What Is The Irony In The Ransom Of Red Chief
In the short story, “The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry, there are several instances of the reader being misdirected when the opposite happens, rather than what he or she expects to take place. The author achieves this misdirection by using different types of irony in the short story. For instance, Henry uses situational irony. This type of irony occurs when the outcome of an event is the opposite of what the reader may have reasonably expected (Nordquist). Henry also uses verbal irony. According to Nordquist, this is the difference between the intended meaning of a statement and the meaning that the words appear to express. Dramatic irony is another type of irony the author uses. This occurs when a character’s words or actions have a different meaning for the
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One example of verbal irony occurs when the kidnappers close the ransom letter with “Two Desperate Men” (Henry 109). The use of the word “desperate” seems to mean that they had to kidnap Johnny as they really needed the money, but the word was used to show how urgently they needed the boy to be back with his father, as the child was relentlessly tormenting them. As a result, there was a difference in the intended meaning of the statement and what the statement appeared to express. This example above illustrates that by kidnapping Johnny, the two men had to suffer the consequence of being desperate enough to pay money to send Johnny back to his father. One other example of verbal irony being used to convey the author’s message occurs when Sam refers to the mischievous little boy as a “lamb” (Henry 114); Red Chief does not behave like a lamb would. So, there is a difference between what the word is intended to mean and what the word appears to mean. The previous example indicates that by the two men engaging in kidnapping, they pay the consequence of the child they took captive getting on their
One example of verbal irony occurs when the kidnappers close the ransom letter with “Two Desperate Men” (Henry 109). The use of the word “desperate” seems to mean that they had to kidnap Johnny as they really needed the money, but the word was used to show how urgently they needed the boy to be back with his father, as the child was relentlessly tormenting them. As a result, there was a difference in the intended meaning of the statement and what the statement appeared to express. This example above illustrates that by kidnapping Johnny, the two men had to suffer the consequence of being desperate enough to pay money to send Johnny back to his father. One other example of verbal irony being used to convey the author’s message occurs when Sam refers to the mischievous little boy as a “lamb” (Henry 114); Red Chief does not behave like a lamb would. So, there is a difference between what the word is intended to mean and what the word appears to mean. The previous example indicates that by the two men engaging in kidnapping, they pay the consequence of the child they took captive getting on their