Most Dangerous Game 'And Child By Tiger' By Richard Connell

1177 Words3 Pages

Comparing and Contrasting Commercial and Literary Fiction

Many authors and writers write fiction. Fiction can be broken down into two categories: commercial and literary. Commercial fiction is a type of fiction which entertains the reader and takes the reader away from their world. An example of commercial fiction is ”Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. In Connell’s short story, the reader is immediately enticed with action in a faraway mysterious island. On the other hand, literary fiction puts the reader into a more real-world situation, writing parables that the reader can relate to. One example of literary fiction is “Child By Tiger”, by Thomas Wolfe. This takes place in a suburban town, in the United States. The boys are playing …show more content…

and the parables include in life and death struggles that the protagonist has to face. On the contrary, “Most Dangerous Game” has a clear protagonist and antagonist, but in “Child By Tiger”, the reader is not for certain which person is the protagonist and which one is the antagonist and “Most Dangerous Game” has a focus on action, while “Child By Tiger” starts off with minimal action, not entertaining the reader as quickly.
Initially, the two parables are similar in the sense that both stories have a quandary in their plot. Rainsford in “Most Dangerous Game” is facing a dilemma. He has two options, he could either be given supplies, and fight with the antagonist General Zaroff who hunts people for pleasure or he can go to Ivan, Zaroff’s ominous assistant that kills people if they do not wish to play. “...I give him his option, of course. He need not play that game if he doesn't wish to. If he does not wish to hunt, I turn him over to Ivan. Ivan once had the honor of serving as official knouter to the Great White Czar, and he has his own ideas of sport. Invariably, Mr. Rainsford, invariably they choose the hunt” (Connell 9). This shows that Zaroff lets Rainsford choose the way he wants eventually die. Additionally, in “Child by Tiger” one of the protagonists is …show more content…

“Most Dangerous Game” has a clear protagonist and antagonist; Rainsford is the protagonist because he is forced by Zaroff, the antagonist, to fight for his life. Whereas, in “Child By Tiger” the reader is not sure who the good main character is, and who the bad main character is. Although almost the entire short story is about Dick Prosser, the reader does not know if Prosser was the good or bad person. Dick Prosser shoots several people for reasons that the reader does not know. Moreover, the crowd that forms when Dick Prosser is discovered, may have also been the protagonist or antagonist. Dick Prosser may have had a reason to kill these people, but the citizens just did not understand. The difference between the short stories are being that “Most Dangerous Game” tells the reader succinctly that Rainsford is the good and Zaroff is the bad, but in “Child By Tiger” the author makes the reader think about which character is good and which one is bad. “Most Dangerous Game” is lives off of action. Throughout the beginning and end of the story, action occurs. Rainsford “... leaped upon the rail and balanced himself there, to get greater elevation; his pipe, striking a rope, was knocked from his mouth. He lunged for it; a short, hoarse cry came from his lips as he realized he had reached too far and had lost his balance. The cry was pinched off short as

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