The Most Dangerous Game
“Nature is busy creating absolutely unique individuals, whereas culture has invented a single mold to which all must conform. It is grotesque”(Krishnamurti). Nature is pertaining to humankind creating unique individuals with how they’re raised and what they are raised to believe. Humanity’s culture has has invented a way everyone should be through magazines, commercials, movies, and other means of communicating ideas to people. Rainsford is represented by the culture that has invented a custom everyone needs to live by. He and civilization believe killing our own civilization is wrong. Killing people is wrong, unless it’s in war because army men and women are fighting for our country and know there’s no end to what
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could happen. Culture is the idea of how everyone should be or a custom that is made. Zaroff can be considered the unique individual that doesn’t conform to the culture. Everyone has the idea of the way people should be, but not everyone can conform to the ideas everyone has perceived through school, their friends, parents, or anyone. Rainsford doesn’t conform to some customs people have created, but Zaroff doesn’t conform to many of the customs civilization made. General Zaroff’s first impression is civilized and courteous, but in all actuality is rancorous.
“I hunt the scum of the earth- sailors from tramp ships- lascars, blacks, chinese, whites, mongrels- a thorough bred horse or hound is worth more than a score of them”(25). Zaroff concludes Cossacks are on top of the hierarchy of civilization. Also, a thoroughbred horse or dog would be worth more than 20 human lives because of what he was raised to believe. By calling everyone except Cossacks the scum of the Earth he is expressing his emotions about civilization. In addition, he says people can reason after a fashion, so they are dangerous. If they are weak it’s an essential for them to be destroyed because “Life is for the strong and if need be, taken by the strong”(25). The general believes since people can reason they are too dangerous to live and their lives must be taken. Life is only for the strong and the Cossacks to live. Anyone that is tenuous is obligated to be eliminated by the strong for their amusement and pleasure. Furthermore, “I don’t wish you to think me a braggart, Mr. Rainsford. Many of the afford only the most elementary sort of problem. Occasionally I strike a tartar. One almost did win. I eventually had to use the dogs”(26). When the general is determined to win he will stop at nothing to get it done. For example, when he is almost defeated before RAinsford shows up he uses the dog to kill the guy so he win. The General doesn’t like to lose and will …show more content…
utilize any means necessary to claim victory. Although Zaroff’s first recognized as being civilized and courteous he is unquestionably rancorous. Rainsford’s intelligence and innovative thinking steered him into winning the most dangerous game.
He builds a series of complex traps he learned from his hunter training to try and injure Zaroff (32-34). With one trap Rainsford is able to minorly injure Zaroff and kill Ivan with another even though he didn’t have a lot of time to build the traps. When Rainsford builds a Burmese Tiger trap that kills one of Zaroff’s best dogs, Zaroff indirectly calls him perceptive. In addition, Rainsford chooses to be hunted rather than being beat to death(30). He chooses the path with the best chance of survival. Opposed to taking the easy way out, Rainsford opts to become the huntee knowing he has a high chance of dying in the end. Furthermore, after jumping into the sea Rainsford swims back to Ship Trap Island to challenge the General. Rainsford swims back to the islands to stop the general from the unnecessary murdering of innocent people. Winning the duel against Zaroff he is able to end the murders. As a result of winning the most dangerous game Rainsford’s intelligence comes
forward. Rainsford and the General don’t harmonize with the ideas everyone has created. People have created ideas about how people should be and what’s right and wrong. Humanity has created a society where being a size 0 is too skinny or being over a size 11 is too big. Not everyone can nor want to change to fit in with civilization. To some people killing animals is wrong, but to others it’s the circle of life and is fun. Most people believe killing people in war is okay because it is part of what they do when fighting for our country so we can live in prosperity. KIlling people isn’t wrong in war but when you kill people for fun it is wrong. People need to be more accepting and know the difference between what’s right and wrong to make society more safe and peaceful. Not everyone is going to be able to change themselves to try and fit in society and no one should have to change for other people. Zaroff is one person that needs to change the way he thinks about people and what is right and wrong. Rainsford and Zaroff don’t conform to everyone’s customs they’ve chosen to make.
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
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.
In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, Gen. Zaroff is shown as insane, intelligent and competitive. Zaroff is shown to be insane in the story when he explains who he hunts. “So I said: ‘What are the attributes of an ideal quarry?’ and the answer was of course ‘It must have courage, cunning, and be able to reason… My dear fellow, there is one that can… Why should I not be serious, I am speaking of hunting” (Connell 69-70). This quote shows that Gen. Zaroff demented is because during this part, he is hunting humans for fun. During the
In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”, Rainsford was justified in killing General Zaroff. Rainsford is a hunter. He was on a yacht until he fell off the boat. He swam all the way to shore because Rainsford heard three gun shots. He walked upon a gigantic mansion. This house was for a man named General Zaroff. He was an hunter just like Rainsford in a hunt , but hunted humans instead of animals. General Zaroff wanted to kill Rainsford in a hunt with the General. Also, the General threaten Rainsford if he doesn’t hunt with him; he will be sent with Ivan.
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.
In the short story “the most dangerous game”, Rainsford was justified in killing General Zaroff.
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.
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
Rainsford was forced to choose between life and death by Zaroff. Zaroff tells Rainsford that he hunts people as a type of wild game and takes them hunting first then gives them a few survival things and have to survive for three days in order to win.
The Illegal, and Some Great Thing by Lawrence Hill both contain several important themes. To explain, The Illegal features the main character’s loss of innocence, and the racism towards people because of their country of origin, and ethnic background. Next, Some Great Thing includes the themes of racism and prejudice towards not only the protagonist, but also to French Canadians because of the colour of their skin, or the language they speak, and the courage of characters to stand up for what they believe is right.
G. Zaroff is untrustworthy because in the end after Rainfords has beaten him he still has to fight him. He shows this when Rainsford meets him in the bedroom the General says “I see, Splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in a very excellent bed. On guard, Rainsford…..” This means that he didn’t keep his promise of letting him go after three days and still made him fight.
“Rainsford did not smile, I am still a beast at bay,” he said, in a low hoarse voice. “Get ready, General Zaroff.” The General made one of his deepest bows. “I see, splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On Guard. Rainsford…” [page 76]
General Zaroff has his own ways on his island, and to him they’re seen as “civilized” (26). For example, he hunts people for sport and says that there are the hunter and the huntees of the world (25). His sport gives him ecstasy, giving him the urge to keep playing. His addiction, makes him feel imperious as if he is the best hunter created. In addition, when Ivan is killed by Rainsford’s native trick, the General didn’t mind (34). He is apathetic for
Rainsford shows that he is a dynamic character because he sees hunting in a completely different view. Rainsford is the main character in “The Most Dangerous Game”. In the beginning of the story he’s on a ship with his friend, Whitney, and they’re going on a trip to hunt jaguars. After that Rainsford flew off the ship and swam to an island called Ship-Trap. He met this man who owned the island and his name was, General Zarroff. The general made a deal with Rainsford. The General was hunting Rainsford because he was tired of hunting animals and wanted a more challenging task. When Rainsford is hiding it says, “Rainsford held his breath. The general’s eyes had left the ground and were traveling inch by inch up the tree. Rainsford froze there,