How Does O Henry Create Humor In The Ransom Of Red Chief

The stories “Contents of the Dead Man’s Pocket”, “The Leap”, and “The Trip” all explore aspects that are drastic for the characters and are thrilling to the audience to read. Common elements can be found in each story. Even though each story is similar, each story has a unique way of hooking the reader that stays true to the theme and plot.

Joyce Carol Oates has captivated the imagination of the reader within her short story The Abduction. There are many components to making a story great as well, and in his Ted Talk “The Clues to a Great Story”, Andrew Stanton goes into detail about the dos and don’ts of story. Joyce Carol Oates uses several of the positive references from Stanton’s Ted Talk throughout her short story to grab the reader’s attention and envelope them into the story of a girl gone missing.

Irony is a very big part of a story, because it can create new elements in a story. Some of these elements may include humor and theme. "The Ransom of Red Chief" is a great example for this.

Henry was a normal boy and did all of the normal things young boys do: making noise, being busy and active, nosing around in the refrigerator, and asking questions - all part and parcel of being a normal child. But he was brought up to believe he wasn't a "model boy." His parents were constantly interrupted by him - his mother while she was reading and grading papers, and his father so much so that he spent most of his time in his office on campus, joining them only at mealtimes. His father wished to remain "blissfully unaware."

Irony is described by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “the incongruity between the actual result of a sequence of events and the normal or expected result”. “Ransom of the Red Chief”, as short story written by O. Henry, is full of all types of irony. In this short story a boy, Johnny Dorset, is taken by two kidnappers, Sam and Bill. Ironically, by the end of the story it is the kidnappers who pay ransom to the father. In “Ransom of the Red Chief”, there are many examples of irony which help to enhance the story. Throughout this tale, there are multiple examples of situational, dramatic, and verbal irony.

Henry demonstrated his use of Pathos by demonstrating how much of a threat Britain can pose for the U.S. He mentioned the “gentlemen” still lament for peace, but warns the audience to be vigilant by telling us “Our brethren are already in the field!” and “The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms!” Henry also bashes the people who were oblivious to the impending war by telling of how the British already taunted them of being weak and “unable to cope with so formidable an adversary”. Another Pathos acknowledgement

"He became not a man but a member. He felt that something of which he was a part -a regiment, an army, a cause, or a country -was in a crisis. He was welded into a common personality which was dominated by a single desire." (Crane ) The Red Badge of Courage is written by Stephen Crane. It takes place during the Civil War. Some readers think Henry is a Coward while other think he is a hero. Henry shows heroic traits when he ends up fighting, grabs the flag, and stays with the army.

An interesting story is “A Good Man is Hard to Find” by Flannery O’Connor which combines a sarcastic humor with a fictional event that could teach us how a little unexpected moment would destroy their precious treasure of life, the family. Through the story the author applies foreshadowing, strong characters, and particular settings to keep the attention of the reader.

This evokes pathos in the members of the convention, creating a feel of respect and assurance towards Henry. Essentially, to get his idea across as fast as possible, Henry conveys his ultimate purpose and sense of urgency to fight for justice immediately since there is “no time.” He creates another appeal to pathos that builds a perception of necessity within the members so that they want to assist Henry and his view quickly. Also, to create

Henry is trying to get people to join the revolution and fight against Britain. He uses pathos because he inspires anger, trust, outrage, and fear by using the quote, "suffer yourself not to be betrayed with a kiss" (Patrick Henry).

Irony In "The Ransom of Red Chief" ​In O.Henry's story "The Ransom of Red Chief" the reader is introduced to two men named Bill and Sam. Trying to get $2,000 the two kidnap a young boy, Johnny, and soon figure out that they had bitten off more than they could chew. Throughout the story the reader is exposed to three different kinds of irony those being verbal, situational, and dramatic. ​Verbal irony is one of the three types of irony used in this story. Verbal is when an someone says or writes one thing and means another.

“I desire very little, but the things I do consume me.” - Beau Taplin. The Collector by John Fowles is a psychological thriller that delves deep into societies social classes and into the twisted minds of serial killers and abductors. In most stories, abduction occurs with the intent of some kind of sexual desire or to cause harm to the person being confined. In The Collector the audience is given both viewpoints between the victim and the captor to highlight what each believes is going on within the abduction. The antagonists desire to “collect” heavily outweighs any malicious inclination.

Have you ever had a plan that backfired? I’m sure we all have, and in the short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” this is exactly what happens to the two kidnappers. These kidnappers set up a plan to kidnap a child and return him to his parents if they pay a ransom. Little did they know that their plan would soon fail as they find the child's parents are uncertain about paying the ransom and as they soon find the kidnapped child who is to be at the kidnappers mercy is a real tyrant. Thus the author, O. Henry, creates the theme that themes are not always what they seem.

The doctor goes on to narrate, “Perhaps I should have desisted and come back... No doubt it would have been better...children lying dead in bed... I must get a diagnosis now or never I went at it again” (3). In this situation, the doctor knows it to be sensible to give the child a break but the thought of dying children (a negative emotion) brings him to feel that he “must get a diagnosis now or never,” scaring the poor child. Williams emphasizes the evil in the physician in the lines, “I could have torn the child apart in my own fury and enjoyed it.

Mark Twain uses humor to show all that is wrong with society in many different ways. Humor is mostly shown through hypocrisy in “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” which is conveyed through the people in Huck’s life. Twain uses wit and humor to show what needs to be reformed in society.