The Ransom of Red Chief Essay Questions

What is the significance of the games Johnny plays?

From the first night of his abduction, Johnny engages in games of make-believe that may seem innocuous to his captors but in fact precipitate the downfall of the kidnapping scheme. Johnny's first game is pretending to be Red Chief, a Native American warrior. In the game, Johnny role plays an ironic reversal of his kidnapping, pretending that Sam and Bill are prisoners he has taken captive. The men play along, seeing no harm in entertaining Johnny's hyperactive imagination. However, the boundary between make-believe and reality blurs as Johnny commits himself to the role of Red Chief, nearly removing Bill's scalp with the same knife the kidnappers use to slice bacon. Johnny proceeds to terrorize Bill, throwing rocks at his head, and putting a hot potato down his back. Johnny's next game—The Black Scout—involves Bill having to pretend to be Johnny's horse. After Johnny rides on Bill's back and forces him to eat sand he is meant to imagine is oats, Bill loses his patience and tries to abandon Johnny on the road back to the boy's town. The full significance of Johnny's games of make-believe is revealed when the boy's father proposes a counter-ransom that involves the men paying him to take his son back. By this point in the story, Bill has been so exhausted and traumatized by Johnny's abusive style of playing that he pleads with Sam to accept Dorset's offer—an offer which Bill believes is not just fair, but generous.

What is the central conflict of "The Ransom of Red Chief"?

The central conflict of "The Ransom of Red Chief" is that the boy Sam and Bill kidnap is so hyperactive and mischievous that the boy's father doesn't want him back. In an ironic inversion of how the men expect their kidnapping for ransom will go, Johnny doesn't fear his captors, instead preferring their outlaw company and willingness to play make-believe with him over the boredom of his regular life. The conflict is made worse by Sam's over-confidence in the scheme despite mounting evidence that they have targeted the wrong boy. While Johnny's violent behavior drives Bill crazy, Sam remains committed to the kidnapping plan, unwilling or unable to entertain what Bill suspects—that no one "will pay out money to get a little imp like that back home." By the end of the story, the men have held Johnny captive long enough that he has grown attached to them. Assuming this turn of events, Dorset is able to exploit the situation to get money from the men—a reverse-ransom—in exchange for taking his son back.

How is "The Ransom of Red Chief" an example of poetic justice?

Poetic justice—meaning a fitting retribution for one's actions—is a central theme in "The Ransom of Red Chief." O. Henry illustrates the concept through a reversal of fortunes that involves two kidnappers becoming traumatized by their captive and paying a reverse-ransom to get the boy off their hands, a punishment that perfectly fits the men's crime. O. Henry achieves this profound irony by having the over-confident kidnappers meet their match in a fiery ten-year-old. Although they expect to make a quick two thousand dollars by abducting Johnny Dorset and holding him for ransom, the boy's spirited style of playing and asking incessant questions drives the men to their wit's end. Johnny's father, being accustomed to his son's behavior, exploits the situation by assuming correctly that the men would pay for the privilege of giving Johnny back. At the end of the story, O. Henry reinforces the theme of poetic justice with the image of Bill summoning the energy to run out of town far faster than he ought to be capable of doing, all because he is so desperate to get away from the boy.