Men’s Nature Is not Good: “The Most Dangerous Game” Literary Analysis
Charles Darwin says: “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, but the one most responsive to change.” According Richard Connell’s the short story, “The most dangerous game” particularly depicts the nature rule by the hunting game between Sanger Rainsfordand, who is a high quality hunter, and Zaroff. The immoral game between both of them indicates that men’s nature can be evil when their lives are at stake. Indeed, Richard Connell uses Rainsfordand as the symbolism of how the survival instinct, no matter how contradictory it is to the human nature, can be truly exposed to the world when under pressure. First of all, the story shows before disaster strikes,
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At the beginning of the game, his location was very easy to trace, and the general’s attention comes quickly to the tree to where he was hiding. “Rainsford froze there, every muscle tensed for a spring.” He starts to feel death and fear of death, and it rarely happens for he had always identified himself as the hunter. Though he had always proclaimed himself as only a hunter, and not a murderer, he realizes that the roles are not so simple in this game, so he must change his mentality to become stronger so he may turn back from prey to hunter. Oppositely, the general does not spend much time in seeking locations, and he finds his prey quickly, which is Rainford but he does not kill him due to his pride. After Zaroff misses this opportunity to kill Rainsford, there were no more chances to be given again. In the end, Zaroff finally experiences the pressure of being hunted since he does not realize that he in turn is now in danger of Rainsford. At the last night of game, Rainsford ends this dangerous game as a winner at general’s bedroom, and he receives an answer, “…One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds…” (Connell 27) Rainsford could also make the same inhumane decision, which kills the general, but it was not revealed to give us the room for imagination of whether Rainsford has fallen into the dark immorality that Zaroff has been
In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” Rainsford was justified in killing General Zaroff. Rainsford is a hunter. He was on a yacht that crashed and he was the only survivor. The island that he swam to was named “Ship Trap Island.” This where General Zaroff lived. He is also a hunter. He has hunted anything you can think of. Even… people. He has the survivors from the ship wrecks “play” his “game.” The survivors go out into the jungle and General Zaroff goes out and finds them. They have three days to survive. If they don’t get caught in those three days, they win. If they lose… they are killed. This happened to Rainsford. Rainsford, thankfully, won the “game.” He shot General Zaroff after his win.
In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, General Zaroff is shown as crazy, Fearless, and Playful. General Zaroff is shown to be crazy in the story when he traps people on his island and then hunt them. “No animal had a chance with me anymore”(. This quote shows that Rainsford is crazy because during this part, he is hunting real living humans. During the story, General Zaroff is also Fearless. He shows that he is when he is hunting Rainsford and he knows he is in the tree but doesn't kill him because he wants a better fight. “His eyes stopped before they got to the limb where Rainsford laid and he smiled”. General Zaroff shows that he is fearless during this scene because he could get killed if he lets him live for a better fight but
In the short story “the most dangerous game”, Rainsford was justified in killing General Zaroff.
Robert Rainsford from “The Most Dangerous Game” is a very open character. He always shows what he’s thinking verbally or just with facial expressions. When he landed on Ship-Trap island and was lost in the woods, he found a pathway. “They pointed along the cliff in the direction he had been going.” Rainsford’s attitude toward the pathway is what brought him and General Zaroff together. Rainsford had the opportunity to just not follow the hunting boot tracks and walk down a different trail but then the story would never have ended the same. “‘Thank you, I’m a hunter, not a murderer.’ ‘Dear me,’ said the general, quite unruffled, ‘again that unpleasant word. But I think I can show you that your scruples are quite ill founded.’”This quote signifies the start of conflict for the two characters.
Where does the line of sport and murder intersect in hunting? Is it when the species being hunted is able to reason? Or is it when the species being hunted looks just like the hunter? In both movie and film, we see a man fight for his life and another going against all codes of ethics. While Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” and Ernest B. Schoedsack’s film adaptation both have several similarities, the difference are also apparent in each respective media.
After falling off his ship and forced to swim to a mysterious island, Rainsford is faced with a challenge. General Zaroff traps him in a “game” that requires Rainsford to use his skills to survive. He is hunted for three days; where he was chased, tracked down, and shot at. General Zaroff led the hunt to try to kill Rainsford. General was equipped with more firepower and help from his henchman and dogs. But even with his much greater opponent, he was able to survive. Rainsford used his many skills to defeat and kill his enemy. He used quick wit to make traps that would slow Zaroff and kill his dogs and henchman. Then he used his intelligence to escape Zaroff by swimming away, but sneaking back into his own mansion.
If one were to put another character in Rainsford’s position such as Whitney, it is likely that the story would not have ended the way it did. A main reason as to why Rainsford is the dynamic character he is, and can survive such a harsh game, is because he is very self-assured. While passing Ship-Trap Island, all the sailors, aside from Rainsford, are a little anxious because of rumors heard about the island. Rainsford believes that, “one superstitious sailor can taint the whole ships company with his fear,” (page 56). During a firm discussion with Whitney about hunting, Rainsford boldly argues how jaguars are just here to be hunted. Ironically, by the end of the story he thinks just the opposite. The first time he encounters General Zaroff, Rainsford earns the General’s trust instantly because he shows his independence and confidence to him. As he hears about the game, Rainsford does not express obvious fear toward General Zaroff. Being self-assured helps Rainsford to be the strong hunter he is.
In Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game Rainsford’s motivations changed from wanting to be a great hunter to trying to stay alive. As Whitney and Rainsford are headed to Rio to hunt they are talking about the great sport itself, hunting. Rainsford agrees with Whitney and says that hunting is, “The best sport in the world” (Connell 1). This shows he enjoys hunting by saying that it’s is the best and most enjoyable sport in the world. If you are passionate about something it can motivate you to try new things and in his case, hunting new animals. After Rainsford falls off the yacht and wanders to the island he then finds a home and knocks on the door. Ivan answers and General Zaroff soon approached Rainsford and saluted him. After allowing
“A man who had been hiding in the curtains of the bed, was standing there. ‘Rainsford!’ Screamed the General. ‘How in gods name did you get in here?’(80).” The General left that day knowing he hadn't caught Rainsford after he jumped out into the sea. The General believed he would not come back but until he found Rainsford in room, did he start to think anything bad would come to him. Up until this point in the story the general is enjoying hunting Rainsford, and Rainsford has the exact opposite feeling about this situation. Rainsford says himself “I am still a beast at bay”(80). The General challenged Rainsford, “‘One of us will furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On Guard, Rainsford…’(80).” The General never thought he would lose at his own game. That was until he was fed to his own
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.
When Rainsford falls off of the boat, he has to try his best to stay afloat until he can find something to latch on to. He swims vigorously until he reaches Ship-Trap Island. "Jagged crags appeared to jut up into the opaqueness... dense jungle came down to the very edge of the cliffs." It is midday and he is just searching for a place to rest when he runs into Ivan, the astonishingly large guard of the island. Zaroff, the owner of the island, joins in on their conversation about hunting. The conversation is interesting to say the least. Zaroff says, "You'll find this game worth playing…your brain against mine. Your woodcraft against mine. Your strength and stamina against mine. Outdoor chess! And the stake is not without value, eh?" Zaroff is trying to point out that he finds interest in hunting humans, and he wants to know if Rainsford will rise to the challenge. Rainsford is left with a choice to make; will he fight Zaroff, or will he decline and get killed by Ivan. The choice in this situation is pretty self- evident.
Facing hardships, problems, or obstacles shouldn’t discourage one from completing their task or job. Many of authors usually put their characters through tough complications to show the reader that no matter what happens; anyone could pull through. In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connel, the main character Mr. Rainsford gets stranded on an eerie island with a bad reputation. He meets General Zaroff and gets thrown into a huge hunting game, where his life is on the line. In the end, he wins the game and will continue to hunt animals, but not people, as the general once did. He will continue to hunt because one, hunting means everything to him. Two, he will not continue the general’s crazy ways, and resort back to the legal and non-dangerous to other humans sport. Third, he feels powerful when he becomes the hunter and not the hunted. Giving up hunting would be like giving up his life, so just because of a minor block he had to overcome, he will not give up hunting.
Rainsford is an intelligent man. Early in the story, “Rainsford remembered the shots. They had come from the right, and he doggedly swam in that direction” (34). Rainsford had just fallen in the water, swam fifty feet further out, but he kept his senses in the right direction. In total darkness, Rainsford used his intelligence and intellect to reach the land. Also, I don’t think that Rainsford knew he was being sized up when Zaroff was staring at him, but when “Rainsford’s bewilderment showed in his face” (100), he quickly understood what Zaroff was leading too. Rainsford wasn’t a murderer. Sure he liked to hunt game, but he wasn’t bored as Zaroff was. Rainsford never bought into all the old tales. ‘“One superstitious sailor can taint the whole ship’s company with fear”’ (20). He never got worked up or stressed out.
General Zaroff first appears to be a handsome man past his middle age, but looks can be deceiving. When he smiles, it shows his pointed teeth. This is shown in the story when the author describes, “... said the general, and his smile showed red lips and pointed teeth…(Connel 23). Having pointed teeth isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it’s connotating that he’s evil because pop culture use attributes such as having pointed teeth or red eyes to show that someone is evil, and this is no exception. Not to mention that Rainsford, the protagonist of the story, decides to kill General Zaroff because he realizes that he’s a threat to everything around him. It’s inferred that Rainsford later kills Zaroff when Zaroff says, “One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On guard, Rainsford…’ He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided” (Conell 36). Although the fight is never written about, we can assume that there was a fight based off of the dialog and how time passes after the
In the story The Most Dangerous Game a character named General Zaroff has a passion for hunting. He has been hunting since he was born. He has hunted every animal known to man, but, then he gets tried of hunting the same animal over and over. So he discovers a new animal human flesh. General Zaroff is person of bad character because he is cruel, cowardly, and untrustworthy.