The Hunter Becomes The Hunted In The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell

Rainsford is not a hero due to his egocentric attitude and hypocritical behavior. After Rainsford hears the hounds and sees Ivan and General Zaroff approaching, he then creates a trap to kill General Zaroff. When Rainsford hears the footsteps stop, he looks back at the trap and “[sees] in the shallow valley that General Zaroff was still on his feet. But Ivan was not. The knife, driven by the recoil of the springing tree, had not wholly failed” (Conell 14). This quote proves that Rainsford does not obtain the qualities of an altruistic and civil being. This is due to Rainsford wanting to kill General Zaroff for his own survival. Furthermore, once Rainsford accidentally kills Ivan, he swims away in refuge from General Zaroff.

Lastly, Rainsford would resume hunting for the fact that he needs to hunt for survival. He would need hunting to survive like when he used the “Burmese tiger pit” to claim General Zaroff’s best dogs (Connell 35). In order for Rainsford to survive the pack of dogs he had to dig a hole and stick sharpened saplings to the bottom of it to possibly catch Zaroff or the pack of hounds. Another reason that Rainsford would needs hunting to survive is when he “swam [because he] found it quicker than walking” to General Zaroff’s home (Connell 36). Rainsford swam all the way to Zaroff’s house so the hounds couldn’t track him down by his scent.

Throughout the story there are instances where Rainsford shows that he is knowledgeable. While General Zaroff was introducing himself to Rainsford, Zaroff states that he read Rainsford’s book about hunting. Zaroff states “I've read your book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet, you see," (6). To write a book you need to be knowledgeable on the topic that you are writing a book about. Rainsford having written a book shows that he is knowledgeable in the field of hunting. Also when being hunted by Zaroff and a pack of dogs Rainsford uses a trick he learned in Uganda to kill or

Have you ever been hunted in your lifetime before ? In “the most dangerous Game “ by Richard connell two men were hunting each other. Rainsford demonstrates that he is adventurous,smart, and sneaky.

General Zaroff eventually sees Rainsford but decides not to kill him just yet and walks past the tree Rainsford was perched upon. Rainsford becomes an emotional wreck in the tree. He struggles to keep his nerve majorly at this point when he describes his current state when he says, "Rainsford held his breath. The general's eyes had left the ground and were travelling inch by inch up the tree. Rainsford froze there, every muscle tensed up for a spring. But the sharp eyes of the hunter stopped before they reached the limb where Rainsford lay." (Connell 231). One can just imagine how much stress and pressure was placed on Rainsford. Rainsford tries to stay calm but later has to remind himself to stay calm in order to conceal his location. Rainsford manages to escape the grasp of General Zaroff but comes across the deaf and blind Ivan with his hounds. Rainsford builds a pit in the ground that has stakes at the bottom of it. He lures the dogs and they fall into the hole. The next tactic Rainsford uses is when he sees Ivan and General Zaroff walking near his direction. He attaches a knife to a vine and Ivan catches it and dies. Rainsford still has to repeat the phrase, "Nerve,nerve, nerve" to keep himself calm (Connell 235). General Zaroff's cruel ways of hunting and the success of killing Ivan mentally scar Rainsford for the rest of his time on

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

He is very skilled and we know this because the General tells him that not very many people know how to build the type of trap he built. Additionally the quote, “"Your Burmese tiger pit has claimed one of my best dogs. Again you score…”” (pg20). Rainsford used a lesson he learned from his mistake of falling in the quicksand as another way to trap or injure his opponent. By killing Zaroff’s dog Rainsford eliminated a resource of his opponent.

He was able to use “a huge dead tree” that “leaned precariously on a smaller, living one” to build what is called a “Malay mancatcher” (12). While most people would probably just see two trees and walk past them, Rainsford was able to think creatively and put them to effective use. Even though Zaroff did not get caught by it entirely, the hunter was able to buy himself some time to move to a different area so that he could avoid the general. After he went back to treat his injury, Rainsford “took up his flight again” that “carried him on for some hours” (13). His resourceful thinking had allowed him to use even more time to put his plan for winning this life-risking game into action. Without this helpful asset, Rainsford might have been more prone to giving up and letting himself be killed.

In this example Rainsford use valuable time and energy to make a trap that may or may not work,why would he do this. The only good explanation is that he wants to dominate Zaroff by either killing him with the trap or knock him out long enough to do the job

Hunter vs. the hunted is one of the main points in Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game.” Sanger Rainsford swims to Ship-Trap Island after falling off the ship on which he was traveling. On the island, Rainsford finds food and lodging with its sole human inhabitants, General Zaroff and Ivan. Zaroff reveals that he intends to hunt Rainsford, since he finds hunting humans most exciting. Rainsford manages to out-smart Zaroff and is waiting in the General’s bedroom when he returns. The authors’ use of characters: Sanger Rainsford, General Zaroff, Whitney, and Ivan, setting: ship, jungle, and island, and symbolism: the island and jungle, help to develop the theme, one who hunts will someday become the hunted.

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

     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 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,

It had been a week since Rainsford managed to kill the nefarious General Zaroff. The challenging part was almost over or so it seemed. There was not a clear way for Rainsford to escape. As days passed, Rainsford tried to escape. He tried making a boat from driftwood that he found, he tried swimming, he even tried sending a signal by using a flashlight. Rainsford had become so desperate that he even tried some ridiculous plans like trying to pole vault across the ocean. As a result, Rainsford ended up having huge gashes in his left leg ,which got infected, and he had to amputate it. As days turned into weeks, and weeks into months, Rainsford had lost hope and became bitter.

Where do you draw the line in hunting? Is it at the point where you feel pity for your prey? Is it the fact your prey feels pain? Or is it just that you’re stronger and they’re weaker so it doesn’t matter. The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell is a story about learning and experience, how the hunter becomes the hunted and moralities tested and learning the hard way. The main protagonist Rainsford is a well established hunter who has slaughtered many animals with great joy. He views his prey as aggressive creatures that are lower that lack any reason to live other than hunting. Through the story Rainsford ends washed up on a mysterious island where his ideals about hunting are pit against those of an eccentric Cossack General. Through