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Short Story Compare/Contrast

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Fiction Essay

ENGL 102: Composition and Literature

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THESIS: In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and “Young Goodman Brown” by Nathaniel Hawthorne, imagery and characterization are employed to illustrate the ever present inner darkness of humanity. However, the authors set very different themes in how their protagonists reflect upon and respond to being faced with it. Both men must choose whether they will reject and confront evil or simply abide it with apathy.

I. The dark imagery used in both stories convert evil into a nearly tangible entity. a. The lack of visibility in these stories corresponds to the fear felt by both men. b. The dense jungle/forest instills a sense of chaos that …show more content…

He offers the younger his staff to help speed his pace (Hawthorne, 264). He even shares a jolly banter with Goody Cloyse, an elderly woman whom young Goodman Brown recognizes, and likewise, offers his staff to aid her (Hawthorne, 266). Old Goodman Brown also gives an articulate counter for every argument young Goodman Brown has to cut their walk short and return home. For example, when young Goodman Brown boasts the honesty and goodness of his father and grandfather, the traveler responds that “I have been well acquainted with your family… They were my good friends” (Hawthorne, 264). The fact that young Goodman Brown had never heard of such a communion spoken of in his family is almost convincing to him of its plausibility. Connell also masks General Zaroff’s evil nature with an air of friendliness and respectability. From the moment that Rainsford appears at the front door, the general is welcoming and kind. He gives Rainsford food, shelter, and offers his own clothes for Rainsford to wear (Connell, 4). During the course of their conversation, General Zaroff explains to Rainsford that they are kindred spirits as fellow hunters. Having dominated every prey he has ever stalked, Zaroff has become bored with traditional hunting and extols the merit of a new game that he has devised, “it supplies me with the most exciting hunting in the world. No other hunting compares with it for an instant” (Connell, 6). The general is sure that, as a

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