What Are The Ransom Of Red Chief Differences Between Book And Movie

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“The Ransom of Red Chief” was a story written by O. Henry in the year 1907. This story, like many other pieces of literature by him, was written is what is called the O. Henry Style. This style of writing is capitalized by unexpected twists and turns throughout the story, and helped him in becoming a recognized writer. “The Ransom of Red Chief” story was eventually made into a movie. Like most other story to movie adaptations, there are some similarities and some differences. However, the differences greatly outnumber the similarities, and in this essay I will attempt to highlight a few of both. The similarities between “The Ransom of Red Chief” story and The Ransom of Red Chief movie are few and far between, however, that is not to say …show more content…

This is evident in the fact that he appeared to be having a great deal of fun playing with Bill, even though Bill did not appear to be having very much fun himself, which leads me to the next similarity. The second similarity is that in the story Red Chief physically hurt Sam and Bill, whether it be by accident or on purpose, on a multitude of occasions. In the movie, Red Chief also physically hurt them. This is demonstrated by the fact that he kicked at them when Sam and Bill were trying to capture him, and did a multitude of different things to injure them while he was with them. As a result of this abuse, the next similarity occurs. In the story, Bill does not want to be left alone with Red Chief, and even protests and begs Sam not to leave him. In the movie, Bill also does not want to be left alone with Red Chief, and got very upset when Sam tried to leave him to deliver the ransom note to Mr. Dorset. Bill was so afraid of Red Chief because he had already suffered multiple injuries from him, and was also just plain tired of catering to Red Chief’s every whim. The next similarity is that in the story, the kidnappers’ names were Bill Driscoll and Sam. In the movie adaptation, the kidnappers’ names were also Bill Driscoll and Sam. In fact, Red …show more content…

One difference is the fact that in the story, the setting is a fictional town called Summit, in Alabama. However, in the movie the setting is still a town called Summit, but it is located in Missouri rather than Alabama. This did not have much of an impact on the story, and in the end did not make much of a difference. Another difference is that in the story the narrator is the kidnapper named Sam. However, in the movie the narrator is the sheriff of Summit. Overall, switching narrators was a good call on the film producer’s part, as it allowed for a different perspective. Another difference was in the name of Red Chief’s father. In the story, Red Chief’s father was named Ebenezer Dorset. In the movie adaptation, the father’s name was Ambrose Dorset. Again, this seems to be a trivial change, as it does not have a major impact on the story. One important difference was that in the story, the two kidnappers asked for two thousand dollars, then after the boy hit Bill with a brick they bumped it up to two thousand five hundred dollars, then they brought it down to one thousand five hundred dollars because they wanted to get rid of him, and in the end paid two hundred dollars to Mr. Dorset. In the movie, things went quite differently. Sam and Bill originally asked for a mere fifty dollars, and then