The point of view in "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry is first person narration. The specific person that is narrating the story is Sam. The reader is only privy to his thoughts and only knows what happens because Sam is the person witnessing it and describing it. The reader does not know what is going on in Bill's mind unless Bill says it out loud. The same is true of little Johnny...
The point of view in "The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry is first person narration. The specific person that is narrating the story is Sam. The reader is only privy to his thoughts and only knows what happens because Sam is the person witnessing it and describing it. The reader does not know what is going on in Bill's mind unless Bill says it out loud. The same is true of little Johnny Dorset. The reader has no idea what he is thinking until he talks.
Some textual clues about the story being written in the first person is the use of the word "I." Sam describes things he does by using "I," "me," and "myself." When Sam refers to he and Bill together, the words "us" and "we" indicate more first person narration. The opening paragraph of the story is a good paragraph to use as an example.
It looked like a good thing: but wait till I tell you. We were down South, in Alabama—Bill Driscoll and myself—when this kidnapping idea struck us. It was, as Bill afterward expressed it, “during a moment of temporary mental apparition”; but we didn’t find that out till later
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