Situational Irony In The Ransom Of Red Chief

Surprise is usually a good thing, but at the same time surprise can be a bad thing. Situational irony is what authors will use to create an unexpected twist in the story that will surprise the reader. Other than surprise, situational irony creates many more emotions for the reader. For example, O.Henry utilizes situational irony to develop a hysterical feeling in “The Ransom of Red Chief.” Guy de Maupassant uses situational irony to construct the feeling sorrow in his story “The Necklace.” By looking over “The Ransom of Red Chief” and “The Necklace” it is clear that the authors use situational irony to transform readers emotions.
O.Henry uses situational irony to make the story ”The Ransom of Red Chief” humorous. For instance the kidnappers have to pay the ransom instead of the parents for taking the boy. Usually when children are kidnapped the parents get worried and very desperate. They often pay the kidnappers a ransom for their child to come home. So once Bill and Sam decide to give the boy back they had to trick the boy in coming with them. As the house door opens “Bill was out two hundred and fifty dollars into Dorset's hand”(53). After all that pain Bill and Sam went through all they did is lose money instead of gaining it. Another example is that the boy loves being kidnapped. In reality when people are kidnapped it is not fun. They are scared and just want to go home. Also the people would be intimidated by the
Situational irony is a device that authors use to surprise the reader. From examining “The Ransom of Red Chief,” a humorous story, and “The Necklace” a story that generates sympathy it is clear that authors will use situational irony to evoke emotions for the reader. In life there are many unexpected twists that happen in which people can not control. After reading both stories the characters end up with the opposite of what they