The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell

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.”

“The world is made up of two classes - the hunters and the huntees.” In the short story ‘The Most Dangerous Game’ which was written by Richard Connell there are two main characters, Rainsford and General Zaroff. Rainsford thought that General Zaroff wanted to hunt with him when in all reality General Zaroff wanted to hunt him(Rainsford) himself. Richard Connell uses irony, theme and characterization to develop the plot and characters. The use of these literary devices suggests that Connell wanted to make the story more interesting and suspenseful so the reader can enjoy reading it.

“ The world is made up of two classes--the hunters and the huntees,” stated Rainsford in the famous short story, The Most Dangerous Game, by Richard Connell. Connell’s story is a fictional story about man hunting man. His piece of literature was made into a movie later on, and in the movie Rainsford made a very similar statement. However, there were changes made between the short story and movie. The similarities and differences become clear in both the plot and resolution. Although the the literary work and motion picture have much in common, they are also quite different.

C.S. Lewis one said “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny”. Facing hardships and breaking free from their normal world allows the hero inside of people to come out. Many stories document this journey of a hero through the Hero’s Journey Archetype. In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, a man named Rainsford stumbles upon an island where humans are hunted by a crazed man. The hero’s journey archetype is implemented throughout Rainsford’s experiences in the story. Richard Connell used the Hero’s Journey Archetype to structure the plot and develop the theme that with clever thinking and the use of past experiences, one can succeed at anything.

Though one could argue that Wolff’s “Hunter’s in the Snow” and Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” share an aspect of higher insight that can be classified in literary fiction, Hunter’s in the Snow allows the reader to develop a deeper understanding of human nature by presenting three dynamic characters.

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.

Richard Connell’s short story, The Most Dangerous Game, tells the story of a famous hunter named Rainsford, who falls off of a yacht and swims to an island called Ship-Trap Island. While on Ship Trap Island, Rainsford encounters a man named General Zaroff, who began hunting humans on the island after becoming bored of hunting animals. One night, Zaroff announces to Rainsford that he will be the next victim in his hunting game. Zaroff informs Rainsford that if he manages to survive for three days without being killed, then he can leave the island. Throughout the plot of this short story, there is a consistent theme of the world being composed of two classes of people: the hunters and the hunted. General Zaroff and Rainsford both find themselves to be divided into this class system, at various times during the hunting game. In this short story, Connell uses foreshadowing to portray the idea that there are two classes of people in the world: the hunters and the hunted, in relation to Rainsford and Zaroff.

Presumption of one’s character, lifestyle, or troubles in life is taken from looking at that person and assuming you know all about them. In order to fully understand someone’s pain, you must endure it in their shoes. This is the theme for the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” written by Richard Connell. As Rainsford, the main character of the short story, tries to survive in the wild from a psychotic general who hunts humans as game, the reader sees his change in perspective on what it feels to be hunted. This demonstrates the theme of the short-story through the use of situational irony, man vs. man conflict, and internal conflict.

The literary element of suspense also plays a key role in further emphasizing Connell’s theme that humans possess both reason and instinct. From the beginning of the story Connell repeatedly uses suspense starting from the second Whitney brings up the mysterious island to the very end of the hunt. During the hunt is when the theme becomes most prevalent. Although Rainsford wishes to take the life of Zaroff, he remains more man than animal by keeping his

A man gets hunted by another man on the deserted Ship-Trap Island in the middle of the Caribbean. Rainsford, the protagonist in “The Most Dangerous Game”, a short story written by Richard Connell, gets hunted by General Zaroff. Rainsford abounds with fear, making him crazy. General Zaroff’s arrogance causes him to feel that he possesses the right to hunt the people he captures. His arrogance causes him to commit gruesome things; in this case, murder. Prior to becoming another man’s prey, Rainsford feels that animals have no feelings, but he sympathizes for animals being hunted after he himself becomes prey. His feelings and opinions transform after this experience. “The Most Dangerous Game” consists of three central themes: fear makes an individual crazy, arrogance causes hurtful actions, and some experiences have the potential to alter an individual’s opinion.

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.

Herodotus, the author of histories, once said, “During times of peace, the sons bury their fathers, but in war it is the fathers who send their sons to the grave.” World War I was a lengthy and critical war which resulted in the death of millions. This ranked it along with the deadliest conflicts in human history. As a soldier during World War I, Richard Connell witnessed the darker side of man displayed by others during the war that influenced his writing of The Most Dangerous Game. Using metaphors, imagery and irony, he was able to demonstrate the ugliness within humanity and the way that the human mind can suffer from viewing such manslaughter.

Imagine you, a well known hunter, are stranded on a humid, tropical island with no wildlife other than a psychotic man. This psychopath is a fellow hunter, but desires to poach even greater and smarter game with extremely high intelligence, and is the smartest animal of all -- humans. Throughout the story, the author creates a suspenseful mood through several conflicts the main character encounters, while struggling to survive the “most dangerous game.” In Richard Connell’s short adventure story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” Rainsford, a hunter, travels to South America on a hunting expedition, when he carelessly falls off his yacht and into the Caribbean Sea. Struggling to find a place to rest, he swims to an island off in the distance. Upon reaching the island, he comes across a large building where he is warmly welcomed by the owner of the establishment, also a renowned hunter, named General Zaroff, only to find that he is a lunatic. After learning of General Zaroff’s sins, Rainsford is challenged by the general in a game of life and death, and their specialty, hunting. From beginning to end, the author of this short survival story creates a suspenseful mood through the three main conflicts the main character encounters.

In the story “The Most Dangerous Game” by, Richard Connell, there is a magnificent story about the literary conflict of man vs. man, man vs nature, and man vs himself. Rainsford’s life is like a ticking timer that might just explode any second now. Rainsford goes through a lot to stay alive, yet he wanted Zaroff to know how it feels to get hunted and killed, so he risks his life to win.

Richard Edward Connell was an American author, who was probably most famous for the short story “The Most Dangerous Game.” Connell started writing at the age of 10 covering baseball games for his father 's paper. By the age of sixteen he had become the editor of the Poughkeepsie News-Press. Connell was a very smart man who studied at Georgetown and Harvard.While at Harvard he was the editorial chairman. Connell 's writing style was usually action-adventure. Some of his works were probably inspired from his time working as a homicide journalist, and serving in World War I. By the time Connell passed away he had published over 300 short stories. Richard Connell was a very unique author from experiences he had through out his life, and so was the writing style that he portrayed.