The Most Dangerous Game

In the story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and the poem “Porphyria’s Lover” by Robert Browning, the authors use characterization and imagery to convey that the desire for power can drive man to psychotic actions.

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.

Hope is like a river of life, keeping hope makes the river flow, while giving up hope makes a drought of death. Having and keeping hope is important, without it, one isn’t safe. This is expressed thoroughly in many stories. The short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” written by Richard Connell, is about Rainsford, a renowned big game hunter, getting trapped on an island where General Zaroff, another hunter, is in charge. General Zaroff believes that animals are too easy to catch, that they bore him. Leading him to invent a new sport to hunt, being humans as what he hunts. Forcing Rainsford to hunt with him, General Zaroff sets him on his way, giving him a head start. Throughout the story, Rainsford fights the urges to give up, but thanks to his perseverance, Rainsford does not lose hope. Resulting in him overcoming the hunt, and beating General Zaroff, he stays safe. In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” the theme of keeping hope can keep one safe is found throughout the story in the thoughts and actions of the characters.

Hunting has been considered as an evil and uncivilized sport to many in our society. Many people are fine with eating hunted animals, but are not okay with people hunting animals. There have been many debates on which situations of hunting are ethical or not. In the story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, it talks about a man named General Zaroff who thinks it is okay to hunt animals and humans. He keeps his humans as prisoners but still takes care of them until they are ready to be hunted. Despite the fact that he feeds and shelters his humans, General Zaroff is uncivilized because he thinks that it is fair to kill other humans for his own pleasure.

Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" is a very exciting story of a manhunt. This story made me think about the morality of hunting: Humans are the cleverest creatures on earth, but does it give them a license to kill the other animals and even human beings weaker than themselves? I give below a short summary of the story to set the scene and then I will explore the ethics involved in hunting as a sport. "The Most Dangerous Game" presents the story of a hunter, General Zaroff, who finds hunting human beings as the most dangerous and fascinating sport.

Zaroff is purely unconscious, and has no compassion or remorse for his actions. His demented mind forces him to believe that it is moral to hunt all living creatures, when in reality he is actually murdering a human soul. The general is sadistic as well as arrogant. He is mentally unstable, insane, and he denies the fact that he is committing something as bad as what he is doing. According to General Zaroff, hunting for him has been consumed by boredom and he no longer sees hunting as a challenge. Consequently, he chooses to hunt a certain “creature” with a higher mental stability of the creatures he has hunted before.(Connell 21) As Zaroff became comfortable with Rainsford, he

Zaroff is comparing a game of chess to the killing of another human. He is very excited and enthusiastic about the thoughts of hunting a human being. Throughout the story, Zaroff’s cruel and inhuman characteristics are shown by the way he talked to Rainsford about his hunting of humans. He shows no compassion and is actually excited about the possibility of hunting

This quote shows that Rainsford is insane because during this part, he is saying that he wants to hunt something that can reason with him, and only one animal can do that. That animal is a human. During the story, General Zaroff is also competitive. He shows that he is competitive when he fights to win the game over the humans. He always believes he will win. “If my quarry eludes me for three whole days, he wins the game. If I find him”... “he loses.” (Connell

Now I understand that the General killed for sport, but, Rainford oversteps his bounds as a person to kill. He is forced to play this “game” of hunting. Rainford tries to get out of killing by asking, ‘"Suppose he refuses to be hunted?" "Oh," said the general, "I give him his option, of course. He need not play that game if he doesn't wish to. If he does not wish to hunt, I turn him over to Ivan…”’ (Connell 9) Later on page eleven, he directly tells Zaroff what he is doing is wrong and he will stop it. ‘“Of course you, in turn, must agree to say nothing of your visit here." "I'll agree to nothing of the kind," said Rainsford.’ (Connell 11) Though Rainford is saving innocent lives by killing the General, what Rainford is doing is wrong. The General even said, "Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift? If I wish to hunt, why should I not? I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships--lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels..." (Connell 8) Is doing something wrong for the right reasons does not mean that it is not wrong? Rainford murders Zaroff without any attack from the general. ‘“The

The harsh truth of island life reveals that Zaroff’s idea of civilization includes personal pleasure derived from murder .Zaroff explains his “game.” Zaroff has become bored with hunting because the animals do not provide a challenge for him, so hunts the only animal that can think and reason—man (Connell 74).He believes that he deserves the challenge, so it is morally right to hunt men. This is not civilized behavior. It is murder. He tries explains why it is right. “‘If I wish to hunt, why should I not? I hunt the scum of the earth—[…]’”(Connell 75).Zaroff believes that his social status and wealth give him the right to kill those in lower classes. This

One of the darker actions examined in this unit takes place in "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell. In this short story, General Zaroff begins hunting a man lost on his island named Rainsford. Bored of the usual game, General Zaroff decides he wants something more exciting and chooses to prey on humans. This ill-judged decision has a domino effect on the plot, ultimately ending in the demise of Zaroff. Nonetheless, an alternate ending besides death could have very well been a possibility. Perhaps, instead of hunting humans, Zaroff decides to open a hunting camp to share his passion for the sport with others. Obviously, his boredom is caused by the island's isolation from society. So, Zaroff could have built homes and started a community or decide to leave the island altogether. Then, the course of this story would have taken a completely different path. Maybe, Zaroff finds a wife, they have children and live happily ever after. If only he was able to overcome his dark side instead of letting it consume him.

Connell first demonstrates the General’s proud heart on page seventy. There is a conversation between Rainsford and General Zaroff and Rainsford starts with the question, “But the animal, General Zaroff? Oh, it supplies me with the most exciting hunting in the world… But no animal can reason, … there is one that can. But you can’t mean - And why not?” The General is referring that he resulted into hunting humans. Earlier, he expresses how this sport was becoming tedious and needed something that can reason, which no animal can do, except humans; without reluctance, he turns to them to fulfill his personal needs. General Zaroff is a part of World War I before he returns to hunting. Because of his experiences in the war, he believes that it is acceptable to murder human beings out of pleasure, while Rainsford disagrees. Overall, General Zaroff is betraying his egotistic side by being willing to kill humans for his

I am speaking of hunting.” “Hunting? Great Guns, General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder.” (10) (AN) In this quote, General Zaroff displays his relaxed and carefree attitude towards the killing of other human beings in this quote by the implied connotation of his words. By having such nonchalant tone on such an insidious viewpoint proves that Zaroff has a much different mindset than mainstream society who views his actions as sinister. Zaroff’s internal aspirations and ideas on murder are very present in his non-conformist style of “hunting.” (Trans) While hunting Zaroff also shows his motivations for doing so. (CD) During the first day of the hunt Zaroff unknowingly has Rainsford cornered up a tree, however, once Zaroff sees Rainsford he pretends not to notice, “It was General Zaroff. He made his way along with his eyes fixed in concentration … the sharp eyes of the hunter stopped before they reached the limb where Rainsford lay; a smile spread over his brown

In, the short story, “The most Dangerous Game”, Rainsford kills General Zaroff. Some readers believe Rainsford has the right to eliminate Zaroff. Others believe that no human being should be killed under no circumstance but most people believe that Rainsford had a right to kill Zaroff because Zaroff killed many people in the past and tried to kill Rainsford in the process when Rainsford washed up onto shipwreck island and hunted him down for two ish daies which zaroff calls his murder his dangerous game. For instance“That would be barbarous. I treat these visitors with every consideration. They got plenty of good food and exercise. They get into splendid physical condition” (Connell 5). After all, this quotation means That general Zaroff is

Rainsford wants to show General Zaroff that he is wrong but he knows that the only way to reason with him is by being hunted. Rainsford knows that he must be quick- witted when he is making these decitions. Rainsford knows that he is morally better that General Zarofff but since Rainsford is so humble he lets his actions speak louder than his word. In the end, they did. It might have helped General