Literary Techniques Used In 'Ransom Of The Red Chief'

Literary Devices in the “Ransom of the Red Chief”

Writing can persuade thinking, and emotions. The story was about two kidnappers, Sam and Bill, who kidnapped the son of a rich man. They did this because they wanted to gain more money, the money would come from the ransom. They wanted to use the money to buy a big chunk of land. Then they would sell random bits of that land to some people. This would give them more income. The child, Johnny, turned out to be at reckless child with no respect for his elders. The kidnappers tried to get rid of him by just giving him back, no catch. However the boy just followed them back to camp. The “Ransom of the Red Chief” by O. Henry used irony and symbolism as literary devices to manipulate you. There is irony placed all over the story. Irony is when the opposite of what is expected occurs. There are three types of irony, but the irony in this story is mostly situational irony. In the story it says “You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and I agree to take him off your hands,” (Henry 61). Johnny’s dad was saying that he would take his son back in exchange of 250 dollars. The father is seeing his sons kidnapping as an opportunity to gain money. He did this because he knew how reckless his …show more content…
Symbolism is when an event or object appears. It has a deeper meaning and/or is important to the characters. In the story it says “Red Chief was sitting on Bill’s chest, with one hand twined in Bill’s hair. In the other he had a sharp case knife we used for slicing bacon; and he was industriously and realistically trying to take Bill’s scalp, according to the sentence that had been pronounced upon him the evening before,” (Henry 55). This shows how reckless the Red Chief really is. He is true to his word, even the ones that are not so pleasing. It also shows how Johnny thinks he has power and superiority at the camp. He orders men around and does whatever he