In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” Rainsford fits the category of Zaroff’s ideal animal to hunt, because Rainsford displays the attribute to reason by being able to make many life saving decisions throughout the story. Rainsford has the ability to reason from the very beginning of the story, because he was able to remain calm to make a life saving decision in an unnerving situation, which proves that he fits the quarry for Zaroff to hunt. As he was in the water, he recalls the gunshots he heard while he was still on the yacht, “they had come from the right, and doggedly he swam in that direction, swimming with slow, deliberate strokes, conserving his strength” (Connell 14). Whereas most people would have panicked in the situation
but no animal can reason”(Connell 6).This states that no animal is able to fit all of the 3 characteristics. This adds along to the claim that he was not justified in killing General Zaroff because an animal didn't fit the requirements so instead Rainsford was looking for something that does reason. But as a general rule most people who want something bad enough they will work until they
After having no other option than to play the game, Rainsford starts playing it by the rules to prove how honorable of a man he is. The latter comes very close to killing Zaroff using one of his cunning three traps. After escaping the third trap, Zaroff and his pack of hounds continue their chase. Rainsford then smartly gets away from the hunter by leaping into the sea and making his was back to
At first, Rainsford is seen viewing hunting as a game that holds no moral consequences and has no effect on the animals. However, he is later challenged when met by Zaroff who also had the same viewpoint, but on a much larger scale. Rainsford ironically realizes the true nature of hunting when his own actions are pushed against him. In addition, when General Zaroff is trying to convince Rainsford to join the hunt, Connell writes, "’I'll wager you'll forget your notions when you go hunting with me. You've a genuine new thrill in store for you, Mr. Rainsford’, ‘Thank you, I'm a hunter, not a murderer’" (Connell).
In the short story The Most Dangerous Game, the author Richard Connell shows that Rainsford needs control of his emotions, patience , and expert hunting and decision making skills in order to defeat Zaroff. Rainsford needs to gain control of his emotions to outthink Zaroff, who symbolizes Rainsfords "steep hill". When he finds that he is going to be hunted his natural instinct is to run and panic, but then he stops to look around and get a grip on the task at hand. Then at a critical moment when Zaroff finds him in a tree, Rainsford panics again because he realizes Zaroff is on his trail and is toying with him. Once again, he gains control of his emotions and formulates a plan.
Also, General Zaroff is an extreme hunter and doesn’t find pleasure in hunting regular animals. Zaroff says the most dangerous game is humans because they have the ability to reason. Rainsford is going to be hunted and is given a certain amount of time to survive. Moreover, while Rainsford is being hunted Zaroff
And the answer was, of course, `it must have courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason… Great Guns, General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder. ’”(Connells 11). Referring to the quote, it exposes how Zaroff tells about the prey and Rainsford got surprised. He even tells Rainsford that he hunts different types of people.
There are several conflicts in “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell; while person versus person is the most obvious, person versus self and person versus nature are also present. For example, the “jagged crags” upon which Rainsford lands scratch his hands until they are raw, and when Rainsford is trying to survive the hunt, nature once again acts as an obstacle. The muck is like “ a giant leech” and the insects “[bite] him savagely” through the dense vegetation. On the other hand, Rainsford faces an internal dilemma when he is talking to Zaroff about hunting humans for sport: while Rainsford is shocked by the proposition, he feels no revulsion, no disgust. Therefore, because Rainsford does not seem to have an internal aversion to Zaroff’s proposal, that causes a quandary - his lack of moral dilemma in this situation is a dilemma in itself.
"‘But no animal can reason’ objected Rainsford. ‘My dear fellow,’ said the general, ‘there is one that can.’ ‘But you can't mean--’ gasped Rainsford”(Connell, Paragraph 106-108) He knows that General Zaroff is about to hunt him. When General Zaroff asks Rainsford to “play the game” he immediately reverts to himself as a soldier in World War One, in the sense that he knows he has to fight even if he doesn’t want to.
When placed in this situation, Rainsford has transformed from being the hunter to becoming the huntee, and is now in the position of all the animals he has carelessly killed before. Towards the end of the story, while Rainsford is being hunted by Zaroff and his pack of dogs, the narrator describes how Rainsford feels by saying that: “Rainsford now knew how an animal at bay feels” (22). The sensation of extreme fear and worry had finally gotten to him, and he can relate to how the animals he hunt may
Fear is not real. It is the product of thoughts you create. Danger is very real, but fear is a choice. In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” the main character Rainsford is being hunted which creates fear in him. He is scared of dying but overcame his fear by facing the danger of the hunting game.
In the fictional story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the author talks about the character traits and how they are related to the conflict. The external conflict reveals many traits that the characters have and how those traits are described about them. Through the conflicts, Rainsford is revealed to be a clever and persistent person who doesn’t give up and Zaroff is a cunning, passionate person. During the conflict, Rainsford is revealed to be clever because he sets up sneaky traps and plans to avoid being spotted by Zaroff.
In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” Rainsford, the protagonist conquered many tough obstacles. These obstacles included three categories known as Man vs Man, Man vs Nature, and Man vs Himself. One example of Man vs Man is when Rainsford first meets the antagonists of the story. Throughout the story Rainsford also fought against many different heights of nature. Lastly when Rainsford was trying to win the game, he was really scared and didn’t know what to do so he was talking to himself.
When Zaroff talked about hunting with Rainsford, Zaroff seemed obsessed with hunting to the point where it became scary. Rainsford finally realized the threat Zaroff was when he refused to hunt
Rainsford has to start thinking like an animal. After leaving Zaroff an ambiguous path on the first night of the hunt Rainsford says, ”I have played the fox, not I must play cat of the fable” (75). If he is not able to imitate an animal’s innate actions to survive, he may not escape his
In another instance, when Rainsford was hiding from General Zaroff, he had to convince himself not to regress to those animal-like instincts that he had developed. The text says “Rainsford’s impulse was to hurl himself down like a panther, but he saw the general’s right hand held something metallic—a small automatic pistol.” (231). As you can tell from the text, Rainsford really wanted to jump down from his hiding spot and attack the general, but he couldn’t. If he had done so, he would end up losing the game. Then, near the end of the story, Rainsford is running from the General and his pack and he sees the ocean shore and it’s deep waters below.