Similarities Between Home Alone And Ransom Of Red Chief

In the movie Home Alone and the story Ransom of Red Chief I feel like the theme for both of them is that no matter how small and inocent someone seems they could be a serious pain. In the story the author wrote] “The kid was a freckled face boy of ten with freckles that stood out.” (O’Henry 63) This shows that the two criminals thought this was just a little kid with freckles but later on they will realize how much trouble this kid will cause. In one of the scenes of the movie Home Alone the two thieves said it’s just a little boy and he’s home alone (Home Alone). This shows how the criminals under estimated the boy but when they attempted to rob the kid he put many obstacles in their way which slowed them down and they were eventually arrested.

Red Chief and Kevin shared many character traits with each other.

The two boys were both very ornery, mischievous, independent and resourceful. In the story it states “ I’ll behave, Snake-Eye, if you won’t send me home. And if you’ll let me play Black Scout today.”(O’Henry 67). This shows that Red Chief is very ornery, mischievous and resourceful because in the game he will make Bill his horse and carry him ninety miles to a fort and he’s independent because when they kidnapped him he was alone and they say he didn’t seem like a stay at home type. In the movie Kevin used household items to defend his house from the criminal all by himself which shows that he is resourceful and independent. He also liked to mess with the criminals a lot which proves that he is ornery and mischievous. In both of the story’s the criminals had one “Mastermind” and they had the “Muscle”. Some of the traits that the criminals share are unsuccessful and criminals. In the story the author said “Sam and Bill are two sharp con men”(O’Henry 61). This shows that they are criminals because they are con men and they are unsuccessful because they have to con people. In the movie the thieves attempted to rob many houses in little Kevin’s neighborhood but they were later arrested by the police. This proves that the thieves were criminals since they were trying to rob house and they were unsuccessful because they were arrested by the

authorities.
In the story and the movie there were many very similar events.

In the story and the movie the kid was extremely underestimated and later proved to be a serious pain in the butt. In the movie the thieves tried to just walk in the house and rob Kevin, but in the house there were many traps and surprises waiting for the thieves to protect himself and his home (Home Alone) This shows how the thieves attempted to rob little Kevin and didn’t expect much of a challenge but he showed them that he was a force to be reckoned with. In the story the author stated “ We knew that Summit couldn’t come after us with anything stronger than the police and a few lazy bloodhounds. And maybe in the Weekly Farmer’s Budget. So, it looked good.”(O’Henry 62) This illustrates that the thieves didn’t think anything could go wrong with there plan and they weren’t even worried about the kid. But later on their plan failed miserably and they ended up having to pay Mr. Dorset instead. In both the story and the movie the criminals ended up getting injured in someway. In the story written by O’Henry “He put a red-hot boiled potato down my back, explained Bill. Then he mashed it with his foot.” (O’Henry 66). This proves that in the short story one of the criminals were hurt by the kid. I'm almost positive a red-hot potato isn’t going to feel very good on your skin. In the movie when Marv went up to the door Kevin aimed his pellet gun out of the doggie door and shot him in the private area. This was only

one of the times these criminals experiencedpain while trying to rob the Mcallisters.” This shows that Marv was seriously injured while attempting to break into the house. Both Marv and Harry were injured in attempt to make a personal gain. The last event that the movie and the story had in common is that one of the criminals did something that later screwed them over later on. In the movie Home Alone Marv thought it would be a good idea to let the water run in all of the houses they rob and he said it was there “calling card”. But later on when they got arrested the cops knew every house they hit because the houses were all flooded(Home Alone) This shows that in the movie Marv messed up when he flooded the house because it gave away all the houses that they hit. They probably got a longer sentence in prison due to the fact that they could know for sure all of the house they stole from. In the story Bill hit Red Chief because he dropped a hot potato down his back so he hit him and then Red Chief tried to scalp Bill but he failed. This proves that the actions of Bill caused serious problems and could’ve caused him to lose his life.
The movie Home Alone is more modern than Ransom of Red Chief. In the movies the kid is similar to most kid our age unlike Red Chief. In the story it stated “The kid was in the street. He was throwing rocks at a kitten on a fence.” (O’Henry 62). This shows that the movies] is more modern than the story because Kevin was just a normal little kid and Red Chief was throwing rocks at a little helpless animal.Also if you were throwing rocks at a kitten on a fence today you would probably get the cops called on you. Another reason the movie is more modern is the difference in the setting. In the story the setting was in a small town and in the middle of nowhere and in the movie it was just a modern neighborhood. In Ransom of Red Chief “There was a town down there as flat as a pancake. It was called Summit. Of course the people who lived there were as harmless and happy a group of peasants gathered around a Maypole.”(O’Henry 61) This proves that the movie is more old fashioned because of how old fashioned the setting. Usually in newer movies and stories the setting is either set in the present or the future. My final reason for believing that the story is more old fashion is because of the reaction to a kidnapping. If someone gets kidnapped these days you call the police and tell everyone immediately and the whole town will be flipping out but it wasn’t like that at all in the story. The author wrote “Over toward Summit I expected to see village folk. Armed with scythes and pitchforks, searching the countryside for the kidnappers. But what I saw was a peaceful landscape and one man plowing with a mule.” This illustrates that the story is older because no one really even realized the boy was gone and everything was just peaceful. But if someone was to get kidnapped in our town I believe that everyone would be out looking for the kidnappers. I believe the director chose to make the movie more modern so it would be more appealing to a younger audience.