Discussion Topic
Bill's changes and reductions to the ransom plan in "The Ransom of Red Chief."
Summary:
Bill changes and reduces the ransom plan significantly in "The Ransom of Red Chief." Initially, the kidnappers demand $2,000, but after enduring the boy's antics, Bill is willing to lower the ransom to $1,500 and even suggests paying the boy's father to take him back.
When and why does Bill lower the ransom in "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry?
Nothing about the plan Sam and Bill hatch goes as expected in "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry. They picked a rather sleepy little town where nothing really happens, and they targeted the banker's son because they assumed the banker would be willing and able to pay. It seems so reasonable, but things just do not go well for the hapless kidnappers from the very beginning. The men should have known they were in for trouble when they find their intended victim in the street throwing rocks at a kitten. Not an auspicious beginning.
The boy, Johnny, quickly turns the tables on his captor, Bill, and transforms himself into "Red Chief, the terror of the plains." Both of the men find themselves terrorized by a little boy, and they do not seem to find any way around it. They have to keep him until he is sufficiently...
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missed and they can make arrangements for the ransom.
In order to do that, Sam has to leave Bill with Red Chief for the day. In a rather ironic role reversal, he tells Johnny that he must be nice to Bill because he is going to be Bill's "playmate for the day."
"Now, you come in and make friends with him and say you are sorry for hurting him, or home you go, at once."
This is the worst day for Bill, as he has to be Red Chief's horse. It is a grueling day, and this is how Bill describes it to Sam:
"I was rode," says Bill, "the ninety miles to the stockade, not barring an inch. Then, when the settlers was rescued, I was given oats. Sand ain't a palatable substitute. And then, for an hour I had to try to explain to him why there was nothin' in holes, how a road can run both ways and what makes the grass green. I tell you, Sam, a human can only stand so much. I takes him by the neck of his clothes and drags him down the mountain. On the way he kicks my legs black-and-blue from the knees down; and I've got to have two or three bites on my thumb and hand cauterized."
This is the end for Bill, and after this day he wants to send the boy back; in fact, things are so bad that he is willing to pay Johnny's father to take him back--something Johnny's father suggests, as well, knowing Johnny like he does. Whatever it takes to rid himself of Red Chief is good for Bill, and Sam soon agrees.
This is certainly a kidnapping-gone-wrong, and Bill bears the brunt of Red Chief's terrorizing.
How did Bill propose changing the ransom letter plans in "The Ransom of Red Chief"?
Bill's first idea to change the plan is simply to send the boy home. After being physically and mentally tortured for days, Bill tries to force the boy to go home when Sam leaves to drop off the ransom note. Sam returns. Bill says he has been beaten, rode like a horse, and even bitten. That was enough. But Red Chief comes back. So, they continue to wait to hear from Red Chief's father. The father replies that he thinks their demands are too high. He offers a counter-proposal. Instead of paying them the two thousand dollars, he suggests that they pay him two hundred and fifty dollars to take his son back. Clearly, the father recognizes what a terror his own child can be and adds, then "I agree to take him off your hands." Bill is so sick of dealing with Johnny that he tells Sam that they should take this new deal. Bill even says it is a great deal: to pay the father rather than collect any money. He calls Johnny's father a "spendthrift" which means one who spends money extravagantly. So, this is the second time when Bill offers to change their plans and Sam agrees.