Use Of Irony In Ransom Of The Red Chief

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

and even knows he is up for ransom.

As Henry’s story progresses, Bill and Sam’s agitation with the child continues to grow. Bill and Sam finally have enough of the child and eventually pay the father and then proceed to run away as fast as they can to get away from the child. During the duration of the story, Henry uses irony and hyperbole to create humor throughout the story.
Irony is used to create humor in the story. Irony is being used when the son of Ebenezer does not want to leave. The son thinks it is a camping trip and not a hostage situation. Bill says to Sam, “You don’t think he’ll run away, do you Sam’ ‘No fear of it’” (Henry 74). Sam knows the son is having too much fun which is irony in and of itself. This is irony because usually when a kidnapping is in occurrence, the criminals do not let the hostage out of their sight. Bill and Sam do let the son run wild. This creates humor because fun is not expected when a kidnapping is taking place. This creates more humor because they are doing the opposite than what is expected. When Bill and Sam ask for the ransom for the child, they start getting aggravated with the child. This creates more irony because Bill and Sam are supposed to be annoying to the son, but the son annoys Bill and Sam.

This action makes Bill and Sam seem uneducated and shows how the son is controlling Bill and Sam. Bill and Sam carry out the ransom, but the father wants them to pay him in return for his son. The father knows that his son is obnoxious and that is why he does not pay the ransom. Sam says to Bill, “’We’ll take him home, pay the ransom, and make our getaway’” (Henry 78). Sam and Bill must pay to get rid of the child. When Bill and Sam want the father to pay them for the ransom of his son, this creates humor because now they must pay the father when the father was supposed to pay Bill and Sam. The father must not want his son if Bill and Sam must pay the father to have the child returned to the father. This creates more humor because the father does not want his son. The men do not know how to perform a kidnapping because the whole goal is to make the father pay them. Bill and Sam eventually get so annoyed with the child that they pay to give the child back to the father. Irony creates humor by the two desperate men letting the child run wild. Also, irony is shown again paying to get rid of the child and the father not wanting his son back.
Hyperbole also creates humor in the story by exaggerating too much when the son beats up Bill. Bill starts rethinking the kidnapping. Sam goes and beats the child reinstating, “I went out and caught that boy and shook him until his freckles rattled (Henry 75). Freckles cannot be rattled that is why it is hyperbole. This causes the story to have humor because it causes imagery and you can imagine that Sam is just shaking the son so much trying to inflict pain on him. Also, Bill said he cannot handle this anymore saying, “I’ve stood by you without batting an eye in Earthquakes, fire, flood – poker games”, (Henry 75). Bill uses hyperbole to say he cannot handle this child anymore which causes humor because he cannot handle a child for a week. Bill is really scared and afraid of the child. Bill does not fall asleep when the child is sleeping. Bill is saying that he has turned his back on Sam and does not want to do the kidnapping. The child is making Bill turn his back and abort the kidnapping. Another hyperbole is that Bill was out of sight when they realized the son was back with his father. Bill did not want to see the son ever again. Sam says, “’As dark as it was, and as fat as Bill was, and as good a runner as I am, he was good mile and a half out of Summit before I could catch up with him’” (Henry 79). This is hyperbole because Bill was gone out of sight. This causes humor because Bill ran for his life wanting no part of the Child. This causes humor Bill finally gets rid of the child and he runs. This is hyperbole because Sam should run faster than Bill, but instead Bill runs faster than Sam.
Humor is presented in the story by irony and hyperbole. Irony is used throughout the story by Bill and Sam being made to look like fools because they cannot handle the Red Chief. The son wants to stay with Bill and Sam even though he is a hostage, which represents humor and irony. The son causes irony because he does not want to leave Bill and Sam. Bill and Sam are also creating humor. Bill and Sam use hyperbole to describe the son. Sam must punish the son because the son inflicts pain on Bill. This is humor because a grown man gets tortured by a little child. The story uses irony and hyperbole to create humor. The two men were sitting there pondering different ways to make money but, in the end, the odyssey ends up costing them money and they regret ever meeting the child.