The Ransom of Red Chief

E725546

"The Ransom of Red Chief" is a humorous short story by O. Henry about two kidnappers whose plan backfires when their mischievous young captive terrorizes them into paying to return him.

All labels observed (1)

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The Ransom of Red Chief canonical 1

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Statements (45)

Predicate Object
instanceOf literary work
short story
alternateName Red Chief NERFINISHED
antagonist Johnny Dorset NERFINISHED
author O. Henry NERFINISHED
basedOn kidnapping plot that backfires
centralConflict kidnappers versus their unruly captive
containsCharacter Ebenezer Dorset NERFINISHED
countryOfOrigin United States of America
surface form: United States
firstPublicationYear 1907
genre comedy
humor
short fiction
hasAdaptation film adaptations
radio adaptations
television adaptations
hasTitleCharacter Red Chief NERFINISHED
includedIn The Complete Works of O. Henry NERFINISHED
language English
literaryMovement American realism NERFINISHED
literaryStyle comic irony
satire
mainCharacter Bill Driscoll NERFINISHED
Johnny Dorset NERFINISHED
Sam NERFINISHED
narrativePerspective first-person
narrator Sam NERFINISHED
originallyPublishedIn The Saturday Evening Post NERFINISHED
partOf O. Henry short story collections NERFINISHED
plotSummary Two kidnappers abduct a boy whose wild behavior forces them to pay his father to take him back.
protagonist Sam NERFINISHED
publisher The Saturday Evening Post NERFINISHED
resolution kidnappers pay the boy's father to take him back
setting Alabama NERFINISHED
targetAudience general readership
theme crime gone wrong
incompetence of criminals
irony
reversal of expectations
timePeriodOfStory early 20th century
tone humorous
lighthearted
usesLiteraryDevice colloquial dialogue
hyperbole
situational irony

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Referenced by (1)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

O. Henry notableWork The Ransom of Red Chief