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Sam
Johnny Dorset is the ten-year-old boy whom Sam and Bill kidnap for ransom money. He is the son of Ebenezer Dorset, a prominent townsperson who, it is implied, has been a cold and negligent father to Johnny. Ebenezer’s cruelty has perhaps influenced Johnny’s behavior, as Johnny does things like throw rocks at kittens, physically abuse his captors, and humiliate them. Indeed, upon being kidnapped, Johnny takes charge of the situation, directing Sam and Bill in various avenues of play and terrorizing them with threats real and imagined. While Johnny at first seems troubled and unsympathetic, as the story progresses, it becomes clear that he is imaginative and starved for attention amidst a difficult childhood. Johnny has a powerful imaginative streak, and he roleplays cowboys and Indians with Bill and Sam, taking on the alter ego of Red Chief (a trope now considered racist but which was common and widely-accepted when the story was written). Bill, in particular, bears the burden of Johnny’s care, and he becomes a constant playmate for Johnny, taking Johnny’s abuse with few complaints and delighting Johnny with their games. Playing and camping with Bill and Sam bring a joy to Johnny that seems to have been absent in his family life with his father—Johnny even says of his captivity that “I like this fine. I never camped out before.” After a few days in the cave, the men finally bring Johnny back to his father, paying Ebenezer to take his rambunctious son back rather than receiving ransom money themselves. Reunited, Johnny clings not to his father, but to Bill’s legs, unhappy that his abduction is at an end.
Johnny Quotes in The Ransom of Red Chief
The The Ransom of Red Chief quotes below are all either spoken by Johnny or refer to Johnny . For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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The Ransom of Red Chief Quotes
The father was respectable and tight, a mortgage fancier and a stern, upright collection-plate passer and forecloser.
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This brief and insightful description of Ebenezer Dorset foreshadows a great deal of Sam’s subsequent trouble with him. From this description, readers learn that Ebenezer is powerful (respectable, stern, upright) but also greedy (tight), ungenerous (collection-plate passer), and a predator (mortgage fancier and forecloser). That Ebenezer is so powerful, unlikeable, and even cruel sets readers up to sympathize with the kidnapping plot against him—a man like that might deserve to be victimized, since he victimizes others. However, for Sam’s ransom plan to work, Ebenezer must be vulnerable and empathetic towards his son. As it turns out, Ebenezer’s bad qualities run Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea
“He's all right now…We're playing Indian.”
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Bill says this to Sam when Sam comes back to the cave to find Bill tending to his cuts and bruises, the result of Johnny’s abuse and rough play. While one might expect Bill to be furious that he has been physically injured by their captive child, Bill actually seems calm. This paints Bill as being tolerant, patient, and oddly noble in his care of this ten year-old child whom he has kidnapped. Bill becomes Johnny’s primary caretaker throughout the story, and many of his interactions are just as filled with pathos as this one. This statement also shows that Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atqu
“I like this fine. I never camped out before.”
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Johnny makes a speech during his first night in the cave with the men who kidnapped him. While previously his fantasy of being an Indian chief seemed to account for his ability to accept his abduction, this moment affirms that Johnny is not fully living in fantasy: he understands what is happening to him, and he nonetheless appreciates the present company of Bill and Sam. In other words, his happiness is not just due to his being in a fantasy world—he is actually enjoying the reality of his new situation. His enjoyment of being kidnapped also takes on a tragic Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperio
[T]hey were simply indecent, terrifying, humiliating screams, such as women emit when they see ghosts or caterpillars. It's an awful thing to hear a strong, desperate, fat man scream incontinently in a cave at daybreak.
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Here, Sam speaks of Bill’s suffering at Johnny’s hands after the attempted scalping and, although he describes Bill's spirit as broken, he distances himself from this reality with humor. He calls the screams terrifying and humiliating, which is accurate enough, but his term “indecent” has a hint of reproach, making fun of Bill’s fear as unmanly. The phrase “such as women emit” is also a distancing criticism, as is the idea that Bill might be screaming for imaginary reasons (“ghosts”) or trifles (“caterpillars”). The adjectives “strong, desperate, fat” make fun of Bill in a way that indicates that Sam has Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque er
I expected to see the sturdy yeomanry of the village armed with scythes and pitchforks beating the countryside for the dastardly kidnappers… There was a sylvan attitude of somnolent sleepiness pervading that section of the external outward surface of Alabama that lay exposed to my view.
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With these words, Sam shows a dawning awareness that his abduction of Johnny has not had the effect on the community that he and Bill predicted. The characterization of the locals as “yeomanry” echoes his earlier depiction of them as peasantry, as does the demeaning suggestion that they should be armed with “scythes and pitchforks.” Even though the locals are defying Sam’s expectations, the fact that his plan is going awry has not left him sufficiently chastened to stop condescending to the locals. Furthermore, his characterization of himself and Bill as “dastardly” is wry and, in a way, aspirational. By Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perfer
I never lost my nerve yet till we kidnapped that two-legged skyrocket of a kid... it ain't human for anybody to give up two thousand dollars for that forty-pound chunk of freckled wildcat.
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With the phrase “lost my nerve,” Bill admits he is defeated by the challenge of caring for Johnny. His admission is made with a persuasive purpose: he needs to make sure that the ransom transaction is concluded successfully and soon, so he wants to drop the asking price in the ransom letter he and Sam are writing to Ebenezer. His two characterizations of Johnny are calibrated for this effect: a skyrocket is powerful and uncontrollable, but not evil; so too, a freckled wildcat is a dangerous creature, but not wicked, and the fact that Johnny is merely a forty-pound sized Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. V
“You are the hoss,” says Black Scout. “Get down on your hands and knees. How can I ride to the stockade without a hoss?”
“You’d better keep him interested,” said I, “till we get the scheme going. Loosen up.”
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In this exchange, Johnny (as Black Scout) orders Bill to get on his knees to pretend to be a horse so that Johnny can physically ride him. Sam, rather than defending Bill, suggests that Bill’s job is to comply with Johnny’s orders to keep the boy occupied while Sam attends to the kidnapping scheme. This exchange speaks volumes about the dynamic between Sam and Bill, whose response to this is a wordless look like a rabbit in a trap. Johnny has been the leader of the Red Chief fantasy, and now he introduces another level of the game, so to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit ne
“The boy is gone. I have sent him home. All is off. There was martyrs in old times…that suffered death rather than give up the particular graft they enjoyed. None of 'em ever was subjugated to such supernatural tortures as I have been.”
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Having decided he can no longer take Johnny’s abuse, Bill finally finds the strength of will to resist the powerful combination of Johnny’s bullying imagination and Sam’s conniving scheming and he sends Johnny back home while Sam is gone. When he says “All is off,” he is letting go of their ransom plan and perhaps the scheme in Illinois that the ransom money was supposed to fund. It’s a complete capitulation, and to support his decision he makes a comparison to Biblical stories of martyrs suffering terrible torture. However, while martyrs suffered for a greater cause, Bill reduces this to Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaqu
Bill turns and sees the boy, and loses his complexion and sits down plump on the ground and begins to pluck aimlessly at grass and little sticks. For an hour I was afraid for his mind. And then I told him that my scheme was to put the whole job through immediately…
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When Bill believes Johnny has gone back home (thereby freeing him finally from the abuse and tyranny of Johnny’s fantasies and games), Bill has a shock: Johnny has only pretended to go home, turning this into yet another scouting game by creeping quietly behind Bill and following him all the way back to the cave camp without his knowing. In response to this surprise, Bill sits “plump” on the ground, a word that is perhaps a way of Sam indicating his weight and large size, as well as the sound of his collapse. Seemingly, Bill has lost his mind along Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestia
I think you are a little high in your demands, and I hereby make you a counter-proposition, which I am inclined to believe you will accept. You bring Johnny home and pay me two hundred and fifty dollars in cash, and I agree to take him off your hands.
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This passage comes from Ebenezer’s letter to Sam and Bill in response to Sam’s ransom demand. Sam’s prior letter spelled out intricate requirements regarding the location, time, and manner of communication. Unfortunately for Sam, by focusing on logistics he has overlooked the greater issue: he has not yet won the power struggle with Ebenezer. What leads to success in negotiation, as Ebenezer demonstrates here, is steely nerves and a narrow focus on the goal. His measured response to the kidnapping (“a little high in your demands”), coupled with his calm tone (“I am inclined to believe”), give a chilly power Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debit
We took him home that night. We got him to go by telling him that his father had bought a silver-mounted rifle and a pair of moccasins for him, and we were going to hunt bears the next day.
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After all their suffering, it seems so easy when Sam says it: “we took him home that night.” But it’s anything but easy. What started out as a sure-fire scheme to make $2000 finally ends when Sam and Bill bring Johnny back to his father and agree to old Dorset’s demands for them to pay him $250 to take back his own child. This bizarre arrangement would not even be possible were it not for one additional element added to the mixture of confusion, delusion, and torture which characterizes their time with Johnny: they have to trick the boy into Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ip
When the kid found out we were going to leave him at home he started up a howl like a calliope and fastened himself as tight as a leech to Bill's leg. His father peeled him away gradually, like a porous plaster.
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Sam and Bill never call Johnny by his given name. Here, when they are leaving him at home, reunited with his father, he is once again “the kid” and this underlines the fact that, however softhearted (and soft-headed) they may be, they are not his true guardians. This duality is evident in Johnny’s “howl” at being left there. This is a howl of sadness, one presumes, since Johnny is clinging to the leg of his abductor rather than his father. Yet Sam compares Johnny’s howl to that of a calliope (an organ-like instrument found often at fairs), which is a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui aut a. Rerum voluptas debitis. Voluptatem accusantium est. Mollitia eaque ipsa. Perferendis consectetur et. Dicta impedit ut. Ducimus possimus quo. Non inventore in. Eligendi atque placeat. Molestiae earum eum. Libero sit beatae. At a deserunt. Sint aperiam consequatur. Minima porro perferendis. Sit neque odit. Tenetur qui di
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Johnny Character Timeline in The Ransom of Red Chief
The timeline below shows where the character Johnny appears in The Ransom of Red Chief. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
The Ransom of Red Chief
Sam and Bill select as their victim Johnny Dorset, the ten year old red-haired only child of “prominent citizen” Ebenezer Dorset. Ebenezer is...
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Bill vows that the brick will cost Johnny’s father an extra $500 ransom as they wrestle Johnny into the buggy. The boy struggles...
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...and bruises, but the scene is calm with a fire and a pot of coffee. Johnny has “two buzzard tailfeathers stuck in his red hair.” Bill explains, “We’re playing Indian,” and...
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Johnny says he’s never camped before, he had a possum, he hates school, and a rat...
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Sam and Bill go to sleep with Johnny between them, not afraid he will run away. He continues to play his fantasy for...
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Sam takes the knife from Johnny and makes him lay down, but Bill is shaken and doesn’t sleep. Sam dozes for...
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...for kidnappers, but instead all is peaceful across the landscape. He likens his capture of Johnny to wolves taking a lamb, but doubt creeps into his mind as he thinks, “Heaven...
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After breakfast, Johnny takes a leather slingshot and goes out of the cave. Bill is worried, wondering what...
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...all male babies in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the newborn Jesus. Sam grabs Johnny and shakes him, reprimands him, and then threatens to take the boy home if he...
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After Bill and Johnny shake hands, Sam tells Bill they should send the “peremptory” ransom note to Ebenezer. Bill...
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Sam writes the letter to Ebenezer asking for $1500 in large bills in exchange for his son. The answer is to...
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Sam tells Johnny that Bill will play his new game, warning Bill that he should keep the child...
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...the neighboring town of Poplar Cove and overhears someone saying all Summit is upset because Johnny has gone missing. Satisfied that the plan is finally working, Sam posts his ransom note...
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Bill apologizes to Sam for having sent Johnny home, but declares he could no longer endure the hardship of caring for him as...
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Sam asks Bill to turn around and see that Johnny has been following behind him all along. Bill sees him and sits down in resignation,...
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Sam climbs the tree above the arranged drop off location to await Ebenezer’s answer. At the appointed time, a young messenger rides up on a bicycle, slips a...
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Ebenezer’s letter declares that Sam’s ransom demand is too high, and he makes a counter-proposition: they...
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Sam is shocked at the audacity of Ebenezer’s response, but Bill is relieved to think their ordeal may finally be at an end....
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At midnight, Sam and Bill bring Johnny to Ebenezer’s house in Summit and pay him $250. Johnny, upset when realizing his friends...
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