Conflict In Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game

The Push and Pull of a Story

Conflict is the sole thing that pulls a story together and pushes it forward. Without conflict, there is no action or force moving the story. External conflict usually pushes the story forward with scenes such as fights and internal conflict pulls the story together with more insightful information about the characters’ personalities. However, they could do both pulling and pushing at times. In the fictional short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, there are many instances of conflict in the story between all the characters.

One of the first types of conflict that readers encounter in the story is individual versus nature. In this story, Connell uses individual versus nature many time as an external conflict, using descriptive language to describe struggles between the characters and nature. When Rainsford accidentally falls off his yacht on his way to Rio, he struggled to find his way to Ship-Trap Island, the only things aiding him being sounds. Connell says, “For a seemingly endless time he (Rainsford) fought the sea”

(7). The author also uses personification by saying “the wash from the speeding yacht slapped in the face” (7) making the quarrel more interesting. The story gets pushed forward as Rainsford gets closer to meeting General Zaroff on the island, the main antagonist of this story. Later, after beginning the game with Zaroff, Rainsford encounters quicksand that “sucked viciously at his foot as if it were a giant leech. With a violent effort, he tore his foot loose” (20). Once again, Connell does a wonderful job describing a conflict and using it to grab the reader’s interest as well as to move the story. Near the end, in order to escape Zaroff, Rainsford jumps off a cliff into the sea then later appears in Zaroff’s room to kill him. Although, it isn’t said directly, the reader assumes that Rainsford must have had a hard time swimming around the island to get to Zaroff’s estate.
When Rainsford falls off his yacht “he remembered the shots” and “doggedly he swam in that direction” (7). The pistol shots called to him and causes him to swim towards the island. This is a case of the conflict type individual versus fate. However, in this specific example Rainsford ,although he may have not realized, surrendered to fate when he landed on the island, the same island Zaroff was on. Zaroff and Rainsford had so many similar qualities of wealth, love of hunting, and expertise; it was destined they meet. Later in the story, when the two are eating dinner together, Zaroff tells Rainsford about how he hunts humans on the island. When Rainsford asks how humans get on this island, he replies, “Sometimes an angry god sends them to me” (14). Fate with the help of the treacherous sea brought men of all kind, “lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels” to the island according to Zaroff (14). In battles between fate and the sailors, those who land on the island inevitably have lost. Another instance when Rainsford quarrels with fate is when Zaroff was hot on his trail and he only has two choices. Rainsford could either “stay where he was and wait. That was suicide. He could flee. That was postponing the inevitable” (21). Rainsford’s fate was to die, but he challenged it and in the end, won the game against General Zaroff and survived. All of these external conflicts in the story were invigorating and engaged the reader in the action as well as succeeding in pushing the story.
The main type of conflict throughout the story was individual versus individual. Right before Rainsford falls off the yacht, he had an argument with Whitney, one of his crew members. The first thing they argue about is whether the jaguars they were going to hunt could feel fear. The two bicker about it and Rainsford finishes the conversation in the end by telling Whitney to “be a realist” and that “the world is made up of two classes-- the hunters and the huntees” (2). This short conflict between Rainsford and Whitney shows a glimpse of Rainsford’s personality by showing the reader that he does not think animals have feelings and he has no remorse when hunting animals. In another argument with Zaroff, more things about Rainsford are revealed. When Zaroff invites him to hunt with him, Rainsford says “I’m a hunter, not a murderer” telling the reader that he values human life, but not animal life (11). Zaroff also references back to Rainsford’s military experience letting the readers know about Rainsford’s past. These internal conflicts of opinions and viewpoints pulls the story together while giving more information about characters.
The conflict individual versus individual is not just internal in this story; there are also many examples of external individual versus individual conflict.

There isn’t many fights that are hand to hand due to the fact that Rainsford would automatically lose because Zaroff has a gun. However, these men are hunters and have other ways to fight than just hand to hand combat or with guns. Rainsford sets up many elaborate traps for Zaroff, reflecting his many years of experience. After finding the quicksand, Rainsford makes a trap for one of Zaroff’s dogs and his small victory is announced by Zaroff when he says, “You’ve done well, Rainsford, your Burmese tiger pit has claimed one of my best dogs” (21). The fact that Rainsford values human life becomes ironic when he is able to cold-bloodedly kill Zaroff then having a good night’s sleep. Rainsford decided, “he had never slept in a better bed”

(22).
Conflict pushed and pulled this story, moving it with action as well as making it complete with more in depth information about the characters. The main protagonist of the story, Sanger Rainsford, goes through all these types of conflict and by the end of the story, his ethical viewpoints have seem to changed after killing Zaroff with no penitence. All these conflicts made the story more interesting and Richard Connell succeeded in using conflict to its full potential making the story both structured and captivating, making “The Most Dangerous Game” a delightful read.