Raining In Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game

In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” , Rainsford is the positive force in a classic good vs. evil showdown against a psychopathic man-hunter. For example, Rainsford non - evilness is displayed when he declines General Zaroff’s “ We will hunt - you and I,” (10). This is substantial evidence towards Rainsford morals and integrity as a human. Based on the short story, a good and decent person would not want to hunt someone, it is an act of cold blood. General Zaroff shows his true wicked being when he makes the statement of , “ Let me show you my collection of heads,” (9).

Throughout the novel Grendel by John Gardner, Grendel comes across as a ruthless monster who takes pride in murdering others. His actions give the impression that he is an evil figure, but in hindsight he is not as evil as he appears to be. Gardner makes the readers feel sympathy for Grendel because Grendel lives a lonely life, is consistently treated poorly, and attempts to make peace. If Grendel was truly evil, readers would have difficulty having sympathy for him. Therefore, Grendel is not evil and is no different than the rest of humanity.

This quote demonstrates the deadly sin of pride because the foolish rioters think they can avenge their friend against an unknown enemy. This sin is used in order to show how pride in one's own self may lead to unwanted repercussions. Because this tale was written in this time period, boasts and pridefulness were common. The use of pride develops the characters from being a band of brothers to becoming each other's murderer.

In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, General Zaroff is shown as violent, crazy, and overconfident. Zaroff is shown to be violent in the story when he talks about how much he likes to kill things. “‘Simply this: hunting had ceased to be what you call ‘a sporting proposition.’” (Connell 69). This quote shows that Zaroff is violent because during this part, he is talking about how he was getting tired of how easy it was to kill everything.During the story, Zaroff is also crazy. He shows that he is crazy when he is talking to Rainsford about how hunting humans is perfectly fine.

The skills Odysseus shows in fighting, navigating the seas, crafting, and many other things, help him on his long journey home. After 10 years of voyaging home, Odysseus finally succeeds and makes it to Ithaca. On one of his attempts to go home, he ends up stranded on an island with a Cyclops. Odysseus and his men end up trapped in the Cyclop’s home, and the only way they get out is by Odysseus’ craftiness. He decides to stab Polyphemus, the cyclops, in the eye with a wooden stake.

In The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, Rainsford says, “The world is made up of two classes-the hunters and the huntees.” This quote shows than Rainsford believes that human life is clearly more valuable than animal life. This is also shown when he says, “Hunting? Great guns, General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder.” He says this in response to finding out that Zaroff hunts humans. Though he has no qualms about killing animals for personal pleasure, Rainsford clearly puts a high value on human life. Zaroff, on the other hand, does not value human life as highly as Rainsford.

Junior gives Inman up to the Home Guard who force Inman to walk for miles and days until “the hope of home [begins] fleeing him.” As a result, Junior nearly kills Inman, who only survives because a miracle allows him to survive being shot at. In contrast, Polyphemus curses Odysseus with a prayer to Poseidon that will make him “never see his home again,” causing Odysseus’s journey home to last nearly ten years. Polyphemus’s curse causes Odysseus ten years of grief and the loss of all his crew. Junior and Polyphemus parallel each other as they share very similar experiences in which they not only cause the protagonists grief in their encounters, but also leave the protagonists with a complication that persists beyond their encounter. This extreme likeness in situation further solidifies the mirroring of Junior and Polyphemus within The Odyssey and Cold

Then, a bully will pressure that person into bullying others, much like how Zaroff pressured Rainsford into hunting humans. If that somebody does not want to bully, much like how Rainsford did not want to hunt humans, the bully will turn and harass that person, like how Zaroff hunts Rainsford. Connell demonstrates in his story “The Most Dangerous Game” that bullies can seem nice in the beginning.When Rainsford meets General Zaroff, the General seems caring and invites Rainsford into his home. Rainsford found the general “a most thoughtful and affable host,” much like how a bully would seem friendly. Bullies will befriend a person they do not know, just as Zaroff befriended Rainsford.

"As soon as I finished eating Doodle and I hurried off to Horsehead Landing"(424). "Doodle said he was too tired to swim, so we got into a skiff and floated down the creek"(424). "Lightning was playing across half the sky"(425). While Doodle was rowing it started lightning and, the narrator could see the terror in Doodle's eyes. "We started back home racing the storm"(425).

Not only did this killer kill the old man, he was cruel and cold at heart. This can be seen in this quote, “I heard a slight groan… it was the groan of mortal terror… dreadful echo, the terrors… I knew what the old man felt… I chuckled at heart.” (Poe, 1843) The killer knew what the old man was experiencing, even had empathy for him in his mind, but at heart, he was enjoying the old man’s pain. Another disturbing quote in the story that showcases the cruelty in the killer is the following, “I then smiled gaily… First of all I dismembered the corpse. I cut off the head and the arms and the legs.” As if killing the old man was not enough, the killer had to cut the corpse into pieces. Some people may think that such a person cannot be changed, and has to be stopped before they can proceed to hurt