“The Most Dangerous Game”

By: Richard Connell

Setting:

Time – 1920’s, a little over three daysPlace – Caribbean Island off the coast of

South AmericaP.D. – Dense jungle, tangle of trees,

uninhabited except for Zaroff and Ivan who live in a lavish chateau.

Plot:

1. Sailing on a yacht to participate in a hunt, Rainsford reveals that he does not believe animals can reason.

2. Rainsford falls off yacht and swims to an island.

3. There, he meets Zaroff and they discuss hunting. Zaroff, and accomplished hunter, reveals he has invented a new game, man, because he is bored with hunting animals: he will hunt Rainsford.

4. The hunt begins and Rainsford runs from Zaroff; realizes he must use reasoning to survive; he devises and executes three traps:

Maylay man-catcher (injures Zaroff) Burmese tiger pit (kills dog) Uganda native trick (kills Ivan)

5. Rainsford leaps into the sea, swims back to the chateau, surprises Zaroff in his room and kills him.

Characterization: Rainsford: skilled hunter and author, believes

animals have no feelings, is able to reason under pressure, disgusted by Zaroff’s new game, he becomes the prey, uses primal instincts and human reasoning throughout the hunt: Animal instincts – puts distance between him and

Zaroff, uses “all the dodges of a fox”, impulse to hurl himself down like a panther, “like some huge prehistoric beaver he began to dig”

Human reasoning – realizes why Zaroff doesn’t kill him in tree, uses strategy to win

Zaroff: cultivated, cosmopolite, polite, looks like an aristocrat used to giving orders, escaped Russian Revolution with fortune intact, always studying Rainsford, has guns from youth soldier, hunts for sport, invents new quarry or game (man) to give him a challenge, believes “life is for the strong to be lived by the strong and if need be, taken by the strong”.

Conflict and Resolution:

Type: man vs. man: Rainsford vs. ZaroffDevelop: Rainsford must survive Zaroff’s

barbaric game of life and deathResolve: Rainsford outsmarts Zaroff at his

own game and kills him

2. Type: man vs. self: Zaroff vs. his need for a challenge

Develop: Zaroff’s bored with hunting animals and needs a challenging hunt

Resolve: Zaroff invents a new game using men as the quarry for his hunt, since they can reason and therefore should give him a better chase.

Theme:

1. A role reversal: the hunter becomes the hunted and is now able to understand the fear of pain and the fear of death in animals.

2. Be careful what you wish for, it might come true.

3. Appearance versus reality

Literary Elements and Techniques:

1. Point of View: third person omniscient2. Foreshadowing: mystery of “ship trap

island” having a bad reputation, three gun shots, scream of unknown animal, evidence of animal’s blood, Rainsford is a celebrated hunter

3. Suspense: created by Rainsford’s life and death struggle; time running out

4. Irony: “This is a most restful spot” (verbal) “ “We do our best to preserve the amenities of

civilization here.” (verbal) Rainsford’s role reversal with Zaroff (situational) Zaroff finally gets an exciting game, but it leads

to his death (situational) Zaroff appears civilized, but is a murdering, evil

genius (situational)5. Atmosphere: Setting and images create a feeling of

fear, savagery, danger, death