The Game In Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game

As hunter Sanger Rainsford is on his way to Rio de Janeiro to take part in what he claims is his life calling of hunting, he plunges into the water and embarks on a peril journey to the “Ship-Trap Island.” This island is one greatly feared by man and not somewhere one would feel content. From the first gasp of air after falling, he must find it within himself to keep going despite it being so much easier to just give up. In Richard Connell’s short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” he uses the setting, characters, and the task archetype to show that perseverance in the midst of fear leads to achievement even if the success seems unimportant to some. The jungle setting presents the idea that the people living on it, General Zaroff and Ivan, have a twisted, chaotic perspective on life and hunting. Connell describes it as, “An unbroken front of snarled and rugged jungle” and “knit of webs and weeds,”(3). The idea that the jungle was “unbroken” proves that no man has figured out how to conquer this lunatic of a man who believes that he will only achieve the thrill of hunting if he is hunting the human species. Rainsford is dumbfounded by the fact that General Zaroff believes, “Life is for the strong, to be lives by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong,” and he becomes outraged when Zaroff actually tries to console Rainsford into joining him (7). Zaroff 's contorted idea of hunting as a game sends Rainsford over the edge and he fully understands the dirt-bag of a man