How Is Rainsford Clever

In the Most Dangerous Game; one of Rainsford's traps which he created to increase the likelihood of his survival, kills Ivan, “The baying of the hounds stopped abruptly, and Rainsford's heart stopped too. They must have reached the knife… he saw in the shallow valley that General Zaroff was still on his feet. But Ivan was not.” If Rainsford hadn’t of set the trap and killed Ivan, the hounds would have killed him. This shows that Rainsford is willing to kill others if it means his own survival. In a normal world, Rainsford would have never created a trap with the intent of killing a human.

When Rainsford is put into the game, he thinks of a plan to throw off General Zaroff and says to himself, “‘I'll give him a trail to follow,’ muttered Rainsford, and he struck off from the rude path he had been following into the trackless wilderness. He executed a series of intricate loops” (Connell 34-35). Then Zaroff talks about his life, the war, and brags while saying, “‘I have hunted every kind of game in every land. It would be impossible for me to tell you how many animals I have killed’” (Connell 29). Not only are Rainsford and General Zaroff both hunters, but also they are very good and smart hunters. Rainsford says this during the hunt and it describes him making an intricate trail for Zaroff. He is using all of his skills and being very smart to try to lead Zaroff in the wrong direction. Likewise, General Zaroff says that he has hunted every type of animal. This shows that he is a good hunter and he has hunted so many he couldn’t even tell him how many he’s killed. This displays their similarities as hunters and people because they are very smart. In the very first scene, Rainsford and Whitney discuss hunting in the Amazon and they begin to say, “‘The best sport in the world,’ agreed Rainsford. / ‘For the hunter,’ amended Whitney. ‘Not for the jaguar.’ / ‘Don't talk rot, Whitney,’ said Rainsford. ‘You're a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?’ / ‘Perhaps the jaguar does,’ observed Whitney. / ‘Bah! They've no understanding’” (Connell 22). Later, Zaroff tries to persuade Rainsford into hunting humans because he thinks, “‘Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong’” (Connell 30). Another similarity the two hunters have is that they don’t care how others feel. Rainsford doesn’t care

Now I understand that the General killed for sport, but, Rainford oversteps his bounds as a person to kill. He is forced to play this “game” of hunting. Rainford tries to get out of killing by asking, ‘"Suppose he refuses to be hunted?" "Oh," said the general, "I give him his option, of course. He need not play that game if he doesn't wish to. If he does not wish to hunt, I turn him over to Ivan…”’ (Connell 9) Later on page eleven, he directly tells Zaroff what he is doing is wrong and he will stop it. ‘“Of course you, in turn, must agree to say nothing of your visit here." "I'll agree to nothing of the kind," said Rainsford.’ (Connell 11) Though Rainford is saving innocent lives by killing the General, what Rainford is doing is wrong. The General even said, "Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift? If I wish to hunt, why should I not? I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships--lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels..." (Connell 8) Is doing something wrong for the right reasons does not mean that it is not wrong? Rainford murders Zaroff without any attack from the general. ‘“The

General Zaroff is clearly not under control with his hunting habits. General Zaroff creates for himself, a dangerous hunting game. More dangerous than all the rest, an animal can reason and feel.This animal is a human. The general has gone over the edge. By following his instincts and making his desires reality, general Zaroff now has access to this dangerous game. He hunts and kills them with a pistol, disregards their feelings, and treats them like animals. Some people, such as Rainsford, have decided that obeying the law and sticking to the principles is better than following nature. Rainsford says,“Thank you, I'm a hunter not a murderer.” Rainsford chooses to be civil and lawful. Rainsford quite obviously has more control over his actions than the general. The general gives into his dark side and gives into his guilty desire to hunt animal that has reason, courage, and cunningness. Rainsford chooses not to because he knows wrong from right. But perhaps, when dealing with your human nature you must succumb to your darkest

Rainsford was justified for killing General Zaroff because what General Zaroff did to Rainsford and the previous sailors wasn't right. When Rainsford and General Zaroff were talking Rainsford told General Zaroff “civilized? And you shoot down men”(connell 3) this quote means that General Zaroff has hunted other sailors before.

Although, the only way Zaroff allowed was to take part in his game or get turned over to Ivan. Rainsford prepares for the hunt and on the following day they set out into the jungle. During the hunt, he makes many traps such as false trails, a Malayan mancatcher, a covered pit of wooden stakes, and a knife tied to a sapling. Throughout the hunt, Rainsford becomes creative of using his resources and figures out how to trick the mind of others. For the trail, Zaroff found Rainsford pretty quickly but wanted to enjoy the hunt so he lets him go. The Malay mancatcher only injures Zaroff’s shoulder but usually kills, which made the hunt harder. The wooden stakes trap kills one of Zaroff's best dogs, impressing Zaroff of Rainsford’s skills but makes sure he needs to improve ending Rainsford because that dog was really important to him. The knife tied to the sapling kills Ivan however, Zaroff’s has little to no care of losing his guard rather than losing his best hunting tool. During the hunt, Rainsford and Zaroff trade places of who is the hunter and the huntees. Rainsford fully experiences the fear of being hunted when being held at the edge of the cliff by dogs. He pants ”Nerve, nerve, nerve” ( Connell 14 par. 7) struggling trying not to get killed. Rainsford finally jumps off the cliff and swims around the island to get back to the chateau because it was quicker than walking through. When Zaroff

Rainsford values human life, because when the general told Rainford that he hunts humans. Rainsford told the General that what he is doing is not hunting, what he spoke of was murder. He also is very caring. He said that he will not make him into a condone cold blooded murderer. Rainsford is also described as a mouse in the hunting game, “He didn't even have to wait long,the cat was coming to play with the mouse.

His cleverness gets him out of tough situations. “Now he had got a grip on himself, had stopped, and was taking stock of himself and the situation […] ‘I’ll give him a trail to follow,’ muttered Rainsford.” (Conell 210). From the start, Rainsford knew he needs to think fast or else face the consequences, and so he follows his instincts to form a plan that will help him survive. Then end of the dangerous game is found through Rainsford’s quick wits, “He reached it.

When Rainsford first arrives on the island, General Zaroff asks him to hunt and explains the unusual nature of his prey. Rainsford agrees to hunting with Zaroff. Rainsford really likes hunting and he knows what to do so he doesn’t need Zaroffs help. The reason why Rainsford doesn’t need Zaroffs help is because Rainsford knows more about hunting then Zaroff does, that’s probably why Zaroff is asking for Rainsfords help. Zaroff likes hunting for human, but there isn’t a lot of human on that island most of the things on the island are animals. Rainsford only agreed to help Zaroff because that’s the only way off the island and Rainsford doesn’t want to stay on the island. He wants to get off. Well another way he can get off of the island is by

Rainsford, is in fact, a man of reason. His thought process while being hunted and his ability to recall beneficial knowledge from past experiences effectively prove this point. In the midst of being hunted Rainsford kept a near-constant collectiveness about him. When tested in paragraph 9 on page thirty-one Rainsford reminds himself to stay calm, for it annihilated the playing field between him and the General (l,cI). Additionally, Rainsford uses his knowledge of past hunts to deceive and kill one of the dogs and to injure General Zaroff. Both of the points previously stated prove that Rainsford is a man of logic. The first being that his thought process is helping him gain an advantage over the General. This would seem logical given the

The island Rainsford was stranded on symbolized the evilness. Richard Cornell describe the island saying, “The place has a bad reputation- a bad one”. (Cornell 63) The words from the quote suggests that the island is known as a horrible place to be stuck on. In most human conditions when a person hears about a place and their reputation they tend to start developing fear about being stuck in that place. Rainsford was an example of a person who had to go through the island alone to overcome a fear of evilness. Richard Cornell uses symbolism when he writes, “Even so, I rather think they understand one thing-fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death”. (Cornell 63) The symbolism implies and suggest that Rainsford was going to understand the fear death in a dark place before he survive. Ironically, many people go through darkness when they suffer a

So, Rainsford is civilized in many ways. Ways including this quote, “Thank you, I’m a hunter, not a murderer.” Said by General Zaroff. He in fact does hunt. But that doesn’t mean he just hunts animals. It makes you think. But, think about it, I mean it is still called hunting and he is civilized because of that fact. Some supporting details would include how Rainsford refused to kill another person. Not including the fact that he had killed Zaroff. But at the beginning of the story or around the middle it shows how Rainsford refuses to kill another actual human being. Also, even though Rainsford will kill animals, he still has a slight sense of humanity because he doesn’t want to take another man’s life unless he felt as if he needed too. And, in this case he did need too because of he didn’t kill General Zaroff he would have

He knows it would be insane to blunder on through the dark, even if he had the strength. Rainsford behaves foolishly when he falls into the water because he is curious about the sounds coming from the island. He is also foolish because he assumes that Zaroff will not be hunting him, when it should be clear that Rainsford is exactly the prey he is looking for. He also has a strong sense of moral responsibility.

He didn’t ask to be hunted, and when he was, all he did was try to survive. Rainsford was only passing by, when by chance he stumbled upon Ship-Trap island. He didn’t want violence, but the cold blooded Zaroff was out to kill. Rainsford was under so much stress that when he accidentally killed Ivan, he was only pleased because his chances of survival had improved. Rainsford never desired to land on the island, and he never wished to kill anyone, but when his life was in danger, Rainsford did only what he needed to do to live another day.

Another technique the author uses in the story is foreshadowing. The sound of gunshots Rainsford hears upon approaching the island, and also the screams that did not seem animalistic are the major factors that foreshadow the fact that Zaroff is hunting humans and that Rainsford is going to be one of them. Other examples of foreshadowing include the inner monologue Rainsford has that says that he felt “a sort of sudden dread” when speaking with Whitney. Rainsford hears the screaming after he falls off his boat near Ship-Trap island. He reaches the island in order to save himself from drowning and soon meets General Zaroff there. Rainsford gets to talking with Zaroff about hunting, and Zaroff talks about how he has a refined sense of taste and