Death is an inevitable part at the end of human life, despite how many people try to avoid it. Sometimes death is seen as a sacrifice, as noticed in “The Scarlet Ibis” by James Hurst. However, not all sacrifices are deaths, as seen in “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. In both stories, upon analysis and comparison, one can see the similarities and differences involving the theme of sacrifice. When the two stories are put side by side, one will see that Connell and Hurst both use death in a way that displays character development. This is shown when Brother of “The Scarlet Ibis” becomes regretful and Rainsford of “The Most Dangerous Game” becomes what he once hated, the reader will also realize how the characters’ personality traits …show more content…
In these two stories it helps develop the characters. In “The Scarlet Ibis,” the narrator, Brother, starts off as a selfish kid who could not stand the deformities of his brother, Doodle, and tries to “fix” him. Brother tries his best in teaching him to walk and run, however he pushes him too far and runs away after Doodle cries out “[Brother] don’t leave me!” (Hurst 138). Doodle ends up dying due to the selfish desires of his brother which in itself is a sacrifice, because his brother ends up feeling sorrowful and regretful. With the event of Doodle’s death and the narrator’s looking back on it the reader can assume that the narrator has changed his views on life and might have not pushed his brother so far if he could go back. On the other hand with “The Most Dangerous Game” the main character, Rainsford, becomes what he once viewed as psychotic. Rainsford started off as a character with views on the world that would not be accepted in the modern world, such as his view on how animals have no feelings and how “the world is made up of two classes- the hunters and the huntees” (Connell 26) , but he was not as bad as the human-hunting General Zaroff. However, as the story ended and Zaroff is killed, the reader is led to believe that Rainsford had taken his place as a human hunter. One can look at this as Rainsford sacrificing his morals so he can continue to live on. In both stories there had been a …show more content…
The society and environment in the two stories shape Zaroff and Brother into who they are and without that there would not have even been a need for sacrifice. In “The Scarlet Ibis” the narrator is young and impressionable. The school is a major setting in the story as it affects Brother 's views in life and it is meant to represent society. Brother tries to make Doodle “normal” just like how society thinks everyone should be and how everyone is at the school. Brother even asks him if he “[wants] to be different from everybody else when [he starts] school” (Hurst 135) implying that Brother does care what society thinks. However Brother does not realize the pressure he is putting on Doodle until he dies. This goes to show society makes everyone shun those who are different until it is too late. In “The Most Dangerous Game,” General Zaroff is seen as psychotic, but in reality is just a man who was shaped differently due to society’s ways of war and privilege to the rich. As General Zaroff was born rich with all of his needs and pleasures taken care of. This includes hunting as one of his pleasures as he started off at a young age with a “little gun, specially made in Moscow for [him]” (Connell 33) showing how rich he always has been. Due to always having everything he did not experience boredom until his later year, this leads him to finding his own way to find pleasure. Also by having to go to war, society was telling
In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game”, he uses several literary devices to keep the reader interested. During Rainsfords journey to and through the island of General Zaroff he partakes in an adventurous journey filled with mystery, suspense, and dilemma. These devices are used to keep the reader interested throughout the story.
Foreshadowing is a beneficial literary device that may be most salutary once the reader has completed the passage. In the short story,“The Most Dangerous Game”, author Richard Connell uses foreshadowing to expose General Zaroff as a bloodthirsty cannibal to his readers.
In the short story, “The Scarlet Ibis”, we know that the theme is, one day everything will end, so instead of wanting and wishing for more, appreciate what you have now. This is true because the quote, “I wanted more than anything else someone to race to Horsehead Landing, someone to box with,” displaying that Brother wanted a younger sibling, but soon realized that his sibling William Armstrong (Doodle) would not be able to play like other children. However, he had hope. “It was bad enough having an invalid brother, but having one who possibly was not all there was unbearable, so I began to make plans to kill him by smothering him with a pillow. However, one afternoon as I watched him, my head poked between iron posts of the bed, he looked straight at me and grinned, I skipped through the rooms, echoing through the halls, shouting, ‘Mama, he smiled. He’s all there! He’s all there!’ and he was,” reveals that the narrator wished that Doodle wouldn’t be crazy, and that he hoped, deep down, Doodle would get better and be able to play with him. Once Doodle
"To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often" (http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_change.html), this quote by Winston Churchill is something I can connect with as I often feel the need to improve myself which can only be done with change. It also relates to the protagonist, Sanger Rainsford, of the short story, "The Most Dangerous Game," by Richard Connell. Sanger Rainsford changes his views on some matters after being trapped on an island with a madman with no method of escape. He undergoes a major change in his character due to an awful experience in isolation with the psychopath, General
In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game”, there are two main characters, Sanger Rainsford and General Zaroff. The story starts off with Rainsford and Rainsford’s hunting partner, Whitney, on a yacht heading to Rio de Janiero to hunt big game animals. Rainsford ends up becoming trapped on Ship-Trap Island, and that is where he and the reader are introduced to General Zaroff. Unfortunately for Rainsford, General Zaroff is not your normal General. General Zaroff and Rainsford are similar and different in many ways, and even though Rainsford believes that Zaroff is a sick individual, at the end of the story he becomes more like Zaroff than he realizes.
Richard Connells “The Most Dangerous Game” is a short story which illustrates that calm analytical thinking can increase your odds of survival and controlling panic.
The story The Most Dangerous Game says, “his pipe;striking a rope, was knocked from his mouth. He lunged for it...he realized he reached too far.” When he dropped his pipe he tried to grab for it but reached to far and ended up falling into the sea. The next conflict Rainsford faced was either to play the game with Zaroff or go with Ivan. While reading this story Zaroff says “you'll find this game worth playing.” Rainsford didn’t think he would have to play the game but Zaroff said he either has to play or go with Ivan and be killed. The last conflict Rainsford faced was hiding from Zaroff. The story said, “the job was finished and he threw himself down behind a log 100 feet away.” Rainsford has to be smart when he is hiding, so he built a trap for Zaroff to be stuck under. Finally, during the story Rainsford overcame many
In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the protagonist (Rainsford) struggled with the actions of the antagonist (General Zaroff) throughout his adventure. The images used to describe the island, deadly swamp, and castle show that it is inhabited and a dangerous place with the use of setting, imagery, and the tone Connell shows Rainsford’s difficulties, persistence, and triumph to the audience. By using these key aspects, Connell makes important connections to the theme while alluding to hunting as the main concept of this whole adventure.
Edgar Allan Poe's short stories, "The Telltale Heart" and "The Masque of the Red Death" are two very different stories. One is about a simple man, perhaps a servant, who narrates the tale of how he kills his wealthy benefactor, and the other is about a prince who turns his back on his country while a plague known as The Red Death ravages his lands. Yet, there are some similarities in both. Time, for instance, and the stroke of midnight, seem to always herald the approach of impending death. Both are killers, one by his own hand, the other by neglecting his country. One seeks peace, the other seeks pleasure, but both are motivated by the selfish need to rid themselves of that which haunts them, even at the expense of another's life. However, the point of this critique will show that their meticulous plans to beat that which torments them are undone by a single flaw in their character - overconfidence.
The plot in “The Most Dangerous Game” is simple, obvious and unrealistic. There is a “good guy” trying to escape from the “bad guy” who lives on Ship-Trap Island. Rainsford clumsily tumbles off of his yacht into the “blood-warm waters” (59), starting the game. His belief that animals are unable to feel and understand fear makes him the perfect, unsuspecting prey in the irony of the story. The miraculous return of Rainsford to slaughter Zaroff is the most straightforward example to the unrealistic manner of this piece. In “The Child by Tiger” there is greater artistic unity in the series of events. Dick, a handyman to the Sheppertons, is a role model to the boys in the story and they look up to him because he is fun to be around and he teaches them good morals. The resignment of the cook and Dick’s pent-up feelings he keeps inside spark something in him to kill people. During Dick’s rampage, he kills not only white men but black men, too. He is not racist like the white people are—any person standing in his way gets shot. His act of murder is artistic and swift, he kills people with one, clean blow and moves on expressionless.
Death, despair, and revenge, these three words form a treacherous triangle to any reader who dare enter the mind of Edgar Allen Poe. In many of his works these expressions seem to form a reoccurring theme. Comparing the works "The Mask of the Red Death" and "The Cask of Amontillado", we will discuss these themes while analyzing the method behind Poe’s madness.
Just like in every society, in every story there are conflicts. What is the line between man and beast? What separates the hunter from the hunted? Where does sport end and murder begin? In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the protagonist, a man by the name of Sager Rainsford, is trapped on an island in the middle of the ocean. A simple adventure to the jungles of Rio de Janeiro soon becomes a story of terror, survival and escape when Rainsford realizes he is not alone on the seemingly deserted island. Soon after arriving, he meets the psychopath, General Zaroff, a Cossack aristocrat who is also an experienced hunter. Zaroff entices Rainsford by telling him there is big game on the island, the biggest there is. The Most Dangerous Game illustrates that there are men, and then there are monsters when Rainsford, unknowing of what Zarloff’s true intentions are, becomes entangled in a frightening game of where the hunter, soon becomes the hunted.
Games are supposed to be fun not murderous, right? Even though games are meant to entertain and excite all players, in the story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, Rainsford, the protagonist, goes through life-or-death of situations as a game of hunting humans made by the antagonist, General Zaroff. Rainsford has to adapt to these situations as they happen for three days trying to stay alive using what he knows as a hunter. However, Rainsford isn’t hunting but the one being hunted by the insane man, Zaroff, with multiple tactics to kill Rainsford. Throughout “The Most Dangerous Game” Rainsford struggles with man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. self-situations while using his background knowledge, sanity and adaptability.
The exposition, or the beginning of the story, tends to outline the similarities and differences that will occur throughout the story in both genres or styles. In the case of The Most Dangerous Game, a few similarities and differences appear in the exposition. In the short story, the main character is Rainsford. Rainsford is talking to a man named Whitney, who is his friend, about hunting. Rainsford does not believe the animals he hunts can feel when hunted, while Whitney believes they are fully aware of the danger they are in. Rainsfords beliefs when change in a
“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and “The Child By Tiger” by Thomas Wolfe are two short stories that have completely different plots, but have many similarities that relate them. Both stories deal with unexpected killers and have a twist that surprises the audience. These pieces make use of foreshadowing and address discrimination, but the characterizations of the protagonists are very different and they affect the readers in distinctive ways.