Dramatic Irony In The Ransom Of The Red Chief

190 Words1 Page
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on ransom of red chief

How Irony Sets a Theme The story of the Ransom of the Red Chief is has a dramatic irony theme. I say this because the boy dose now he is being kidnapped. Red Chief thinks he is going to hang out and have fun. Irony creates humor in this story by stating how Red Chief hurts one of the men named Bill that kidnapped him. In paragraph 32 sentence I the author states “he put a red hot boiled potato down my back and mashed it with his foot.” Red chief thinks he is playing Indian that is why it is dramatic irony. The way dramatic irony sets the theme is by showing that Red Chief has no idea what is going on. He thinks he is camping out and having fun. In paragraph 13 sentence 2 the author states “were playing Indian”. This tells me that the

Show More
Related

  • Situational Irony in O’Henry’s The Ransom of Red Chief and The Necklace by Guy de Maupassant

    609 Words  | 2 Pages

    Situational irony is used in both O’Henry’s “The Ransom of Red Chief” and “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant but the effect of the techniques on the tone of each story is very different. In O’Henry’s story, the protagonist, Red Chief, is being kidnapped by two criminals, Bill and Sam. There are many ironic events that occur in the story. For example, the reader expects Red Chief to want to go back home to his family but instead, he is having the time of his life. As hard as Bill tries, he cannot even send him home. Bill utters to Sam, “‘I showed him the road to Summit and kicked him about eight feet nearer there at one kick’” (6). This is comical because it is using a literary technique known as slapstick comedy. The reader can imagine Bill swinging his leg and kicking Red Chief all the way back to Summit. Another example of situational irony in the story is that the reader would expect that Red Chief to be scared but what is actually happening is that Bill is terrified. While speaking with Sam, Bill complains about Red chief yet again, “‘I’ve stood by you without batting an eye ...

    Read More

  • Personification And Irony In 'The Pardoner's Tale'

    679 Words  | 2 Pages

    On their way to find Death, the three rioters stumble upon an old sorrowful man in a shack. The old man hears the three men ranting on about their quest to find death and tells them he has been waiting for Death to come get him, for Death has traveled all over the world. Hearing the old man bring up death, the three men demand the old man to tell them where they can find death so they can kill it. The old man tells them they can find death under the oak tree, the rioters run to find the oak tree and find nothing but a bag full of gold coins. Confused because they did not find death where the old man said they could, they forget about why they were looking for and think about how their lives will become better with the golden coins they have found also they think about not being able to walk back to town with the gold coins or they would all be taken as thieves. There is several examples of irony in the story as well. Example one would be when they all agreed that know matter what they will not become greedy and turn their back on one another because they are like

    Read More

  • Paul Laurence Dunbar and Edwin Arlington Robinson

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    Dramatic irony is used through Mrs. Mallard’s reaction to her husband’s return. His death had brought her such great sorrow but upon his return she died. Her death then created sorrier bringing in the irony of the beginning of the story where it was said that Mrs. Mallard’s heart was bad and she was tried not to be stressed.

    Read More

  • Situational and Dramatic Irony in Story of an Hour, Everyday Use, The Necklace, and The Lottery

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are so many examples of situational irony that is clear throughout these stories Mr. Mallard being dead, Mama finally realizes that Maggie deserves the quilts because she understands her heritage better than Dee, Mathilde finding out she worked her whole life for nothing, and when Mr. Graves tells Tessie that Eva draws with her husband's family, Tessie is angry.  Dramatic irony is everywhere as well. Louise dies from the shock of seeing her husband who is supposed to be dead and when Dee never wanted anything to do with her heritage until somebody was impressed by it.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Irony In A Good Man Is Hard To Find

    802 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...hese characters we better and more pure, bad things would might have not happened to them like they did. In this situation, cosmic irony is used to show how someone’s fate can be decided by the life decisions they make. It was only destiny that brought the Misfit and the family together.

    Read More

  • Theme Of Irony In Trifles

    1010 Words  | 3 Pages

    Susan Gable’s Trifles is focused on discovering the killer of a local farmer in the twentieth century. In this play the amount of irony is abundant and the irony always relates to solving the murder. The two types of irony that are most easily discerned in Trifles are verbal and situational irony. Irony is when an author uses words or a situation to convey the opposite of what they truly mean. Verbal irony is when a character says one thing but they mean the other. This can be seen in the way the men dismiss the women. Situational irony is when the setting is the opposite of what one would think it would be for what the play is. This is seen through the setting being in a kitchen and various other aspects of the

    Read More

  • Examples Of Irony In The Ransom Of Red Chief

    441 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the Ransom Of Red Chief, the main idea is that two men named Bill and Sam need money. So they go to a town and steal a child, who turns out to be a brat. there is a great deal of irony used. Although the child tortures Bill and Sam, the child loves them. This is shown in the Ransom Of red Chief in this short phrase ‘and fastened himself as tight as a leech to Bill’s leg.”( pg 25) Another use of irony is that they stole the child to get money. They are willing to pay money to get rid of him. it is shown in this phrase “ You bring Johnny home and pay two hundred fifty dollars in cash.” ( pg 24) The reason why the irony is so funny is because it goes completely against what they were going for

    Read More

  • The irony

    849 Words  | 2 Pages

    A situational irony happens when a wicked man, The Misfit, causes the old woman to become sympathetic. Her enlightenment allows her to redeem herself by casting off her selfishness and reaching out to the serial killer. The Misfit's felony led to the old woman's redemption.

    Read More

  • Signification Through Structural Irony in Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales

    2175 Words  | 5 Pages

    Some literary works exhibit structural irony, in that they show sustained irony. In such works the author, instead of using an occasional verbal irony, introduces a structural feature which serves to sustain a duplicity of meaning. One common device of this sort is the invention of a naïve hero, or else a naïve narrator or spokesman, whose invincible simplicity or obtuseness leads him to persist in putting an interpretation on affairs which the knowing reader—who penetrates to, and shares, the implicit point of view of the authorial presence behind the naïve persona—just as persistently is called on to alter and correct. (Abrams, 90)

    Read More

  • The Sniper

    488 Words  | 1 Pages

    Unexpected senseless occurrences happen when situational irony comes to effect. Like the time the Republican sniper unnecessarily lights up a smoke, which glows and shows his location on a rooftop; the irony unexpectedly occurs when an old lady whom is a spy descries the Republican sniper. This incident is ironic because one doesn't expect for an old lady to be a spy because old crumbly elders can barely move. This shows that the sniper commits such an imprudent occasion as to light up a smoke, which could have gotten him killed right on the spot. Many other ironic moments take place such as the time a free state sniper was in a armored truck, which is basically like a tank, and he gets out of the his cage and then gets capped. This is ironic because why would someone do something as foolish as getting out of protection and giving himself a death wish, which concludes why war is pointless because all that’s going to happen is doom. This also shows that war is needless because all one is doing is hurting himself by killing a related specie. Furthermore, war can be even more ironic like the time when the Republican sniper unknowingly shoots his loved one, whom is his own brother. This is ironic because people usually that are family, don't have very many different beliefs. This also unveils that war is pointless and ironic because after a war everybody seems to regret what had happened. This short story was exposed in a way that shows how ironic and meaningless war and expresses the pain, sorrow, and agony one suffers caused by war.

    Read More

  • Vahan's Character In 'Forgotten Fire'

    972 Words  | 2 Pages

    -The authors uses irony by having the main character believe everything is going to be alright, but then having everything go wrong. The discrepancies between expectation and reality is ironic, since how the character expects something to happen, never does. Instead Vahan has to face the cold reality of no one is going to save him, and he has to watch out for himself.

    Read More

  • Irony in Kate Chopin's Story of an Hour

    794 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Use Of Irony In The Ransom Of Red Chief

    633 Words  | 2 Pages

    Would you ever expect a kidnapper to actually want to get rid of the kid? Better yet, would you expect the captivated child to enjoy his own kidnapping experience? Well, in the tall tale “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, a typical kidnapping encounter is completely reversed. Bill and Sam are “two desperate men” (O. Henry 7) that will do anything to get money to rent a new place to live in, even if that means kidnapping Johnny Dorset, a ten-year-old boy, and asking his wealthy father, Ebenezer Dorset, for a ransom in exchange for his son. In this high comedy piece, O. Henry uses irony and comic situations to convey the idea that all choices have a consequence that follows.

    Read More

  • O. Henry's The Ransom Of Red Chief

    281 Words  | 1 Pages

    In O. Henry’s story, The Ransom of Red Chief, two men experience an unexpected turn of events. Bill and Sam, two criminals, are in desperate need of money to complete an illegal real estate deal. For this reason, these two men kidnap Johnny, the son of a wealthy man, to attempt to achieve the money they need. This short story is a high level of comedy that uses comic language and comic situations to convey the idea that one has to pay for the consequences of their crimes. Although Sam and Bill successfully captured Johnny, things seemed to be going downhill for them when they hideout in a cave with the boy. At first, Johnny started out by hurting Bill both physically and emotionally by playing Indian. During this time, Johnny “…seemed to

    Read More

  • Outline For The Lottery Shirley Jackson Essay

    590 Words  | 2 Pages

    The title of the story represents irony when the true essence of the title is completely different from what the reader might think it to be.

    Read More

More about Dramatic Irony In The Ransom Of The Red Chief

Open Document