Situational Irony In Ransom Of Red Chief

The novel Fahrenheit 451 written by Ray Bradbury is an outstanding book that demonstrates a lot of irony. Irony is the expression of one's meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect, according to Oxford Dictionaries. There are three types of irony. which are verbal, situational, and dramatic irony. In most cases, verbal irony is referred more to when words express something contrary to what someone says. Situational irony is irony involving a situation in which actions have an effect that is opposite from what was intended, so that the outcome is contrary to what was expected. dramatic irony is used a lot within books, plays, and movies. It is when the audience is aware of something that the characters in the story are not aware of. Within this paper, I will demonstrate on how Ray Bradbury utilizes irony within the novel Fahrenheit 451.

Every obstacle in life makes you stronger even if at the time you think you’re going through hell and don’t know how you’re going to get out. In the novel Lord Of The Flies by William Golding the author uses many ways in each different situation to develop the theme of the novel. Every story has situations that are shocking to the reader, and this book was great at letting the reader know what’s going on before the character.

Situational irony is a noun meaning “an outcome that turns out to be very different from what was expected, the difference between what is expected to happen and what actually does” (Dictionary.com). Many events that contain situational irony are present in The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. This book is a story narrated by Death about a girl named Liesel and her experiences during World War II. She is givin up by her mother to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann and she eventually has a wonderful life in her new home. She loves to spend time with her best friend Rudy Steiner and she even becomes friends with the Jewish man hiding in her basement, Max. The Book Thief is a complicated story showing how some events can be unexpected, but can end up being good in the end. To show this, Markus Zusak uses situational irony first when a Jewish man shows up at the Hubermann’s door, again when Death is actually caring and kind, and finally when a basement that was not supposed to be safe actually saved Liesel 's life.

What makes a good story worth reading, some will say it’s the plots and twists that make it exciting to read. In the stories “Everyday Use”, “Cask of Amontillado” and “A rose for Emily” different styles of irony including verbal, dramatic and situational irony are used to do just that.

What would you do if everything that you did in your life came out just like you wanted it to? However, life does not work like that due to something called irony. O. Henry's short story “The Ransom of Red Chief” is a high level of comedy that uses irony and allusions to convey the idea that sometimes things don't come out like we expect them to.

The mysterious story “Invitation to Murder” is written by Josh Pachter. Within the story, Josh Pachter incorporated a numerous amount of events that involve situational irony. Such as, the weapons that were displayed on the table near Mr. Abbott. Upon the table rested a long bladed kitchen knife, a thin strand of wire with a wooden handle attached to each end, a length of iron pipe, an amber bottle labeled with a grinning skull and crossbones, and a revolver. The situational irony was that the weapons were meant to kill, but one of those very objects was needed to sustain Mr. Abbott’s dwindling life force. Due to Mr. Abbott’s unfortunate skiing accident he was forced to lie dormant with a ruptured mind, and needed the liquid in the skull and crossbones bottle; it was toxic to most healthy beings. It was ironic because a deadly poison was need to prolong the life of Mr. Abbott. Situational irony is used periodic throughout “Invitation to Murder”.

Situational irony occurs when the final outcome of a story is contradictory to what is expected. Authors often use situational irony to target the emotions of their reader. O. Henry the author of “The Ransom of Red Chief” and Guy de Maupassant the author of “The Necklace” use situational irony to affect different emotions of their readers. O. Henry uses it to target the reader’s humorous side. Whereas Guy de Maupassant uses it to target the reader’s sympathetic side. By examining “The Ransom of Red Chief” and “The Necklace” it is clear that the authors use situational irony to target the emotions of the reader.

“The Lottery” is a short story written by Shirley Jackson. It is about an annual lottery in which the winner shall be executed. Problems arise when the winner does not agree with the decision. It all goes downhill from there. Shirley Jackson uses literary devices such as symbolism, tone and irony which make the story more detailed and entertaining.

Kate Chopin used situational and dramatic irony in order to buy some mystery and it can leaves you thinking at the end. Situational irony is when the opposite of what you expect happend.The other irony Kate Chopin uses is Dramatic wich means when the audience/reader knows something that a character doesnt.One type of situational irony that louise was happy when she found out that her husband was dead.This is situational irony because most woman would be sad.In the text it states, “She said it over and over underneath her breath:Free,free,free!This shows that my claim was situational irony and my claim because i explained why it includes the type of irony and the evidence supports it because that's how she felt “Free”.

Authors use irony, conflict and characterization in short stories to catch the attention of readers. Situational irony is used to create suspense in the stories. Conflict is used to create an active plot that involves person vs. person and person vs. self conflict. In short stories, characterization is used by dialog and direct characterization to create character personalities. “The Most Dangerous Game”, “Scarlet Ibis” and “Gift of the Magi” all use irony, conflict and characterization to engage the readers.

There are two different ways to develop tone. In the fictional story, “The Ransom of Red Chief,” by O. Henry, the use of irony helps form the tone to be humorous. Many writers use irony in different ways as to what it means, the expression of one’s meaning by using language that normally signifies the opposite, typically for humorous or emphatic effect. Therefore, creating either the suspense or humorous tone it develops.

“The Ransom of Red Chief” by O. Henry contains several marvelous examples of irony. First of all, the story begins in a tranquil village called Summit which was handpicked by two kidnappers, Bill and Sam, who decided to kidnap a little boy in Summit called Red Chief because they presumed that Red Chief’s father, Ebenezer Dorset, would give them a lot of money, but, ever since the beginning, Bill and Sam who assume the roles of Old Hank and Snake-eye, respectively, in Red Chief’s game notice something quite peculiar about this boy. This boy is acting like he is having the time of his life, and he has so much energy that he completely terrorizes Bill. One day, when Sam asks Red Chief if he wants to go home, Red Chief answers with a childish,

A reader is often surprised by a change in a story, good or bad. An author uses a tool called situational irony to create plot twists in the story, and surprise the reader. Situational irony also creates a variety of emotions, other than just the element of surprise. For instance, the author of “Ransom of Red Chief,” O. Henry, uses situational irony to set a tone of humor in the story. “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant, has situational irony in it to create sympathy in the reader. From these two stories, it is easy to tell that situational irony is used by authors to affect the reader’s feelings.

Two kidnappers steal a little boy from a small town to get rich off of the ransom. Soon they realize that the little boy is so aggravating, and irritating that when they try to return him, they have to pay a ransom to give him back. In the “Ransom of The Redchief” by O. Henry, situational irony is in use throughout the story. Most authors like O. Henry uses situational irony to make us have a sudden emotion. In “The Necklace” by Guy De Maupassant situational irony makes the reader feel pity for the characters. Throughout story's many authors use situational irony to affect the reader's emotions.

The use of irony is present in many short stories as well as in other mediums