Situational Irony In Ransom Of The Red Chief By Guy De Maupassant

Improved Essays
Two kidnappers steal a little boy from a small town to get rich off of the ransom. Soon they realized that the little boy was so aggravating, and irritating that when they tried to return him they had to pay a ransom to give him back. In the “Ransom of The Red Chief” by O. Henry, situational irony is used throughout the story. Most authors like O. Henry use situational irony to make us have a sudden emotion. In “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant situational irony is used to makes the reader feel pity for the characters. Throughout story's many authors use situational irony to affect the reader's emotions.
“The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant uses situational irony to make the reader feel pity for the characters. For instance Madame Loisel always

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Chopin and Gilman do not only use the setting to present the profound desire of freedom and autonomy of their main female protagonists; they also employ irony to criticize and to change the misogynistic society. Kate Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour” uses many deep ironies to express the desire of freedom and selfhood. For example, as other characters (Josephine and Richard) think that Louise is “making [herself] ill in her room” (Chopin 426), after her husband dead she is “she was drinking the very elixir of life through [the] open window” (Chopin 426). There is no grief and no pain associated with the loss of her husband. The irony is indicative of the need to suppress patriarchal oppression.…

    • 864 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Irony in a Text Situational Irony means about the same thing as a discrepancy between what is expected to happen and what actually happens. A story that has situational Irony is the Ransom of Red Chief. The situational Irony in the Ransom of Red Chief creates humor and develops a theme by the characters expecting one thing to happen, but another does. The irony in The Ransom of Red Chief creates humor because they tried to kidnap a kid for money but in the end they didn't get any money.…

    • 402 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    Dramatic irony occurs when the audience knows something the characters of the play do not. By giving the audience information which are withheld from the characters, the audience is held in suspense. In reality, it does not make sense for the audience to know more about the story line than the characters, but this form of contradiction engages the audience and pulls them into the action. Sarcasm and irony can draw attention to the meaning transmitted by utilizing conflicting messages. Alternatively, a meaning can be emphasized by transmitting supportive messages through multiple…

    • 1676 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Dramatic Irony In Legend

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In Legend by Marie Lu the author uses dramatic irony to further exemplify tension and the the depths of what June realizes. As the reader continues on knowing who Day is, we wonder if June will see The Boy who cared and became a love interest for her, is the person she’s looking for. brother Irony is provided to showcase just how deep and shocking the moment June finds out that The Boy who saved her isn't all there appears to be. At this point in the story, June is lying down in her apartment. She has just returned from talking to a very sympathetic Thomas who is apologizing for shooting Day’s mother.…

    • 319 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The narrator’s point of view in the story is limited. The readers learn in the beginning of the story whose thoughts and feelings are described. In lines 1-3, Chopin states “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, ...news of her husband’s death.” “Knowing that Mrs. Mallard was afflicted with a heart trouble, great care was taken to break her as gently as possible” (line 1-2). The evidence shows that Josephine and Richards expect Mrs.Mallard to react in a dismal way.…

    • 406 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Even in history you can even find ironic situations. Right before JFK was shot someone asked him “Mr. President you can’t say that Dallas doesn’t love you” to which he responded “That’s very obvious”. Subsequently JFK was assassinated. These situation can occur in our life, history, or in literature. Many of the literary situations in R.K Narayan's…

    • 886 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Ransom Of Red Chief Irony

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages

    There was once somebody that was so annoying that somebody paid to take them away. " The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry tells a story of a boy and his kidnappers in Summit, Alabama. Johnny, Bill, and Ebenezer's thoughts, feelings, and actions were so tremendously ironic that it made the story humorous and unique. Johnny Dorset did not behave the way one might have thought throughout the story. Firstly, he did not want to go home.…

    • 631 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Irony In The Interlopers

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Irony, you may not think of it as much more than a minor literary device, but it often plays an enormous factor in short stories today. For example, The Interlopers, by Saki, is a short story which utilizes the effects of irony noticeably well by using ironic humor to connect the reader to the reading. To define, irony is when the opposite of what is expected to happen occurs. In this case, the story displays a strong sense of situational irony, which is irony that no one knows is coming. Irony can be found in this story when two men, who’s families have been in a massive feud for three generations over a disputed plot of land, are stuck under an enormous tree that blew down on top of them as they confronted each other in the forest.…

    • 279 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Irony is a disagreement between what is actually being said and what is misunderstood, or what is expected it happen compared to what actually occurs. Authors will usually use this in their stories intentionally to make their audience stop and think about what was just said. The readers must realize when irony is taking place or what is being said in order for the use of irony to be successful. Dramatic irony is most found within books in which they put their characters in certain situations. In “Good Country People (O’Connor 116) we find two different types of irony, there is situational irony and dramatic irony.…

    • 1238 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Wright uses situational, dramatic and verbal irony to establish suspenseful plots that lead to unanticipated actions by characters. To start with, situational Irony in the story Twins is used to shape the wife’s character, leading her to do abrupt actions. The wife twists the whole plot around and undertakes something the readers…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Irony is the choice of words expressing something distinctive from and often contradicts their literal meaning. Irony is found in various forms: verbal, situational, and dramatic. “ The Most Dangerous Game ” by Richard Connell, is about a professional hunter, Sanger Rainsford trying to stay alive when he is trapped on an island with General Zaroff, a professional hunter who wishes to hunt others. Connell’s use of irony helps demonstrates the theme. The theme of the most dangerous game shows how the author portrays how civilized people will turn uncivilized if their life depends on it.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Situational irony is often used by writers to show incongruences between theory and reality. Douglass sometimes wished that he was illiterate and stupid so that he would not understand the breadth of the injustices against slaves. This is situationally ironic because most people believe that knowledge is a blessing and should be cherished. Unfortunately, Douglass revealed that having knowledge can be a curse when coupled with a lack of power. Douglass drew attention to a complicated facet of his life by using situation irony.…

    • 1000 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    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.…

    • 483 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mr. Mallard lives and Mrs. Mallard dies, that is considered a situational irony, because the reader doesn’t expect the death of Mrs. Mallard. Another irony from the story is the fact that the reader doesn’t expect the feeling of excitement and joy from Mrs. Mallard’s part of knowing from the death of her husband. Anyone would believe that after the death of a loved one, one should feel depressed. A dramatic Irony is considered when, the doctors say/ assume that Mrs. Mallard dies from joy.…

    • 1231 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Theme Of Irony In O Henry

    • 1462 Words
    • 6 Pages

    O. Henry 's three stories, “A Retrieved Reformation,” “The Gift of the Magi,” and “The Last Leaf” demonstrates the talent of this writer. In all three of these stories, unique literary techniques are used to create plot twists and unexpected turns. A common literary technique used in O. Henry 's three stories is irony, which is used to create a humorous and surprising effect. In addition, O. Henry uses foreshadowing in all three stories in order to build suspense as the reader anticipates the surprise ending.…

    • 1462 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays