The Most Dangerous Game Analysis

Conflicts in the Most Dangerous Game

Just like in every society, in every story there are conflicts. What is the line between man and beast? What separates the hunter from the hunted? Where does sport end and murder begin? In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the protagonist, a man by the name of Sager Rainsford, is trapped on an island in the middle of the ocean. A simple adventure to the jungles of Rio de Janeiro soon becomes a story of terror, survival and escape when Rainsford realizes he is not alone on the seemingly deserted island. Soon after arriving, he meets the psychopath, General Zaroff, a Cossack aristocrat who is also an experienced hunter. Zaroff entices Rainsford by telling him there is big game on the island, the biggest there is. The Most Dangerous Game illustrates that there are men, and then there are monsters when Rainsford, unknowing of what Zarloff’s true intentions are, becomes entangled in a frightening game of where the hunter, soon becomes the hunted.

The Most Dangerous Game is a story of conflict. This is demonstrated throughout the pages of this gruesome tale. The story begins in the middle of blood-warm waters of the unforgiving Caribbean Sea. Two friends, Sager Rainsford and Whitney, are traveling to Rio de Janeiro to hunt the biggest cat in that region, the jaguar. Like most humans, Rainsford and Whitney pride themselves on being the hunters instead of the hunted. Though they differ because Whitney feels that the jaguar has feelings, and Rainsford believes it does not, this is the first look at conflict. Rainsford cold-hearted feelings for animals shows that he does not care about the creatures that he hunts, but is only into hunting for the sport of it.

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...they are both monsters. General Zarloff is sadistic, arrogant, and incredibly manipulative. Even though he claims to be superior to people of all different races, he takes on a Hitler attitude by believing it is his job to abolish the weak. Rainsford, on the other hand, is a monster in his own way. He believes in the killing of animals for sport, and does not value their lives. The long-term ramifications of Rainsford’s terrifying ordeal are left unresolved. However, Connell does suggest that Rainsford does empathize with the animals that he had hunted and is not sure if he will be hunting in the future. Although. Rainsford has the eerie ability to sleep soundly after killing Zarloff might suggest that it is very possible that he has become an even more ruthless killer and has not undergone a transformation at all. Thus making him more of a monster instead of a man.