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Definition of Setting
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or it can be an imagined... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the city of New York, or... read full definition
Setting is where and when a story or scene takes place. The where can be a real place like the... read full definition
Setting
Explanation and Analysis:
“The Ransom of Red Chief” is set in the town of Summit in northeastern Alabama in the early 1900s. The specific town in which the story is set is less important than the fact that it is a small community in the southern United States, a place where criminals Sam and Bill believe they will easily be able to manipulate the uneducated “class of peasantry.” O. Henry intentionally challenges these stereotypes and assumptions about the residents of small towns in the South by having Ebenezer and Johnny overpower and outsmart Sam and Bill in various ways. Sam and Bill's kidnapping plan ultimately goes awry because, as outsiders with no actual knowledge of the town, they underestimate the abilities and intelligence of the people they're trying to manipulate.
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