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How Does Rainsford Use Deception In The Most Dangerous Game

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Stranded, lost, and alone is how Sanger Rainsford felt as he scaled the rocky cliffs of the island. The Most Dangerous Game is a short story written by Richard Connell and published on January 19, 1924. Sanger Rainsford a legendary hunter falls overboard off a yacht on his way to the Amazon. He finds himself on `Ship-Trap Island` where he meets General Zaroff the owner of a mansion on the island and Ivan his servant. General Zaroff invites Sanger Rainsford to hunt with him. Rainsford is disgusted and sickened at the fact that General Zaroff’s idea of hunting means hunting humans. In return for his passage off the island Zaroff forces Rainsford to participate in his hunting game where he is the hunter and Rainsford is the prey. The main characters, …show more content…

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. He is very skilled and we know this because the General tells him that not very many people know how to build the type of trap he built. Additionally the quote, “"Your Burmese tiger pit has claimed one of my best dogs. Again you score…”” (pg20). Rainsford used a lesson he learned from his mistake of falling in the quicksand as another way to trap or injure his opponent. By killing Zaroff’s dog Rainsford eliminated a resource of his opponent. Rainsford knew that Zaroff was an experienced hunter and in order to succeed he would need to utilize all of the skills he has learned over the years hunting. These skills ultimately helped him to succeed in outsmarting his …show more content…

For example, his bizarreness and ruthlessness are shown when he says “"I had to invent a new animal to hunt,"” (pg12). Zaroff had become bored with hunting animals because he always caught his prey. He introduced his cruel new hunting game as if it were not unusual at all. An illustration, of his unsympathetic and uncivilized characteristics, are when he is telling Rainsford “"I wanted the ideal animal to hunt," explained the general. "So I said, `What are the attributes of an ideal quarry?' And the answer was, of course, `It must have courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason"” (pg12). Zaroff is talking about hunting a human being and he is showing no feelings or remorse about it. He showed a total lack of compassion when describing his new animal to hunt which is a human. Lastly, when he talks about his game “"You'll find this game worth playing," the general said enthusiastically"” (pg16), shows his coldheartedness and cruelness to others. 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

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