. It also assembles a feeling of surprise and shock. The amazing thing though, is that situational can create a multitude of different emotions. It all depends on how the author chooses to manipulate it and how the reader perceives it. The enticing short stories, “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant and “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, leave the reader aware of situational irony and the selection of emotional affects it can produce.

O. Henry uses situational irony in the hilarious short story, “ The Ransom of Red chief” to deliver a humorous affect to the reader. For instance, the kid that Bill and Sam kidnap

For instance, early on in the story Madame Loisel says she will never become like those strong and hardworking women. Then Mathilde is an awry dressed, hardworking women because of her mistake. She says she would never become a women of that nature but then she becomes one of them. “Madame Loisel looked old now. She had become like all other strong, hard coarse women of poor households. Her hair was badly done, her skirts were awry, her hands were red” (7). In this quote the narrator explains the changes that Mathilde faces over the years. He explains how her appearance and demeanor change. Another example of situational irony in “The Necklace” is when Mathilde found out the real value of the necklace. Madame Loisel in the beginning of the story is stuck up and ungrateful. Towards the end of the story she is still fairly snobby but is now considered the poorest of the poor. “Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred francs” (8)! In this quote, Madame Forestier is is explaining to Mathilde that the necklace she has spent the past 10 years trying to pay off was not real. Mathilde spends ten years of her life trying to pay for a necklace that is 500 francs at most. “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant is a perfect example of situational irony giving the reader a surprising