The Quicksand: A Short Story

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

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.

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.

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,

The Harlem Renaissance period in Modernistic American Literature began when Black authors wrote about that with which they were familiar—what it is to be black. Writers such as Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Willa Cather proved through their writings that the African-American lives were not only different from that of their white counter-parts, but that the writings were relevant for the historical period and beyond. Another Harlem Renaissance writer who led the way for future black writers was Nella Larsen, author of the story Quicksand.

Rainsford was stuck. All the General wants in return is for him to pretend that he doesn’t exist in this cruel world. Like a character in a fantasy book.

For example, he is shown to be intelligent and experienced when he says, “"I have played the fox, now I must play the cat of the fable"” (pg18). Rainsford used deception skills by zig-zagging back and forth and creating multiple tracks that confused Zaroff’s dogs. He used his experiences from previous fox hunts to achieve his goal of outsmarting General Zaroff. An illustration, of his resourcefulness and skill is shown when “...the dead tree, delicately adjusted to rest on the cut living one, crashed down and struck the general a glancing blow on the shoulder as it fell; but for his alertness, he must have been smashed beneath it” (pg19). Rainsford was quick to spot the dead branch and was resourceful to use it as a trap to slow down and try to stop Zaroff.

     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,

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 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.

Rainsford’s best friend is the sea until it brought him to the General’s Ship Trap Island. Once Rainsford safely swims to the island, he is relieved. The narrator even says, “All he knew was that he was safe from his enemy, the sea. . . ”(3). Rainsford knows that he cannot escape the island since there is nowhere to swim to. Now he is stuck on Ship Trap Island. The brave sailor is protected from the sea for now, but not from Death Swap and its quicksand. Rainsford is trying to escape from the general until he met the deadly quicksand of the island. The author writes, “Then, he stepped forward, his foot sank into the ooze. He tried to wrench it back, but the muck sucked viciously at his foot as if it were a giant leech” (12). Determined to survive, Rainsford dug his

Rainsfords is panicked and running for his life, he's also scared of what General Zaroff will do to him when he catches him. Rainsfords force himself towards the gap between these two trees. He got closer to gap to see open water, and then he went to for it, he jumped. ‘“I am still a beast at bay, Rainsfords said, in a low hoarse voice, Rainsfords said this after he jumped off the cliff and swam back to the land. As he swam back he seen a big house, he walked closer to it and seen General Zaroff.

Rainsford had hid in a huge thick tree. Zaroff might have figured it out but we don’t know. In this new paragraph I will be talking about when Rainsford made his first trap for General Zaroff.

An elegy is a mournful poem, usually about the dead. So, King is telling his audience that if the promise of democracy is not fulfilled then our nation is no better than dead. A psalm, on the other hand is a hym to praise God and creation. If the promise of democracy is kept then the pending elegy will tansform into a psalm of brotherhood. He then uses a more confident tone to encourage his audience. Quicksand is an unstable sinkhole that is hard to escape, and solid rock is considered to be a good place to build. So if racial injustice is a sinkhole impossible to escape and King is fighting against racial injustice making the “solid rock of human dignity” his ultimate goal. King uses metaphors all throughout his letter, multiple times in a

Rainsford woke up the next morning within plain sight of the castle. Its ominous towers stared down at him unmercifully. “They’re just toying with me.” He muttered under his breath. “General Zaroff is all about the hunt. Rainsford knew immediately that he could use this to his advantage. All he had to do was live out the day.