Hyeonseo Lee, And Aron Ralston: An Analysis

"I will not lose my nerve. I will not." is what Rainsford when the General let him go, even in the face of death he keeps his nerve through sheer willpower. Throughout the story, Rainsford continues to be smart and due to this, does not change in any way. This shows how Rainsford is a proficient hunter, and not even the face of death will make him show his true character. This is because Rainsford already is his truest self and does not need any support to reveal that to the reader.

He does this rather than being killed on the spot because he refused to be hunted. Rainsford does not want to simply be killed because he disagreed on General Zaroffs opinion on the object he hunts. Finding the idea absurd, Rainsford reluctantly agrees to be hunted after learning about the terms. This does not automatically make him go insane or change him but rather introduces what he will become. Rainsford sets off running away from General Zaroff trying to remain calm. Rainsford makes his way to a tree and climbs it. A couple hours later when he reaches the top branch of the tree he hears Zaroff coming after him and has to constantly remind himself to remain idle in the tree so he won't be caught. One would see this when Rainsford is travelling through the bushes reciting to himself, "I must keep my nerve, I must keep my nerve, I must keep my nerve" (Connell 229). Rainsford thinks he has a chance at leaving the island but this confidence diminishes when he realizes that he may not make it

Rainsford keeps his hope in the beginning when he thought that hunting other people was not humanly and considered murder. When Rainsford sets off to hide from being hunted, his initial objective is to get as far away as possible from General Zaroff, “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” (Connell 16). Rainsford repeats that he must keep his nerve,

When Rainsford falls off the yacht he does not panic “A certain coolheadedness had come to him; it was not the first time he had been in a tight place.” He stays calm because he knows he will be able to swim better if he keeps focused, and he has experience dealing with fearful situations; if he panicked he could potentially drown. Even when staring death in the face he keeps his cool “In his hand the man held a long-barreled revolver, and he was pointing it straight at Rainsford's heart. Out of the snarl of beard two small eyes regarded Rainsford. ‘Don't be alarmed,’ said Rainsford, with a smile which he hoped was disarming.” When Rainsford first meets Ivan, instead of being paralyzed with fear he speaks calmly and in a friendly tone to avoid getting shot. He somehow keeps calm and even puts a smile on his face when the gun is pointed at him; this could save him from being killed by Ivan because he seems friendly and not threatening. Rainsford stays calm and collected instead of panicking, which could easily get him

(6)This quote shows determination because even though he is being hunted by a human who possesses craziness, Rainsford remains calm and calms himself down which shows that he will not give up easily. (7)Possessing determination Rainsford decides to play in the game and decides not to run away while he fights in the forest. (8)Supporting this detail, Connell provides the quote “…Rainsford crouching there, could not see the general, nor could he see the pit. He lived a year in a minute” (Connell pg. 13). (9)This quote proves the determination within Rainsford because he stays right in the spot he hides in, instead of running from the challenge that Zaroff presented before him.

Rainsford was stuck. All the General wants in return is for him to pretend that he doesn’t exist in this cruel world. Like a character in a fantasy book.

     Rainsford is an intelligent man. Early in the story, “Rainsford remembered the shots. They had come from the right, and he doggedly swam in that direction” (34). Rainsford had just fallen in the water,

Rainsford once again had to survive another day, but is filled with fear as his hopes

Rainsford shows many acts of bravery in his visit to Ship-Trap Island. He has to show bravery because otherwise he would be killed. An example from the text is, “ Why should I not be serious? I am speaking of hunting.

He went through a traumatizing thing but he still stayed strong. He never quit. He persevered and stayed strong. He found a way to calm himself down. He calms himself down by promising to never touch a gun again. And when he found out he killed his brother he showed determination by promising not to touch a gun. And he also showed enthusiasm, because he really felt like that decision to not touch a gun was the right thing. So he had passion for what he was doing. He supported himself and that is how he got through his adversity. In “The Most Dangerous Game” it states that, “Rainsford knew he could do one of two things. He could stay where he was and wait. That was suicide. He could flee. That was postponing the inevitable. For a moment he stood there, thinking. An idea that held a wild chance came to him, and, tightening his belt, he headed away from the swamp” (Connell 21). It also says “They would be on him any minute now. His mind worked frantically. He thought of a native trick he had learned in Uganda. He slid down the tree. He caught hold of a springy young sapling and to it he fastened his hunting knife, with the blade pointing down the trail; with a bit of wild grapevine he tied back the sapling. Then he ran for his life. The hounds raised their voices as they hit the fresh scent. Rainsford knew now how an animal at bay feels. He had to stop to get his breath. The baying of the hounds stopped abruptly, and Rainsford's heart stopped too. They must have reached

“... he stopped before he has swum 50 feet. A certain coolheadedness had come to him; it was not the 1st time he had been in a tight place (20, 21). This example is just after Rainsford fell off of the yacht. His initial instinct was to pursue after the boat, Rainsford tries but fails. He then depends on long-term reasoning to grab hold of the situation and lead himself back to safety. Instead, If this man's reasoning did not come into play he most likely would have lost his energy and not have the capability of finding shipwreck island and drown. This is one example of many in the story when using reason instead of instinct kept the main character safe and alive, his instinct most likely would have left him

Lee’s quest ended when the self knowledge she learned was about her refusal to tell the truth. “In Antarctica I decided that was the worst thing I’d ever done, that refusal” (Van Den Berg 325). From her quest, Lee learned that if she had not kept secrets things could have turned out differently. The self-knowledge she gained leads to the theme keeping secrets will result in a person being isolated.

The difficulty he experiences getting back to the island emphasizes how vulnerable and how weak humans are when confronted by natural forces. The connection between literature and life is that I feel like if I would be put in those situations between life and death I would be impatient and hesitant, the reason I believe that is because rainsford is an accomplished hunter and they are used to those environments and he still had to remind himself to be calm and to not lose his

According to Richard Connell, the author of “The Most Dangerous Game,” the mind needs to be completely focused to survive. “His whole idea at first was to put distance between himself and General Zaroff, and, to this end, he had plunged along, spurred on by the sharp rowels of something very like panic. Now he had got a grip on himself, had stopped, and was taking stock of himself and the situation” (Connell, IL32). Rainsford’s mind could not focus at first because he was panicking so much about the fact that he was being hunted.

Key Traits To Survival Rainsford survived a madman trying to kill to kill kim with 3 important traits of survival. Those traits were knowledge, belief, calmness. Knowledge is one of the key traits to surviving anything that is thrown at you. Having knowledge is very important because if you don’t know how to get out of any situation you could just escape it off of what you know. To start off, “Rainsford had dug himself in,in France when a second's delay meant death” [Connell,13].