Kidnapping In O Henry's The Ransom Of Red Chief

The act of kidnapping is a very dark subject, usually the child is molested/killed, but in “The Ransom of Red Chief” O’Henry finds a way to transform the topic into comedy. Most kidnapped children would sit in the corner and cry, whereas Red Chief takes control of the situation and treats it like a game, playing the war chief who had captured “Old Hank” and attempts to scalp him the next day, for which most kidnappers would kill the child at that point, but Bill and Sam (the kidnappers of Red chief) just don’t have it in them to kill a 10 year old, regardless of the Red Chief’s personality, and the situation is reversed around them. Although these are two hardened criminals, who in most situations would kill/dismember the child, Red Chief takes control of the situation and in a way, they become the kidnapped because of the lack of awareness of the challenge of the ransom.

“We went to bed about eleven o'clock.

Just at daybreak, I was awakened by a series of terrible screams from Bill. Red Chief was sitting on Bill's chest, with one hand holding his hair. In the other, he had a sharp knife. He was attempting to cut off the top of Bill's head, based on what he had declared the night before. I got the knife away from the boy. But, after that event, Bill's spirit was broken. He lay down, but he never closed an eye again in sleep as long as that boy was with us.”

Firstly, Bill and Sam should have taken more precautions to secure their captee, whereas Red Chief wanders around free. While most kidnappers would tie up their victim, Red Chief manages to get hold of a knife, and attempts to sculpt Bill, thinking it’s all a game. After this first scare, Bill and Sam see that things were really blown out of proportion, and that this was the wrong child to kidnap, as Red Chief takes command and they do his bidding. Also, Red Chief can go anywhere he want, and they follow him, whereas Red Chief should be fearing for be fearing for his

life.

In addition, in order for Sam to get Red Chief to behave, Sam has to threaten to take him back home, while most kidnapped children would run home at the slightest opportunity. The fact that Sam has to threaten to take Red Chief back to his house is the most shocking part, (“ ‘I was only funning’, says he. ‘I didn't mean to hurt Old Hank. I'll behave if you don't send me home.’ “) because the kidnapper would usually threaten to kill the child, but Sam has no control over Red Chief, so he lies and assists him out of fear for what Red Chief might do. This goes to show how Red Chief really runs the “operation” thinking his kidnapping an exciting game.

In the end, Bill and Sam end up lying to Red Chief to take him home, telling him that the father bought him a silver rifle to convince him to return back to his house and have to pay the father $250 . The fact that they en