Situational Irony In O. Henry's Ransom Of Red Chief

Irony is a useful device for giving stories many unexpected twists and turns. In Kate Chopin's "The Story of an Hour," irony is used as an effective literary device. Situational irony is used to show the reader that what is expected to happen sometimes doesn't. Dramatic irony is used to clue the reader in on something that is happening that the characters in the story do not know about. Irony is used throughout Chopin's "The Story of an Hour" through the use of situational irony and the use of dramatic irony.

In “Ransom of the Red Chief” Bill believes he has solved the kidnapper’s problems about Johnny by taking him home. However, in an instance of dramatic irony, Johnny is still with Bill, but Bill never realizes it. Sam described the scene as Bill approached the cave; “Bill wabbled out into the little glade in front of the cave. Behind him was the kid, stepping softly like a scout, with a broad grin on his face” (Henry 15). This is a situation of irony because Bill believes that the kid is gone, and his troubles are solved. However, the readers and Sam know that in reality, the

As a whole, all these examples of irony help to prove the theme of abuse of power because they show how the policemen are able to use their positions to overturn the truth and get Mr. Chiu to sign a letter confessing to a crime of sabotage he didn’t commit and about how Mr.Chiu becomes a saboteur later on himself to get revenge.

There are three principal sources of interest in narratives: suspense, mystery, and irony. In the narratives “A Rose for Emily” by William Faulkner and “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Ronald Dahl, irony is a primary source of interest. Irony is defined as a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often amusing as a result. In both of these cases, the use of irony by the authors greatens the impact the pieces have on their audience. In both “A Rose for Emily” and “Lamb to the Slaughter”, the authors have numerous pieces of irony throughout their respective stories; this use of irony creates a better reading experience for the reader.

In dramatic Irony, occurs when the readers are aware about what is going to happen, but the characters do not have any clue about what is going on. In “The Black Cat”, the story begins with the main character sentenced to death, but with one story to tell. The Irony here is that he was not aware about how his life was going to change. In the beginning he is describing how happy was his childhood and how much he loved his pets. In the second paragraph of the story the main character describes his personality as a child in the first sentence “From my infancy I was noted for the docility and humanity of my disposition. My tenderness of heart was even so conspicuous as to make me the jest of my companions” (3). He was a lovely child with an uncertain future. Another irony finds it on the story is how he describes the fidelity and love that the man can own “There is something in the unselfish and self-sacrificing love of a brute, which goes directly to the heart of him who has had frequent occasion to test the paltry friendship and gossamer fidelity of mere Man” (3-4). When the story is progressing he is transforming to a violent man without any act of compassion towards his faithful pet, which actually represented faithfulness. He is represented himself as a child with a lovely personality, but he is not aware that the lovely child was going to transform in an alcoholic man with a violent personality willing to kill mercilessly.

A sense of dramatic irony is thought to be used throughout the reading. However, the book often takes a turn so that the reader’s previous thoughts on the plot are changed.

In the story “invitation to a murder” Josh Pachter wrote an intriguing foul play mystery containing various situational ironies throughout the story. A situational irony is when the actions of the characters have an effect that is opposite of what was intended. One Situational irony is the title of the story. The twelve men that were invited to the party were invited to participate in a murder. Even though the men had tried to intervene, they were unsuccessful.

In O. Henry’s short story “Ransom of the Red Chief,” he uses a specific tone and mood to set up the story. In this particular story, the reader can sense a kind of comedy and failure tone to it-almost amusing- but O. Henry still wants some seriousness within the comedy. An example of his comedy is displayed when it says in the book, “'Hey, little boy!' says Bill, 'would you like to have a bag of candy and a nice ride?'The boy catches

The story titled “Invitation to Murder” written by Josh Pachter has a plot foundation based off of situational irony. Situational irony is additionally referred to as a plot twist. The plot is developed in this story when a plot twist, or situational irony, occurs. Plot twists in this story often lead up to important marks in the story; for example, a plot twist leads up to the introduction of the conflict and the resolution. There are numerous sightings of situational irony in the story. Mrs.Abbott invited twelve renowned men with occupations based on crime fighting, and she invited them to witness a crime in progress. Most of any audience would assume that she invited them to discuss and solve a crime, but that was not the case. When Mrs.Abbott

In the novella entitled,”The Ransom Of Red Chief,” by William Sydney Porter, Sam and his friend Bill Driscoll decide to kidnap the child of Ebenezer Dorset for two reasons: they know Ebenezer will pay a lot of money to get his child back, and that the police at the town where Ebenezer lives wouldn’t be able to do much to stop them. In the text it states, “Bill and me figured that Ebenezer would melt down for a ransom of two-thousand dollars to a cent,” (The Ransom Of Red Chief, Paragraph 4). This evidence proves that if Sam and Bill kidnap Ebenezer’s son, they have a large chance of earning some cash. This proves as an incentive for Sam and Bill to kidnap Ebenezer’s son, because they would earn from it. The text also states, “We knew that Summit

Guy de Maupassant, the author of the short story “The Necklace” does this is a sad way. By reading and containing information from these two stories, the author clearly is using situational irony to affect the readers’ emotions. In the short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry irony is used to show the reader it is creating humor. For example, the kidnapping

ransom was to be paid. Things didn’t turn out the way Bill and Sam had expected. O. Henry’s

It was a cold September afternoon. Outside of Lakeside High School, Sam Koren waited for his father to pick him up. He stood in the pick up, until a voice meet his ear. "Hey, Sam!" He turned to see Kyle Johnson, pointing at him. "I asked for my money an hour ago, so where is it?" Sam said, "I'm not giving it to you, Kyle. Just go." Kyle clenched his fist and punched Sam, knocking him to the ground.  He got up, seeing blood staining his black hoodie. Kyle grabbed Sam's neck, "I said where's my money Sam? I won't ask you twice." Sam spat blood at his face. His eyes narrowed, and quickly tightened his hands around Sam's neck. He began to cry, "Get...off me." A car pulled up, Sam's father, Ross ran out and pushed Kyle off of his son. He looked

Usually when you think of kidnapping, you would never imagine the kid wanting to stay with the kidnapper, but that was the case in this story. O. Henry’s high level comedy “The Ransom of Red Chief” uses comic situation and comic character to convey the idea that things don’t always turn out the way that you wanted them to be. An example of comic situation was shown when, “[Johnny] had Bill terrorized from the start.” No one would ever think a kidnapper would be afraid of a little kid. Comic character was shown when, “a freckle-faced boy of ten, with bright red hair[..].”

In the story of “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry. One should not feel sympathy for the kidnappers. No one made them kidnap the kid they did it on their own just for money. But, the kid wasn’t what they were expecting he was feisty, loud, and always hurting Billy. The kidnappers put a note in the Dorset mailbox asking for 1,500 dollars. Then hid in the tree waiting for a note back. The father knew his kid was trouble and instead asked for them to bring him home along with money for him. The kidnappers accepted the deal and returned the kid. So in the story one shouldn’t feel sympathy for the