Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell: Literary Analysis

With New York Times bestselling author Thomas C. Foster has introduced literary devices to help annotate and understand deep thinking when reading. Likewise, Richard Connell’s short story “The Most Dangerous Game” has examples of statements made by Foster on literature. The short story is about a hunter goes through the perspective of someone being hunted. Remarkably, literary devices provided by Thomas C. Foster accompanied a different understanding of the short story, The Most Dangerous Game.

What is the point of literary devices in stories, books, and poems? What do they accomplish? Could you use them properly if you knew what they were? In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”, author Richard Connell uses many of these devices, namely: simile, metaphor, personification, imagery, foreshadowing, irony, and allusion. Some well used devices in this story are personification and irony.

Have you ever been hunted down by a psychopath war general, rabid pack of dogs, and a giant mute knouter named Ivan, and escaped? “The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell, is about a man named Rainsford who gets stranded on an island with an insane head honcho on a small, isolated island in the Caribbean sea. Behind every work of literature, are literary elements that make it successful. “The Most Dangerous Game” is successful due to descriptive imagery, suspenseful plot, and ability to get to the point.

In Richard Connell's short story, "The Most Dangerous Game';, the use of literary devices, found blended with other literary devices, gives the story an inner meaning. The blending of literary devices effectively expresses the intentions of Connell to present contrast between the antagonist and protagonist points of view. As a result, the reader can gain insight on the good and evil sides of the story to enhance the purpose of his interpretation. "The Most Dangerous Game'; by Richard Connell presents literary devices such as foreshadowing, setting, and irony which reveal the underlying meaning of the story.

Hunting big game animals for sport was a popular pastime with the wealthy classes following World War I. The morality of killing for sport was not questioned in reality, but in this short story the author does question it by taking it a step further and having the protagonist, Sangor Rainsford, hunted by the antagonist, General Zaroff.In a short story full of irony, one of the greatest ironies of Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” is that General Zaroff repeatedly tells Rainsford that he maintains a sense of civilization on his island.

In “The Most Dangerous Game”, author Richard Connell uses a variety of literary device to depict the theme. He uses the main character, Rainsford, to be the character which unfolds the theme as he goes through the experience of being treated like a wild animal and becoming the prey of another human for sport. Connell uses three literary devices frequently including foreshadowing, irony and symbolism in order to support the main theme, put yourself in the shoes of the animals you hunt.

For an abundance of stories the conflicts do not include man vs. man, man vs. nature, or man vs. himself. In the story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell this is not the case. The main character Rainsford is frequently facing multiple struggles. The story would not keep you on the edge of your seats the same way unless he is constantly fighting through something no matter how big or small the problem is. For example Rainsford the sailor fights nature in this story. In addition to this, he struggles through the toughness and wits of other men. Furthermore, in this story Rainsford puts up with himself as he fights his mind running through the jungle constantly making last minute, and risky decisions. This story shows countless examples of man vs. man, man vs. nature, and even man vs. himself.

One of the greatest qualities of humanity is the ability to respond to the circumstances and surroundings one might find themselves in at any given time. Authors convey this quality into literature constantly with their novels and articles. “The Most Dangerous Game” is a realistic fiction short story written by Richard Connell. “The Most Dangerous Game” is a stunning short story on the human condition, the dangers of blood-thirsty hunters, and defining the true meaning of a civilized person. Connell’s wrote his novel during the time period wealthy individuals enjoyed hunting animals. TV shows, magazine articles, and even movies are based off Connell’s story. Another example of a novel that responds to the environment is James Hurst’s

The weak will die off and the strong will hunt and persevere. “The Most Dangerous Game”, a short story by Richard Connell, suggests Sanger Rainsford’s innocence in the murder of General Zaroff. On the day of January 17, 1932, Mr. Rainsford tragically find himself upon Ship-Trap Island. On this island Rainsford find himself stuck in a life or death web where he must kill to survive to be killed in the process. It is crystal clear that Sanger Rainsford in indeed innocent due to his ironic touchdown on Ship-Trap Island, acting only in self-defense, and being involuntarily placed into the playing field of this most dangerous game.

Every story has a conflict, unless the subject’s life is perfect. With that being said, there are a lot of bumps along the road in “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. Rainsford has so many challenges especially coming to an island where once you arrive, you will never leave. As he traveled on the yacht and falls off, something Rainsford didn’t expect changed the story for the worse. Rainsford experienced struggle with the sea, General Zaroff and himself. The struggle of man against nature, man against man, and man against himself ended up happening for a reason because the story would not be the same.

The first conflict, nature, is a powerful source in which Rainsford battles to survive. For example, in the novel Night of The Twisters by Ivy Ruckman, Danny Hatch fights to protect himself and his step brother from the twisters . The twisters are a product of nature, and so is the ocean that Rainsford swims through. Rainsford is determined to reach the sound of a pistol when he is thrown overboard, and as he reaches the cliffs, he is relieved to be on land, “All he knew was that he was safe from his enemy, the sea, and that utter weariness was on him” (3). Rainsford is drained of all energy from struggling and fighting to survive. Sleep consumes him,

The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell is a short story about a man who falls off his boat and lands on an island. He is hunted by a crazy man who hunts people instead of animals. There are many similarities between the short story and the movie.

When put in certain situations time can fly, and time can seem to not move at all. The short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell presents a hunter named Rainsford who falls of a ship and swims to a nearby island. He then meets a seemingly friendly hunter named Zaroff who secretly hunts human beings for fun. The story then changes pace as Rainsford realizes Zaroff will be hunting him and that he must use his skills to survive. Throughout the story, the author uses setting and pace to build suspense.

In “The Most Dangerous Game,” Richard Connell entertains readers with a story of a mysterious island inhabited by a dark, violent, soul. Rainsford, the protagonist, hears superstitious stories about “Ship-Trap Island” that he does not believe, but he soon learns that the evil surrounding the island stems from a hunter called General Zaroff. General Zaroff is a thrill-seeking character full of racist arrogance. General Zaroff is bored easily and is constantly searching for new hunting challenges to entertain him. He states clearly to Rainsford, “I live for danger.”