Rainsford's Decisions In The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell

In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” Rainsford fits the category of Zaroff’s ideal animal to hunt, because Rainsford displays the attribute to reason by being able to make many life saving decisions throughout the story. Rainsford has the ability to reason from the very beginning of the story, because he was able to remain calm to make a life saving decision in an unnerving situation, which proves that he fits the quarry for Zaroff to hunt. As he was in the water, he recalls the gunshots he heard while he was still on the yacht, “they had come from the right, and doggedly he swam in that direction, swimming with slow, deliberate strokes, conserving his strength” (Connell 14). Whereas most people would have panicked in the situation

Rainsford is in a terrible situation. He is now not a hunter, but the hunted. He must now face the struggle of trying to hide, run, and defend himself from getting killed from Zaroff. But what Zaroff dosen`t know , is that Rainsford is a lot smarter than

The short story and film version of The Most Dangerous Game contain both similarities and differences. There are always going to be changes form book to movie no matter what. The plot of both of these is the same though; A man is lost on an island and meets General Zaroff. The man is very fortunate at the time because General Zaroff is welcoming. The man is introduced to a hunting game in which he is being hunted and things get thrilling from there.

When an unfortunate accident throws Rainsford overboard, he stays calm (Connell 28). In this sudden event, he needs to stay calm, and he does that very well. From this point, he immediately looks around and surveys to find a place to go that isn’t stranded in the ocean. “General, I wish to leave this island at once” (Connell 36). Hearing all about the island and General Zaroff makes Rainsford decide he needs to leave. He is polite and firm, but not aggressive. Rainsford stays in reality when talking about the dark night with Whitney (Connell 27). He does not let his imagination get the better of him and stays focused on his treacherous journey. Staying calm, cool, and collected benefits Rainsford in his journey to and on Ship Trap

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. “‘Oh,’’ said the general, “it supplies me with the most exciting hunting in the world’’ (Connell 72). Zaroff shows that he is crazy during this scene because he is literally trying to explain why there is nothing wrong with killing humans. Lastly, Zaroff is also overconfident in the story. He is overconfident when he gives Rainsford more time cause he doesn’t think he stands a chance, also when he doesn't even think about the traps even though he has seen them before. “The smile on the

In the beginning, Rainsford now knows how it feels to be a victim and has played Zaroff’s wicked game. Rainsford starts to realize the problems of the prey that he hunted and what challenges that the prey faced. Rainsford is some what losing interest

However, it does not change for the better. In the middle of the story when he finds out Zaroff hunts fellow human beings, to Zaroff's surprise, Rainsford’s thought and reaction is utter shock and disbelief. “‘But you can’t mean-’ gasped Rainsford. ‘And why not?’”(10). Zaroff knowing Rainsford was a great hunter he hoped that Rainsford would accompany him on a hunt; however, Rainsford accuses him of being a cold-blooded killer. Although, now it seems that Rainsford has adopted General Zaroff's cold attitude toward killing humans, so if Rainsford has changed, it was not to a better person but to a worse. From first no sympathy for animals to no sympathy for men. One way it seems that way is he kills Ivan with no pang of guilt. Some might say that's not murder that's just self-defense. But if that's the case then why does Rainsford after claiming victory and safety from death go to Zaroff's room at night and kills him. “‘You have won the game.’ Rainsford did not smile. ‘I am still a beast at bay…’Get ready General Zaroff’” (20) He doesn’t kill Zaroff for any reason other than revenge. By beast at bay Rainsford is saying he doesn’t have anywhere to go, so he wants to fight Zaroff, until someone dies which is ironic because Rainsford states that he is against killing another human being when he first meets Zaroff at the beginning of the story. However, he is now ready to fight to the death, which shows that his opinion has changed. That just makes him no better than Zaroff “the murderer”. It seems as if Zaroff has passed on his role to Rainsford and he is now the new Zaroff. How else can he sleep so well if he feels remorse over killing a fellow human? Zaroff told him he could leave the island if he won but he stays. Rainsford changes for the worse from a hunter to a murder following in Zaroff's

Life is like a sports game. Some games you win, some you lose. In life, some days are full of conflict, and some are not. Rainsford faces man versus man, man versus nature, and man versus self conflicts in the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell.

Some people will go to great lengths to get home safely. They will sacrifice muchPeople will do everything so that they can to survive, but how much are they willing to sacrifice to live?. When people are put into extreme situations, they are forced to do everything necessary to survive. In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, Rainsford is stranded in the middle of the Caribbean on Ship-Trap Island. On the island, Rainsford is forced to play General Zaroff’s game. Survive for three days with only a hunting knife and a supply of food while being hunted by General Zaroff. In the ending, Connell suddenly states that Rainsford had never slept in a better bed, cutting General Zaroff’s statement short. Rainsford

Rainsford feels sympathy for the animals, just as he was being hunted by a human. Rainsford is frustrated with General Zaroff games. Being hunted like an animal creates conflict and Rainsford “can’t believe that [Zaroff] [is] serious... This is grisly joke(27). In other words, he

One obstacle that was frustrating for Rainsford was that at the very beginning of the story, Rainsford wanted to leave the island so he would not have to face the dangerous game. Unfortunately, he could not escape the island, which led him to have to face extremely difficult obstacles that were in the dangerous game Zaroff made. Rainsford states that he “wish[es] to leave [the island]” (Connell 30). When the general hears this news, he tells Rainsford “you’ve only just come, you’ve had no hunting” and Rainsford is not allowed to exit the island unless he suffers through the game and survives (Connell 30). The fact that he has no choice to leave or not, he has to be forced to participate in the game and be chased down; which creates an external conflict for Rainsford throughout the whole story. Additionally, a hardship Rainsford had to face was determining whether or not he should rest for a night or keep trying to move around so he would not get caught by General Zaroff. By the time the sky turned to dark, “night found him leg-weary, with hands and face [cut] by the branches” of the trees in the jungle (Connell 32). After running in the jungle for a long period of time, Rainsford is unsure if he should sleep or try to keep on hiding. Furthermore, Rainsford went through a struggle when he got himself stuck in the quicksand Zaroff cautioned him about. As he was running for his life in the forest, suddenly Rainsford’s foot started to sink down into the ground (Connell 34). “With a violent effort, he tore loose [his foot and] he knew where he was; Death Swamp and its quicksand” (Connell 34). Since he gets stuck in the trap, he needs to find a way out swiftly out of there before General Zaroff catches him, which causes a big conflict for Rainsford. A final obstacle that was life threatening for Rainsford that he only had a few moments to decide what he should do to save himself. An external

With all his experiences on the island Rainsford became traumatized. For example when Zaroff tells Rainsford about the type of hunting he does, which he hunts actual men. “Hunting? Good God, General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder” (Connell 23). Rainsford was repealed by the fact that Zaroff kills humans for fun. Consequently, Rainsford

himself. This happened when Rainsford was on the island. He had to do his best to keep his composure and not lose his head. While he is in the jungle, he says “I will not lose my nerve”(184). This tells the reader that Rainsford was having trouble staying calm and not worrying. He had to fight himself to stay on track. He was so scared in the jungle while the General was trying to hunt him. On page 186, it says “He could not say where he was. That was suicide.” This shows the reader that Rainsford may be thinking of what could go wrong, and is not thinking on the positive side of things. One side of him has to say everything is going to be fine, while the other half is scared to death. This conflict is important to the story, because without it, there would not be as much suspense as their actually

Rainsford becomes the new general of ship trap island. There are many theories to explain why this is true like he is more violent throughout the story and he is very similar to General Zaroff.

Instead of being fearful and wanting to give up, Rainsford became zealous; a fearless survivor. “ Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed. Rainsford hesitated. He heard the hounds. Then he leapt far out into the sea.” (27). When he throws himself off the cliff into the rocky waters below, he knows that he may not live, yet he becomes fearless and takes the risk. Rainsford's instincts arose and he wanted to survive, but he did it in a manner where he stood his ground, retained his strength, and grew valiant. “In his hand the man held a long-barreled revolver, and he was pointing it straight at Rainsford's heart… ‘Don't be alarmed,’ said Rainsford with a smile…” (9). Rainsford, in this situation, displayed a smile to show he wasn't the enemy nor was he fearful. Not only does Rainsford survive the gunman and the great fall from the cliff, but he shows the great audacity to go before Zaroff and return to finish the fight. Rainsford is a survivor. Furthermore this shows a change is Rainsford's paradigm from the parts of the story where he believes animals have no