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Situational irony for everyday use
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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 ...
“It looked like a good thing: but wait till I tell you,”(Henry, pg.1) about this comedic story that identifies two moronic characters and one holy terror of a child, who they thought they could handle. O. Henry’s short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” is a high level of comedy that uses allusion and irony to convey the idea that you must be wise before pursuing an act, because it may come back to bite you.
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.
A good example of this element is in paragraph two which there is a conversation between a DMV officer and a test taker with the DMV officer telling the test taker to, “Ok, make a left turn here.” Then the test taker responds, “Whoops.” Then the DMV officer writes something on down and the test taker asks the officer, “Does that mean I failed the test?” and with the DMV officer responding, “Nah, she’s getting back up. You just clipped her.” This is an example of situational irony, as that is not what the audience expects the DMV officer to say, as when the test taker says, “Whoops.” the audience does not know why the test taker said that, and getting such a calmed responds to hitting something is shocking. This is meant to make the audience chuckle, as anyone who has taken the drivers test knows that hitting anyone while driving means that you have failed the test. Later in the story there is a “Reality-Based” Florida Driver’s Q&A that Dave Barry writes he has prepared, but the thing is that every answer is ridiculous and would never be actually said by anyone who can drive. For example the person asking the question asks, “I have noticed that some roads have more than one lane, What is the purpose of the extra lanes?” and the person answering these question responds, “To provide a place for you to swerve into while texting.” This is the first question in the “Reality-Based”
achievement and fame that would make her the envy of all other women" (4). What
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
In Guy de Maupassant’s story, The Necklace, he utilizes situational irony in order to highlight the theme. He displays this irony in order to reveal several themes that can be observed in the story. One of the major themes in this short story is how appearances can be misleading.
One example of dramatic irony is when Oedipus is looking for the killer of the king Laius-his father. The irony here is that he is looking for himself because he is the murder of his father. Oedipus knows that he killed someone, but what he does not know is that it was Laius, the one he murder. Oedipus wants to punish the person who killed Laius, but we, the audience know that Oedipus was the one who killed Laius. Also Oedipus married Jocasta without knowing that she is his mother. We, the audience knew that he was Jocasta's son, but he was unaware of that.
The village called the summit was as smooth as a pancake even though it was in the mountains. The two men were sitting and pondering while looking at the village thinking of opportunity. In the short story, “Ransom of the Red Chief”, by O. Henry, two desperate men are looking to get a quick sum of cash to pay off debts. Bill Driscoll and Sam come up with a plan to kidnap the son of Ebenezer Dorset, a prominent citizen of a town called Summit. Ebenezer’s son was a peculiar ten-year-old child that would prove more of a challenge than the two criminals could ever imagine. Bill and Sam hope for the father to miss his son and hope he will immediately pay the ransom in a large amount of cash. The son unexpectedly loves the time with the two criminals
He uses different types of irony in his story "The Pardoner's Tale". For example situational irony is shown when the wickedest of the three said " Who would have thought this morning was to be our lucky day", and in fact they all three died later that day. Dramatic irony is displayed when they find the gold and come up with a plan to sneak the gold back to one of the three men's houses. They decide to draw straws and whom ever draws the shortest stick has to go into town and get food and drink. The youngest of the three rioters draws the shortest straw, so he takes off into town. On his way the youngest comes up with a plan to poison two of the three bottles of wine that he plans to purchase. So while in town he goes to an apothecary and buys the best, most fatal poison that he has. Meanwhile the two men guarding the gold have agreed on a plan to attack the youngest and kill him so that they may split the gold among themselves. When the youngest returns the two men fall on him and kill him. After they killed the youngest they decided that killing was thirsty work and chose to take a celebration drink. Unfortunately the bottle they chose to drink was poisoned so they both passed from drinking the toxic beverage. The two murderers got what they deserved and so did the youngest who planned to murder
There are many examples of Symbolism and Irony in “The Story of an Hour”, by Kate Chopin. This is a story about a woman named Louis Mallard who has heart troubles and is told her husband, Brently Mallard, is dead; as she cried over her loss she realized she was finally free from her husband. She made everyone think she was so depressed about her husband passing while going down stairs but deep inside she held a secret which was that she was actually glad for this tragedy. Then a turn of events occur where everyone including Mrs. Mallard see her husband standing at the front door, she was so shocked she had
“The Ransom of Red Chief” by O.Henry is an excessively entertaining story of two con men, Bill & Sam, who kidnap Johnny, son of a wealthy man in a small town, Alabama. The author, O. Henry surprises the readers using many techniques such as tone, foreshadowing & simile, to make this story a treat for readers of all ages.
You never know what two desperate men would do to get some money… even if it means kidnapping a psychotic ten-year-old who’s looking for a good time. When Sam and Bill, two ‘criminals’, kidnap young Johnny Dorset for ransom money, they are met with the most unexpected scenario and end up paying for this kid to leave them. “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry is a hilarious high level tall tale that uses ironic situations and clever hyperboles to show that sometimes your original ideas don’t always go according to plan.
The short story, “The Ransom of Red Chief”, by O. Henry, depicts the unsuccessful capture of a shrewd young boy. In 1907, in the town called Summit, the red-chief is captured by two criminals. This hilarious capture portrays the theme of true justice, and O. Henry uses dramatic irony to relay this theme.
The author of “The Necklace,” Guy de Maupassant, uses irony to teach a lesson on greed and materialism. For example, on page three, it states, “Suddenly she discovered, in a black satin case, a superb diamond necklace…” At the moment, Madame Loisel was ecstatic with joy when she found the perfect diamond necklace. However, in the last scene on page 6, Madame Loisel encounters Madame Forestier and finds out that the magnificent necklace, was, in fact, a fake. The ironic situation in which the necklace that shaved off Madame Loisel’s ten years of youth, was less than half the price of what she expected it to be. Maupassant crafts her greed into the story as of when she was greedy, she had to pay off more than she needed if she had told the truth.
Its about having honesty and that is what can make the biggest change in life. This is explained in the short story, "The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant as he introduces us to Mathilde about that honesty is the best way to in life. Mathilde grew up as a person who didn't dress well, look pretty, and charming because she would never be happy about it. Mathilde soon got a paper about an invitation to a ball at the Ministry, but she had no idea what to wear and look like. Madame Forestier invited Mathilde over to look at some jewelry she could wear for the ball. Mathilde found a diamond necklace that she thought was perfect and just right for her. As the day of the ball came around, Mathilde has so much fun that she had no thought in all of what