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Why do Bill and Sam choose Summit as the location for the kidnapping in "The Ransom of Red Chief"?

Bill and Sam choose Summit as the location of the kidnapping because they feel that "philoprogenitiveness. . . is strong in semi-rural communities." According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the word "philoprogenitive" refers to either a love for one's offspring or a prolific ability to produce offspring.


Bill and Sam imagine people there probably either love their offspring very much or have enough offspring that one will be easy to kidnap. Bill and Sam eventually settle on the child of a prominent citizen named Ebenezer Dorset; they gamble that Mr. Dorset will be appropriately dismayed enough at the kidnapping of his son to hand over a ransom of two thousand dollars for his release.


Also, Bill and Sam don't have much respect for the abilities of law enforcement officials in Summit. They think the town wouldn't be able to get after them "with anything stronger than constables and, maybe, some lackadaisical bloodhounds and a diatribe or two in the Weekly Farmers' Budget." The small-time crooks believe the police force in Summit is too incompetent and understaffed to prove any sort of a threat to their kidnapping scheme. Since they believe they won't face many repercussions for their actions, Bill and Sam decide to choose Summit for the location of the kidnapping.

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