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That kid can kick hard!!!

       O. Henry is the pen name, formerly named William Sidney Porter (William Sydney Porter). He is the famous American critical realism writer,  the master of the short stories. American Realism was a late nineteenth-century literary movement that began as a reaction against romanticism and the sentimental tradition. American Realism was most commonly a feature of narrative fiction and it influenced on O. Henry’s style of writing.

       O. Henry created his stories on the background of rapid development of capitalism and business when the invasion commercialization of American society  suppressed and destroyed in people kindness and spirituality. O. Henry’s  characters - a common "small, ordinary" people of American society: clerks, teachers, artists, photographers, stenographer. The writer portrays all of them  as carriers of the idea of humanism. These people  are friendly , can sacrifice, love their neighbors,  have the desire make the goodness, although they  are suppressed by the bourgeois reality. O. Henry is trying to develop in his characters  the sense of beauty, The writer wants to break their mechanical movement of life,  and to awaken the mind, humanity.  

       While reading the story, I noticed that this story is greatly influenced by the author experience. The action takes place in American town Summit in Alabama. It is vital to note that O. Henry travelled a lot and took a number of different jobs. The other quite interesting fact  concerns his imprisonment  because the First National Bank of Austin was audited by federal auditors and they found the embezzlement shortages and he was arrested on charges of embezzlement. So, maybe it is not the coincidence that his characters are criminals. O. Henry as no one else felt the condition of those “ Two Desperate Man” . Nevertheless, he started his writing career in prison.  Maybe the writer wanted to tell  that everything in life has its price: and it’s not so easy to steal the money as it seems to be (in case of ramdom).

       O. Henry was brilliant in the usage of jargon, sharp words and expressions, and  colored dialogues that made the effect of closeness to real life conditions. "Sam, do you know who my favourite Biblical character is?" "Take it easy," says I. "You'll come to your senses presently."  "King Herod," says he.  

It goes without saying that the whole story permeated with humor and even with the elements of irony. To say the truth, I laughed  and enjoyed reading the story. It is full of comic episodes : "

1)      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.

2)      "How long can you hold him?" asks Bill.

 "I'm not as strong as I used to be," says old Dorset, "but I think I can promise you ten minutes."

"Enough," says Bill. "In ten minutes I shall cross the Central, Southern and Middle Western States, and be legging it trippingly for the Canadian border."

      From my point of view , this story suggests  the theme of bad child’s upbringing and the patent’s negligence, the theme of getting easy money and its consequences , personal qualities of character and attitude to the different problems.  So “The Ransom of Red Chief” is not just funny  story for children but  also the story with deep meaning and  for further considerations.

     As for other O. Henry’s works, we should mention "The Gift of the Magi", "The Cop and the Anthem”, "The Duplicity of Hargraves” and “The Last Leaf”.