Pride And Morality In Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game

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.”

When he finds where Rainsford is, he stands underneath the tree that Rainsfords in and a large smile spreads across his face. “ Very deliberately he blew a smoke ring in the air, then he turned his back to the tree and walked carelessly away, back along the trail he had come.” Zaroff leaves Rainsford for another day. He knows that he could have easily killed him, but his overconfidence shows as he brushes it off and decides it would be more fun to string it out and save Rainsford for another

Even though clearly distraught Rainsford was able to make key decisions to save his life. “Nerve, nerve, nerve” he panted, as he dashed along …. Then he leaped far into the sea.”(18). This quote tells the reader even while battling nerves and running away from a pack of dogs Rainsford was able to make a imperative choice to save his life. Rainsford survives the three days to beat Zaroff and win the game but still feels uneasy will not rest until General Zaroff is dead. “I am still a beast at bay,” he said, in a low, hoarse voice.” Get ready, General Zaroff.”(18). This quote discloses to the reader that Rainsford felt like quarry and wanted Zaroff dead and was not satisfied with merely winning the game.This quote also shows what kind of man Rainsford is and how he is willing to die for what he feels is right. Rainsford battled many trials throughout the story but somehow managed to make the best out of each one.

In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” the author, Richard Connell, does an outstanding job of portraying the bizarre adventure of an insane, however experienced hunter, General Zaroff. The protagonist, Rainsford, another experienced hunter from New York City, appears on General Zaroff’s island, explores, and eventually encounters with Zaroff. They introduce themselves, settle down, and begin to talk. During the talk with the general, Rainsford soon learns that the General was not only a hunter; but a murderer as well. Zaroff has lured and ceased many sailors to his island to play a game. Although, they did not hunt with the General, the General hunted them! Zaroff claimed that hunting “had become too easy”, therefore, hunting began

Another conflict in the story The Most Dangerous game is man vs man. Rainsford doesn't want to fight General Zaroff because he isn't confident in winning the dangerous game. But after General Zaroff forces Rainsford to play the game rainsford said “your

When Rainsford arrives at the generals, he is introduced to a game where he must fight against Zaroff for his own life. After competing against himself, Rainsford is done with the generals games and ends the little war once and for all. Rainsford sneaks into the general's room at night, when he would least expect to see Rainsford. Rainsford catches Zaroff by surprise, and Zaroff knows it is over. “‘ I congratulate you, “ he said. “ You have won the game. “‘ (14). As vulnerable as he is, the general has to accept that Rainsford won. Rainsford takes advantage of this moment, and

Rainsford’s blood turned cold as the hairs on the back of his neck stood straight. Turning around slowly, his eyes caught the sight of the one man he wish to not see.

This quote shows that Rainsford is insane because during this part, he is saying that he wants to hunt something that can reason with him, and only one animal can do that. That animal is a human. During the story, General Zaroff is also competitive. He shows that he is competitive when he fights to win the game over the humans. He always believes he will win. “If my quarry eludes me for three whole days, he wins the game. If I find him”... “he loses.” (Connell

While Rainsford tries to get comfortable with the place of Zaroff . He expresses about his feelings and hunting experiences. The General explains that “hunting was beginning to bore him,” and

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”, Rainsford is terrified to find that General Zaroff is actually a murder. Rainsford is listening intently to the new “species” that General Zaroff is describing as hunt for his game. General Zaroff has a passion and has become obsessed with hunt because it “had been (his) life”, but sadly “hunting was beginning to bore (him)”. He was eager to continue hunting because of how much he enjoyed it. He needed a new way to satisfy himself while still involving himself in hunting. He decided to go to the extremity of killing people to satisfy himself and make him find new excitement in the one hobby that used to be his life and his source of happiness. General Zaroff’s love and passion for hunting cause him to kill and murder because hunting animals was not satisfying him anymore. Rainsford realizes that he is in the presence of a murderer and when General Zaroff is describing how he has found a new hunt for killing Rainsford figures out that “what (General Zaroff) speak of is murder”. While Zaroff is defending himself by saying that he is not murdering, he does not realize that he sounds foolish because he is saying that he has fallen in love with hunting of humans’ The idea that someone is no joke, but General Zaroff thinks “it’s a game”. Consequently, General Zaroff’s dark side comes through because his love for hunting

Rainsford finally stopped running when he reached a tall tree that he could hide in. He climbed up as far as he could and hid out there for the

Sometimes pride can be a fatal game. “The Most Dangerous Game” is a short story where two men battle with egotism. Each one believes that he is the prime hunter and that nothing could stop either one of them. The protagonist, Rainsford, and antagonist, General Zaroff, are active huntsmen who use their vigorous and intelligent mind to each survive the dangers of Ship-Trap Island and be a successful hunter. Richard Connell's story of the deadly game evokes the theme of competent, prideful men who detach from morality.

To begin, the main character Sanger Rainsford believes that animals don’t have emotions nor do they feel pain therefore hunters should not feel sympathy for the animals when there being hunted. “The world is made up of two classes-- the hunters and the huntees”(Connell 3). This scene foreshadows that Rainsford doesn’t feel sympathy for the animals when he’s hunting them because he believes that they don’t have emotions nor has pain. Connell uses foreshadowing to forecast how Rainsford states that animals don’t have emotions nor can they feel pain. When Rainsford being hunted by Zaroff he learns that the huntees have to use their surroundings

Nevertheless, their morals are oxymorons that take deviating approaches in regards to humanity. With this intention, “Must’ve been a fairly large animal… hunter had the nerve to tackle it with a light gun”(20). In like manner, “Not many men know how to make a Malay man-catcher”(32). Rainsford's knowledge of hunting proves that he had a passion for learning how to hunt, because when you choose to learn more about something you retain information easier. Likewise, “I have but one passion in my life, Mr. Rainsford, and it is the hunt”(22). In the same fashion, “My hand was made for the trigger … I have hunted every kind of game in the land”(24). Zaroff, in the same way, has his own love for the hunt but Zaroff focused more on his natural talents and his results in hunting. Be that as it may, Zaroff and Rainsford also have their differences; “ Hunting? Good god, General Zaroff what you speak of is murder” (25). Rainsford was repulsed by Zaroff’s morals in regards to humanity illustrating Rainsford's compassion and love towards humanity. On the contrary, “The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure… I hunt the scum of the earth”(25). Zaroff Believes that Rainsford’s compassion towards humanity is his weakness. Zaroff’s maverick originates from his moral viewpoints on humanity and that he is performing his civil duty when hunting. Consequently, the exploited differences in Rainsford’s and Zaroff's morals outweigh their mutual love for