The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell: Plot Analysis

“Rainsford had fought his way through the bush for two hours. ‘I must keep my nerve. I must keep my nerve,’ he said through tight teeth”(2). Rainsford is a character in “The Most Dangerous Game” written by Richard Connell. What was Rainsford fleeing from? Connell develops the plot based on “the game” between two fellow hunters. The plot is the events in a story that progress to give the story effectiveness. In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game”, he uses many different elements to develop the plot. Connell develops the plot in an unparalleled way by the plight he puts the characters in.
To begin with, characters are a major part of the plot. The major characters in “The Most Dangerous Game” are Sanger Rainsford and General Zaroff. The story is fixated around these characters and their actions, causing them to diversify the plot. Rainsford is the protagonist whereas Zaroff is the antagonist; these labels can clearly be defined through each of their characteristics. Whitney and Ivan are minor characters and although they do not play a major role in the story, these characters do help advance and contribute to the plot. Connell uses few

When Rainsford was voicing his opinion to Whitney about how the hunted do not have feelings, it foreshadows that Rainsford will be hunted. Another example of foreshadowing Connell uses throughout the story is that Rainsford’s and Whitney’s conversation about Ship-Trap Island foreshadows Rainsford being on the island. The foreshadowing intensifies the plot for the reader’s enjoyment. Connell also uses irony in “The Most Dangerous Game”. The sea that almost slaughtered Rainsford in the onset of the story, rescued him in the closing of the story. These are just a small allocation of the many examples of author’s style Connell uses throughout the “Most Dangerous Game” to help the readers visualize the plot. Without author’s style, the story would be monotonous to the