Comparing Most Dangerous Game 'And Hunters In The Snow'

1. The main commercial element in both stories is the easy to follow plotline that is driven by action. In “The Most Dangerous Game” the narrator is trying to stay alive while being hunted. In ‘Hunters in the Snow” the characters are hunting and then working to get an injured friend to the hospital. The driving force is survival which is an external conflict. That being said there is an internal conflict presented in “The Most Dangerous Game” that helps it to feel more literary. The main character, Rainsford, must struggle with the decision to kill General Zaroff. This is a morality choice. The reader is forced to look at their own thoughts and feelings about General Zaroff’s death. Just because General Zaroff did something bad does Rainsford have the right to be judge, jury and executioner? This issue is one that literary fiction

tackles. In “Hunters in the Snow” the literary element of the story comes out in the unfolding of the story. It is not straight forward. There are twists and turns in the narrative that the reader must wade through. This comes in the conversations that Tub and Frank have after Kenny has been shot. The author’s choice to reveal these facets of the characters and to develop them more fully is a literary fiction element.
2. In “Everyday Use” Dee has left the home she shared with her mother and sister and received an education. This education causes her to feel that she has moved from one social status to another. This is evident in her actions during the visit home. Stepping out of the car and taking a picture of the house, scavenging through the meager furnishings of the house and finally the insistence on changing her name. These are all actions of an individual who is trying very hard to show that she is better and has transcended the social status that she once was. In “The Flowers” the social status of the narrator is shown by the setting and sparsity of it. The shack and farmyard depicted is one of a poor family. The fact that the child has spent time foraging for food in the forest reinforces the idea that the family is of low means. Both stories use the dirt and sparsity to convey the social status of the families. In both stories there is a young woman that doesn’t seem to realize or care that she is from a “poor” family. The young woman is just happy to have a home and family.
3.

In “A Family Supper” the author starts from the very beginning of the story to set the tone. The death of his mother puts a shadow on the story and makes the reader wonder why the author has chosen to tell us this fact. As the story continues it is like a puzzle that with each detail becomes more clear and yet more ominous. The foreshadowing that Kazuo Ishiguro uses leaves the reader feeling like he should be warning the family about what is possibly about to happen. The plot is enhanced layer by layer as the author reveals more details about the characters and their personalities and histories. In this story there isn’t really a stated conflict the reader must take the clues that are given to piece the story together. This style of writing builds that suspense and adds an air of mystery to the story. By not explaining the conflict in a straight forward way the author invites the reader to think more critically about all of the information that is being presented and to decide for himself which pieces are important to the development of the story. This technique keeps the reader fully engaged to the end of the

story.
4. In “Babylon Revisited” F. Scott Fitzgerald uses many different ways to show how the theme of redemption is a long struggle. The main character, Charlie feels that he has turned his life around and that he should be forgiven for his past mistakes. Through Charlie’s interactions with the other characters Fitzgerald shows just how far Charlie still has to go. Fitzgerald starts illustrating this from the first exchange that Charlie has in the story. When Charlie speaks to Alix, the barman, and mentions that he has a daughter the barman is surprised by this revelation. It is up to the reader to decide if this lack of knowledge is because Alix thinks a father would not have behaved as Charlie has in the past. It becomes obvious that Charlie spent most of his time drinking and socializing with his friends and thus could not have been a very good father. It also becomes evident that Charlie’s late wife was prone to drinking too. This cause the reader to question how good of parents this couple was. The idea of redemption being a struggle continues when Charlie goes to visit his sister-in-law, Marion. She is rightly still upset and skeptical of Charlie’s turn around. She fears that he will revert to his old ways and not be able to care for her ward. As things don’t go his way during the story, Charlie begins to understand that it will take time but that if he stays strong he can preserver and gain the redemption he longs for.
5. In the story “Desiree’s Baby” the characters are revealed over the course of the story. Chopin gives the reader the illusion that they understand how the story will progress based on the information that has been provided about each character. We are not surprised by Armand’s harsh response to Desiree when the baby turns out to be of mixed heritage. His mean demeanor has been outlined early on in the story. The same is true of Desiree character. She is portrayed as a delicate and soft natured woman. Thus when she chooses death over life without the man she loves it is not surprising. In this way the characters are static. Their actions and understandings do not change over the course of the story. The character do evolve from a readers stand point though when Chopin reveals that it is Armand who is of mixed descent. This revelation adds a new layer to the characters and the way that they have previously interacted. The discovery of Armand’s paternity also makes the character of Desiree even more tragic. The character had experienced nothing but uncertainty her whole life and it was completely unfounded.