In The Ransom of Red Chief, Bill tells Sam that his favorite biblical character is King Herod. King Herod is notorious in the Christian realm for plotting to kidnap and kill the baby Jesus, being envious of the rising of a new “king.” This is similar to the story Bill and Sam are set in, as they try to kidnap the son of wealthy businessman Ebenezer Dorset, but they do it in the attempt to earn money. In both stories, the prey manage to get away.
Jesus’ parents, while on the run from Herod, live in perpetual terror of getting found out. They spend most of Jesus’ childhood in Egypt, fearing the consequences of returning to Judea and having Jesus discovered. On the other hand, Johnny Dorset, who was kidnapped by Bill and Sam, terrorizes his kidnappers. Instead of being scared, he violently attacks and wears down his kidnappers. Additionally, Jesus, after growing up, taught his followers not to fight back, but to “turn the other cheek.” Meanwhile, Johnny often fought back, and that turned out to be the driving force in his release.
The predators in these two stories are vastly different as well. King Herod lived lavishly; Bill and Sam were in need of money. But their actions when it came to their respective kidnappings (technically the planning of first degree murder on King Herod’s part) are also distinct. As stated previously, Bill and Sam were terrorized by Johnny. At one point, Bill tries to show Johnny the door, and thinks he has left. After discovering that the boy is still with him, he “loses his complexion and sits down plump on the ground and begins to pluck aimlessly at grass and little sticks.” Eventually, the duo pay Ebenezer Dorset to take back his rambunctious child. Meanwhile, King Herod was cunning and cruel. He was known for killing off members of his own family, fearing that they would take his position. After discovering the baby Jesus had disappeared along with his parents, he prompted a mass massacre of all baby boys. Of course, Jesus survived, but the massacre lives on in history known as the “Massacre of Innocents.”
These two stories are clearly different in who played the dominating role in the kidnapper and the kidnapped. However, they are similar in several respects. Most clearly, is that those in what should have been the lower position escapes unscathed. Bill, saying that his favorite character in the Bible, probably meant that he admired King Herod for his merciless murders, and not of Herod’s failure of the killing of Jesus in his plan so similar to his own!