Usually, during a kidnapping, a person is kidnapped, and the family of that person is forced to give the kidnappers money for the person to be released. However, Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry, challenges this fact. Two men, Bill and Sam, kidnap Ebenezer Dorset’s son. At first, they charge 2000 for the returning of his kid. However, after getting physically abused by the kid, Bill convinces Sam to only charge 1500 for the kid. After the kid annoyed Bill even more, Bill and Sam accept a deal with Ebenezer to pay Ebenezer 250 dollars for the kid instead. Henry uses irony to further the claim that you will get punished for doing bad things.
The first example is the relationship between the kidnappers and the kidnapped. During an usual kidnapping, the kidnapped is deeply afraid of the kidnapper. However, during The Ransom of Red Chief, the Red Chief instead terrorizes the kidnappers, especially Bill, by doing this such as “put[ting] a red-hot boiled potato down [Bill’s] back”. The ransomers sign their note as “two desperate men” showing that they are in need of money alongside the fact that they can’t stand the Red Chief. The two kidnappers were punished by having to endure through the Red Chief’s physical abuse.
The second example is, of course the ransom. It is strange to think that someone would have to pay money to get there loved ones back, but this is exactly what happens. At first, they charge 2000, but then change it to 1500 after Bill told Sam that he was “willing to take a chance at fifteen hundred dollars” and that “[Sam] can charge the difference up to me.” And at the end, they have to actually pay 250 dollars to get rid of the Red Chief, with Bill saying, “One more night of this kid will send me to a bed in Bedlam.” To show they really should take the deal. This is their punishment – instead of earning the 2000 they needed, they lost 250 dollars.
The Ransom of Red Chief uses irony to make a point. Instead of gaining money, the kidnappers lost 250 dollars and got physically abused. From this Ebenezer uses irony to make the point that you will get punished for bad things.