The Most Dangerous Game Mood Analysis

In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell, the main character, Rainsford, falls off a yacht and ends up swimming to a mysterious island. On this island, he meets a man named Zaroff who kills humans as game, Rainsford has to survive on this island while Zaroff tries to hunt him down. Throughout the story the author demonstrates that things are not always what they seem on the surface. To develop this idea, the author uses irony and symbolism. In order to see this is true, one must compare the time when Rainsford first sees the Chateau and when he closely observes it, with the time when Rainsford first meets General Zaroff and after he gets to know him.

After Rainsford knocks on the door of the strange chateau in a jungle on the island, he meets the owner of the place General Zaroff. When Rainsford and General Zaroff start talking about Zaroff’s “game,” suspense rises. Zaroff hunts humans instead of animals in his game, and when they start talking about what happens if one of them loses, you’ll want to continue reading to see who wins and how. While they are talking about what happens if either one loses, General Zaroff says that if he loses, he will acknowledge himself as defeated and he will place Rainsford on the mainland near a town. This also makes you want to continue to read on and see who wins the game and what

Why had the general smiled? Why had he turned back?” (Line 567). This quote contributes to the suspenseful mood because it shows that Rainsford still doesn’t understand/comprehend anything that is going on in the island, including the General. By failing to comprehend the magnitude of the situation the author adds suspense for the reader because the neither the reader nor the characters know what to expect.

This means that the General is talking about hunting men, because no animal can reason but man-kind. Rainsford then

- ‘Even so, I rather think they understand one thing--fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death. ’”(Connell 18) By reading the theme the reader can infer the position Rainsford is in will drastically change. Although, Rainsford is not overtaken by the jaguar

Connell uses foreshadowing to create suspense throughout the story. The first instance of foreshadowing is right in the third paragraph. As Rainsford and Whitney are chatting on the boat, on their way to a hunting trip, Whitney points out an island. Whitney says about the island “ ‘The old charts call it Ship-Trap Island... suggestive name isn’t it?’

Fear is not real. It is the product of thoughts you create. Danger is very real, but fear is a choice. In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” the main character Rainsford is being hunted which creates fear in him. He is scared of dying but overcame his fear by facing the danger of the hunting game.

In the short story The Most Dangerous Game, the author Richard Connell shows that Rainsford needs control of his emotions, patience , and expert hunting and decision making skills in order to defeat Zaroff. Rainsford needs to gain control of his emotions to outthink Zaroff, who symbolizes Rainsfords "steep hill". When he finds that he is going to be hunted his natural instinct is to run and panic, but then he stops to look around and get a grip on the task at hand. Then at a critical moment when Zaroff finds him in a tree, Rainsford panics again because he realizes Zaroff is on his trail and is toying with him. Once again, he gains control of his emotions and formulates a plan.

For example, when Whitney brings up the topic about Ship-Trap island and how “[s]ailors have a curious dread of the place” (Connell 1), the reader suddenly experiences a sinking feeling set in as they can already assume

In another instance, when Rainsford was hiding from General Zaroff, he had to convince himself not to regress to those animal-like instincts that he had developed. The text says “Rainsford’s impulse was to hurl himself down like a panther, but he saw the general’s right hand held something metallic—a small automatic pistol.” (231). As you can tell from the text, Rainsford really wanted to jump down from his hiding spot and attack the general, but he couldn’t. If he had done so, he would end up losing the game. Then, near the end of the story, Rainsford is running from the General and his pack and he sees the ocean shore and it’s deep waters below.

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.

The narrator says, “Rainsford held his breath. The general’s eye had left the ground and were traveling inch by inch up the tree. Rainsford froze there, every muscle tensed for a spring”(13). Rainsford is scared to death when the general is hunting him because this is a real life or death situation. General Zaroff is pulling tricks on Rainsford to try to get him to come down from the tree.

How will this turn out for rainsford read the story to find out. hunts something so very unusual. Throughout the story connell uses Mood irony and suspense . Mood is used in this story a lot but here was a really amazing version of it that I found. When Rainsford is on the island and approaches the mansion that contains the hunter of

How does bullying affect someone's life? In the story “The Most Dangerous Game”, General Zaroff relates to a bully in multiple ways. Like a bully, they often seem nice and friendly, to gain a person's trust and befriend them. General Zaroff conducts himself as a gentleman to Rainsford, befriending him by giving Rainsford shelter and food. Then, a bully will pressure that person into bullying others, much like how Zaroff pressured Rainsford into hunting humans.

Panic, anxiety, and most importantly, fear, are all components that form the adventurous tale, The Most Dangerous Game. Rainsford, the protagonist of the story, is widely recognized as an experienced hunter who ventures off in a ship to travel to Rio in order to hunt jaguars. However, the story turns when Rainsford falls off his ship, encounters a hunter who hunts men, and becomes the prey himself. Although Connell sets up an intense plot by using irony, characterization, word choice, and other literary devices, imagery is one of the main aspects that releases an uneasy feeling within the audience. Imagery is a common literary device that authors use to engage a reader into the story, by painting the scene in the audience’s mind.