“The Ransom of Red Chief” is a short story that belongs to the comedy genre. Despite some earnest themes—such as the negative effects of violence and the importance of empathy—O. Henry’s story is primarily meant to make readers laugh and enjoy themselves. The comedy is mostly centered on Sam and Bill’s incompetence as kidnappers and is therefore O. Henry’s contribution to literature centered on blundering criminals who are easily outwitted by those they seek to steal from or manipulate.
The humor comes across from the very moment that Sam and Bill put their plan into action by trying to kidnap Johnny, as seen in the following passage:
One evening after sundown, we drove in a buggy past old Dorset’s house. The kid was in the street, throwing rocks at a kitten on the opposite fence.
“Hey, little boy!” says Bill, “would you like to have a bag of candy and a nice ride?”
The boy catches Bill neatly in the eye with a piece of brick.
“That will cost the old man an extra five hundred dollars,” says Bill, climbing over the wheel.
This passage immediately communicates to readers that this story is going to be a comedy of errors, as Sam and Bill can’t even kidnap a small child without a struggle. Bill’s reaction to getting hit in the eye with a brick—telling Sam that it “will cost the old man an extra five hundred dollars”—is clearly a comedic response to an overt act of violence. Readers learn from the start of the story not to take the characters’ violence or aggression too seriously.
