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The most dangerous game interpretation
Character analysis essay on the most dangerous game
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In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the protagonist, Rainsford, is a smart, clever, resilient man who keeps a cool head in stressful and dangerous situations. Rainsford is not allowed to leave the island he washes up on after he falls off the yacht he was traveling on, because the mentally disturbed general wants to hunt people with Rainsford. Rainsford makes a deal with the general to win his freedom. If Rainsford can evade Zaroff for three nights, then Rainsford is free to leave the island. During the hunt, Rainsford must think quickly and be resourceful in order to stay alive. Rainsford is an extremely experienced hunter who writes books about his hunting experiences. When Rainsford is running from the
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In the beginning of the story, Rainsford has a conversation with his friend, Whitney, about hunting animals. Rainford does not care about the animals that he hunts. He believes hunting is only a sport to kill innocent creatures. “‘Who cares how a jaguar feels?’” (1) Showing the reader exactly what he thinks of hunting. Rainsford does not understand that the animals he hunts are like the people that Zaroff hunts. They are innocent, and he is murdering them when he hunts them. Rainsford thinks that Zaroff is insane for murdering people, but Rainsford is also a murderer. When Zaroff hunts Rainsford, the protagonist realizes the terror and pain the jaguars must have felt when he hunted them. Now the roles are reversed, and Rainsford is the one being hunted. “The Cossack was the cat; he was the mouse. The general was saving him for another day’s sport! Then it was that Rainsford knew the full meaning of terror.” (17) Rainsford has changed his feelings about hunting animals now, and he has become a better person. He now takes into account how his prey feels. His interactions with people will also be different, because instead of being extremely overconfident, he realizes that he is not perfectly adept at hunting, and everyone has feelings that matter. In conclusion, Rainsford is now more humble and less overconfident than he was when he began his
When two people have similar issues behind them, there is no way they can connect or like eachother. In the book " streetcar named desire" the characters, Blanche and Mitch show how they are anithetical to one another be cause of the way they have been through a lot in their past, and also shows how both of them are not all there. In the story Blanche is a character who has gone through a rough past and has been through a lot of pain at one moment. In the book it shows that Blanche is a character who desires attention and protection from everyone around her. For example where Blanche says "yes I had Intamicies with strangers.
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.
First, Rainsford had too much pride for his own good. “‘The best sport in the world,’ agreed Rainsford. ‘For the hunter,’ amended Whitney. ‘Not the jaguar.’ ‘Don't talk rot, Whitney,’ said Rainsford. ‘You’re a big game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how the jaguar feels?’(60).” Rainsford never tried to put himself in someone else's shoes, even when someone like Whitney tried to tell him and make him see empathy. Later on in the story, the General gives Rainsford and chance to hide, then sets out to hunt him. Only after being hunted does Rainsford understand what Whitney was talking about when he said, “‘Not the jaguar’(60).”
Whitney introduces the secondary theme, being that hunters usually have no empathy for their prey. This is one of the first uses of irony in the story. Metaphors and Similes are often used in this story, so the reader has a better image of the setting, this is something, and I find Connell did incredibly well, for instance when he refers to the darkness of the night as moist black velvet, the sea was as flat as a plate-glass and it was like trying to see through a blanket. Rainsford begins his epic struggle for survival after falling overboard when he recklessly stood on the guard rail, this is our first example of how Rainsford manages to conquer his panic and think analytically and there by ensuring his survival.
In “The Most Dangerous Game”, the way in which one can understand Rainsford’s ideas was through several man versus man conflicts between himself and Whitney in the beginning of the story and General Zaroff and himself towards the end of the story. The conflict between Whitney and Rainsford was displayed through a discussion in which they expressed their points of view about hunting. While they both agreed that hunting is the best sport in the world, Whitney thought that this was only true for the hunter. To which Rainsford responded “Don’t talk rot Whitney… Who cares how a Jaguar feels?” The conversation progressed, and finally caused Rainsford to express his ideal view of the world that “The world is made up of two classes the hunters and the huntees…” As the final point on the subject, these ideas planted the seeds of conflict within Rainsford as he is later forced to choose between his ideals of hunting and his own
In this story we deal with two main characters, Rainsford and Zaroff. Each of these characters considers himself, and each other civilized in each other’s worlds. The word civilized means to be more advanced at something, or your behavior towards someone. These two characters act very polite and well-mannered toward each other. Evidence from the story shows that Zaroff considers himself civilized, Rainsford considers Zaroff civilized, and Rainsford considers himself civilized.
Many examples of literature often contain the transformation of a major character, and “The Most Dangerous Game” seems to follow the same pattern. At the beginning of the piece, Rainsford is introduced to us as cocky big-game hunter with eyes set only on adventure and entertainment. Throughout the story, we observe his transformation from a calm and composed strategian, to a man who has truly feared for his life. Because of his newfound position as prey, it may be safe to assume that he leaves the island, or at least the deathmatch, with a greater sense of empathy and respect for the beasts he hunts. However, it can also be said that his Cossack predator experiences no such transformation, as he remains good-humored even in the face of the death of his behemoth assistant and one of precious dogs, suggesting little to no change in his cold and vicious
The protagonist, Rainsford, in the short story “The Most Dangerous Game”, by Richard Connell is characterized to make an effective protagonist. The characteristics that make Rainsford an effective protagonist are how he is brave, intelligent, and a resourceful character. Rainsford is a brave character as he never lets his panic consume him and he learns to calm himself. Rainsford ponders, ‘“I will not lose my nerve. I will not.” He slid down from the tree, and struck off again into the woods. His face was set and he forced the machinery of his mind to function”’. When Rainsford is on the first day of the hunt he calms himself down and sets his mind on the task at hand, demonstrating his bravery to not give up, a benefit to being an effective
Throughout this journal, Zaroff can be described as mysterious and cruel. First off, Zaroff is mysterious. Zaroff knows everything about Rainsford when he first arrived. For example in the text it says, “It is a very great pleasure and honor to welcome Mr. Sanger Rainsford, the celebrated hunter, to my home” (Connell 44). It is strange that Zaroff would know Rainsford’s name before he even met him. He also knew about and read Rainsford’s book about hunting. For instance Zaroff is very calm and acts and looks strange. When Rainsford first met him he thought, “His eyes, too, were black and very bright. He had high cheekbones, a sharpcut nose, a spare, dark face--the face of a man used to giving orders, the face of an aristocrat (Connell #). He acts strange compared to a
In the game, General Zaroff arms everyone on that crew with a knife and a pack of food and each and gives them a three-hour head start. When three hours has passed, General Zaroff hunts them down with a pistol of the smallest bullet size and range, and if someone who is being hunted stays alive for three days, they win. If a person who is supposed to be hunted refuses to play, they are whipped. If they are close to winning, General Zaroff brings out his pack of vicious and ruthless dogs, and because of the general’s unfair method of this cruel game, he has not lost one game after playing this for countless years. When General Zaroff explains to Rainsford that he will hunt again the next day and he wants Rainsford to hunt alongside him, Rainsford cannot bring himself to participate. Since Rainsford is not hunting, he ends up being hunted, and he wins. This short story applies to the first interpretation of “Character is what you are in the
Kippen, David. "The Most Dangerous Game." Short Stories for Students. Ed. Kathleen Wilson. Vol. 1. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 155-169. Short Stories for Students. Gale. Web. 20 Jan. 2010.
It's not murder, it's hunting. When hunting, it's hard to understand how the pray feels. Richard Connell, author of “The Most Dangerous Game” explains what it feels like to be hunted. It’s hard to know what something is like until you have been through it yourself.
In The Most Dangerous Game, Rainsford states this quote “The world is made up of two classes--the hunters and the huntees” he was used to being in the class of hunters. When he later meets General Zaroff, he quickly experience what it is like to be apart of the other class, when General Zaroff challenges Rainsford to a game. In order to survive the game , he has to do things he considered to be morally wrong such as killing a human being. When Rainsford kills General Zaroff, a sense of joy came to him. His inner animal instincts came out when he becomes in top of the food chain. When you look at my picture ,you see a half human face and a half wolf face. The Human face symbolizes Rainsford and his morals before he met General Zaroff . The
All around it was quiet. [ADM2]The birds were chirping and the leaves were blowing. Suddenly, a man fled from the brush, holding only a knife in his right hand. After the fleeing man had ran some distance, another man came out of the brush holding a revolver. This man walked calmly after the fleeing man not worried that the he would escape. The old, erect man stopped, and loaded his revolver. He then took aim, shot a round and hit the fleeing man just as he turned around. The man dropped as he died instantly. The old man then walked over to the game he had just killed, grabbed the body by the shirt, and dragged the body into the brush. Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game is a story based on a man who thrives for hunting humans[ADM3]. The way Connell wrote this short story reveals some characteristics about him. The Most Dangerous Game is a psychological story about the author facing and overcoming fear.
Prior to arriving on the island, Rainsford believed that no game had the wit of a hunter. Animal feelings were nothing in his opinion. Upon meeting the general however, Rainsford’s views began to twist themselves despite his previous statement to fellow hunter Whitney. “Who cares how a jaguar feels?”... They’ve no understanding.” (p.17) His philosophy is further explained as he continues , “The world is made up of two classes - the hunters are the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters. (p.17) Rainsford current standing is as the aggressor of the hunt, as a proclaimed in his previous statement.