Literary analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 2

Literary analysis - Essay Example Henry. This essay analyzes the story from a literary perspective, examining various literary devices the author has employed in the story. The main theme in the story is the triumph of the underdog. The captive also known as the Red Chief and his father are the underdogs in the story, who later emerge triumphant. They are oblivious of the plot by Bill Driscoll and Sam, to kidnap Johnny, also known as Red Chief and get a ransom of $2000 (Bendixen, and James, 25). These petty criminals, who are the masterminds of the kidnapping plot, are the favorites to execute their plan. Things, however, change from good to worse for them and they eventually suffer the loss they hoped to inflict on Red Chief and his father. O. Henry makes use of several literary devices in the story. The three main stylistic devices that standout in the story are humor, irony, and exaggeration. The first element, humor, is very prominent in the story. The whole plot of the short story is humorous. One instance of humor in the story is the description of the two criminals, Bill and Sam, who are portrayed as self educated. They end up using phrases and words that are humorous. The other humorous part of the story is the fact that the Red Chief is oblivious that he has been kidnapped. He enjoys the trip as if it is a camping trip and even feels more at home with his kidnappers that he does among his stern parents. One other instance of humor is when Johnny the Red Chief, confuses his kidnappers with his irritating antics prompting them to releases him back to his father. The use of irony is also very prominent in the story. This refers to the use of words and phrases to imply the exact opposite of their meanings (Bendixen, and James, 56). One example of irony in the story is the phrase ‘Johnny won all the local spelling bees and went to the State contest, only to misspell "train." (Henry, 88) This is ironic because Johnny is supposedly good at spelling, but fails to spell a simple word.