A Tragic Sucide Game Analysis

It had been a week since Rainsford managed to kill the nefarious General Zaroff. The challenging part was almost over or so it seemed. There was not a clear way for Rainsford to escape. As days passed, Rainsford tried to escape. He tried making a boat from driftwood that he found, he tried swimming, he even tried sending a signal by using a flashlight. Rainsford had become so desperate that he even tried some ridiculous plans like trying to pole vault across the ocean. As a result, Rainsford ended up having huge gashes in his left leg ,which got infected, and he had to amputate it. As days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, Rainsford had lost hope and became bitter.

Rainsford sighed. He should’ve seen this argument coming from a mile away. Yet his idiotic brain was filled with joy for staying alive for so long. He thought he could just complete the game and leave this place for good, but fate has other plans.

Imagine a world where people hunt other people as a sport and the hunters become the prey in a fight to survive. In the short story, “The most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell there is a rich hunter named Sanger Rainsford and he is on his yacht in the middle of the Caribbean. After hearing a gunshot he leans over the side of the yacht and he swims to a strange island. On that Island he meets General Zaroff. During a dinner Zaroff tells Rainsford about the hunts he likes to go on and after much convincing Rainsford reluctantly agrees to go on the hunt. Rainsford spends the next few days in a fight for his survival and ends up winning “the game.” In “The Most Dangerous Game” Richard Connell creates suspense by using two elements: foreshadowing and dangerous action.

In the story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and the poem “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning, the authors use characterization and imagery to convey that the desire for power can drive man to psychotic actions.

How would it feel to suddenly go from being the hunter to becoming the prey? That is exactly what happened to Rainsford, one of the main characters in The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. Rainsford was a big game hunter who accidentally fell of of his yacht. He swam to a nearby island, and there he met General Zaroff, a cruel man who hunts humans for sport. In exchange for release from the island, Rainsford agrees to be hunted by Zaroff. Consequently, Rainsford is a survivor because he kills Zaroff and wins the game. Rainsford is also a survivor because he demonstrates the qualities that a person must have to be considered a survivor. Although Rainsford is a survivor, Zaroff is not. To be considered a survivor, a person must go through a traumatic or life-threatening experience but still demonstrate resilience and determination.

I will be comparing the video verion of The Most Dangerous Game to the story.

Resourcefulness is being able to overcome difficulties quickly and in a clever way. Resourcefulness can also be using one’s surroundings for his/her benefit with prior knowledge and experience. In Richard Connell’s short story “The Most Dangerous Game” the main character Rainsford shows these skills of resourcefulness as he tries to survive the hunt. Rainsford is an experienced big game hunter that is trapped on a tropical jungle covered island with another big game hunter, General Zaroff. Zaroff has gained so much experience in hunting, due to this he has lost interest in hunting animals and now enjoys the hunt of humans. Rainsford is put in the position to be torched or participate in a game of hunting. When Rainsford is challenged to this game of hunting he is forced to try and survive. Rainsford is able to survive the hunt because he uses his resources and prior knowledge to weaken Zaroff helping him win the hunt.

One of the darker actions examined in this unit takes place in "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. In this short story, General Zaroff begins hunting a man lost on his island named Rainsford. Bored of the usual game, General Zaroff decides he wants something more exciting and chooses to prey on humans. This ill-judged decision has a domino effect on the plot, ultimately ending in the demise of Zaroff. Nonetheless, an alternate ending besides death could have very well been a possibility. Perhaps, instead of hunting humans, Zaroff decides to open a hunting camp to share his passion for the sport with others. Obviously, his boredom is caused by the island's isolation from society. So, Zaroff could have built homes and started a community or decide to leave the island altogether. Then, the course of this story would have taken a completely different path. Maybe, Zaroff finds a wife, they have children and live happily ever after. If only he was able to overcome his dark side instead of letting it consume him.

In Richard Connell’s short story “The Most Dangerous Game”, the protagonist character, Sander Rainsford is an adventurous and fearless big game hunter. Rainsford has no remorse for his prey. Over the course of the story Rainsford experiences a sudden change of heart when he finds himself where “The world is made up of two classes—the hunters and the huntees.”

The Pulse Orlando shooting was one of the deadliest shootings to happen this year. There were so many lives lost because of one man’s hatred towards a certain group of people. The shooter himself dedicated countless hours to plan his attack on the club. Hate crimes happen all the time in the United States, too many. Many people lost their lives, the shooter was well informed on how to execute his plan, and this shooting was yet another example of a hate crime.

What is human nature? The Bible says in Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” We are all fallen, sinful and depraved, all of us are. Humans are evil. Genesis 1-3 shows us that God made us whole and good, but we have ruined his perfect plan. The greatest of men were all sinners. Moses, the leader of Israel was a murder (Exodus 2:11-15), David slept with Bathsheba and then killed her husband (2 Samuel 11-12), Paul murdered christians (Acts 9), and the list goes on and on.

Imagine a time where you had an argument with your parents. What would was the outcome of the argument? Did you get what you wanted? Many may wonder: why would you argue with when you now you most likely will not get your way. Maybe we argue because we are mad and want to vent Maybe we argue because we are convinced we are right even if we realize later that we weren't. We ask ourselves why why do we fight battles we now we are destined to lose? The argument of “The Most Dangerous Game” General Zaroff, hunts trapped sailors on his island. He does this because he is bored of hunting animals he knows he will win. He thinks he will also defeat Rainsford, other great hunter. Zaroff is a murderer and is uncivilized because he killed people

Throughout the story.”The Most Dangerous Game”, one way suspense is created is by the description of the setting. “The old tarts call it ‘Ship-Trap Island’...Sailors have a curious dread of this place. I don’t know why. Some superstition-” (24). These few sentences create suspense by how the characters Rainsford and Whitney describe Ship-Trap Island by saying some sailors have a curious dread of this place. That means that sailors feel uneasy and eerie about coming to this island due to how it’s surroundings make them feel. Superstition is also raised in this case, because there are many myths that can be told about Ship-Trap Island alone that many sailors fear. The reason why this quote creates suspense is because of the way the island is

“Suspense arises naturally from good writing - it's not a spice to be added separately,” (Leigh Michaels). Suspense is an important aspect of writing, used to keep readers wondering and guessing what could happen next and how the story may end. Writers universally use this trait of suspense in their work to keep people interested in the writing, though there are many techniques they use to do this. In the example of “The Most Dangerous Game” author Richard Connell generates suspense using various methods of foreshadowing as well as skillfully crafting the plot in a suspenseful manner.

In a plenitude of literary pieces, writers present readers with villains, often to challenge the ethics of protagonists, and orchestrate the plot’s complication, in turn, heightening suspense. Correspondingly, in the self-enthralling tale of an expedition gone awry titled, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the writer accentuates on an individual named Rainsford, who after stumbling off a yacht to Rio de Janeiro, swims ashore to an area called “Ship-Trap Island”, only to come face to face with the antagonist of the story, General Zaroff. The general derives appeasement in partaking in a callous game as hunting innocent humans and soon forces Rainsford to engage in such an activity. Furthermore, Frank Stockton’s acclaimed short story,