The Dangerous Game: A Narrative Fiction

He shrugged his shoulders.” (Connell 27) General Zaroff had went back home to have some dinner. He then went into the library to calm down. As he was about to turn the lights on in his room but went to the window to look at the dogs. As he turned on the lights Rainsford came from behind the bed curtains and scared Zaroff half to death.

He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford said. The next morning the thought of killing someone kept on going through his head. Rainsford picked up Zaroff’s bloody body and dragged it outside. As he’s dragging it Rainsford takes it to the hounds and feeds the body to the hounds. Rainsford just stands still watching the hounds eat the body piece by piece All that's left is Zaroff’s mangled up body and Rainsford walks away like nothing happened.

"The general was playing with him! The general was saving him for another day's sport! The Cossack was the cat; he was the mouse. Then it was that Rainsford knew the full meaning of terror." Rainsford comes to seek vengeance from the general making a toy of him by attempting to cause insanity due to the loss of nerve. "I will not lose my nerve. I will not." is the type of mental toughness Rainsford shows during Zaroff's tortures. "The general sucked in his breath and smiled. "I congratulate you," he said. "You have won the game."" The generals admit of defeat is not enough for Rainsford, thus Rainsford takes the situation to a brutal place and kills the General; "The general made one of his deepest bows. "I see," he said, "Splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds.

Being lost in an island, hungry, and tired is not an everyday thing. So Rainsford being in that situation, had no other choice than except Zaroff’s generosity. Zaroff gave Rainsford clothes, food and, a place to sleep. Zaroff tells Rainsford to join him for dinner, and Rainsford went to the dinner room as told. Sitting down eating there meal. The two men’s starts a conversation and starts to talk about their lives. Zaroff learns a lot of things about Rainsford and so does Rainsford. Rainsford learns that Zaroff is a smart man and a hunter just like him, but Zaroff him hunting people is part of things that he hunts for. Zaroff on another hand learns that Rainsford is a pretty smart, educated man and lastly a hunter.4

When he tracked Rainsford to the tree he was hiding in, Zaroff felt that taking Rainsford would have been too easy so he left him for another day’s sport. Near the end of the story, Zaroff continued to see Rainsford is an adversary. The General came to see Rainsford as a formidable opponent. When Zaroff faced Rainsford in his bedroom he had to realize that Rainsford was presenting him with the danger he sought. The General’s view of Rainsford changed from seeing Rainsford as a fellow hunter to seeing him as an opponent he could not defeat.

A man hunting humans because he is bored with hunting animals! On Ship-Trap Island humans are being hunted by another human. General Zaroff is one of the main characters in “The Most Dangerous Game” written by Richard Connell. Zaroff encounters a surprise when he notices that Rainsford has appeared on his island. General Zaroff is a self-centered, psychotic and cruel man which ends up leading to his death.

Throughout this journal, Zaroff can be characterized as mysterious and evil. First off, Zaroff is mysterious. One way he is mysterious is that he knows Rainsford’s name and he read Rainsford’s hunting book. In the book it says, “I’ve read your book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet…” (Connell 3). This quote shows that Zaroff is interested in hunting dangerous animals and knows that Rainsford is good at hunting

The General on the other hand has had war leave the opposite effect on him. Zaroff while trying to convince Rainsford to hunt says "'... about the value of human life. Surely your experiences in the war-'" (49). This shows that he looks towards war as a means of people becoming more acclimated to killing, possibly because his military career was filled with honor and prestige, hence his rank, General. Throughout the story the two main characters morals cause their efforts to

When Rainsford hid in a tree, Zaroff pretended not to see him to continue his game. “The general's eyes had left the ground and were traveling inch by inch up the tree. Rainsford froze there, every muscle tensed for a spring. But the sharp eyes of the hunter stopped before they reached the limb where Rainsford lay; a smile spread over his brown face. Very deliberately he blew a smoke ring into the air; then he turned his back on the tree and walked carelessly away, back along the trail he had come.

General Zaroff’s cool headedness adds to the various textual evidence that he is not, in fact, insane. When he is introduced to the story, he praises Rainsford's hunting ability with a seemed preparedness. Rainsford observes that the General seems to read his mind at times. He is prepared for every question that Rainsford has, and even answers some that were never asked. His actions seem calculated to make Rainsford more comfortable with him, however, as a fellow hunter, Rainsford observes, “whenever he looked up from his plate he found the general studying him, appraising him narrowly.” This makes Rainsford uncomfortable, sets him on edge for the information that Zaroff is about to reveal. During the hunt, Zaroff

Rainsford had hardly tumbled to the ground when the pack took up the cry again. “Nerve, nerve, nerve!” he panted, as he dashed along. A blue gap showed between the trees dead ahead. Ever nearer drew the hounds. Rainsford forced himself on toward that gap. He reached it. It was the shore of the sea. Across a cove he could see the gloomy gray stone of the château. Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed. Rainsford hesitated. He heard the hounds. Rainsford threw himself off the tall cliff. The wind rushing past his face and threw his hair, he had a split second on just peace flying down the cliff preparing to hit the water. The water crashed around Rainsford swallowing him whole, as he started to swim to shore he heard a mysterious yet familiar voice.

I woke up to the sun’s rays beaming down on me from the unclosed window. I had no idea what time it was, but it seemed to be early morning as I could hear the birds chirping. I stood up and stared out the window, recalling everything from the night before. The last few days are etched clearly into my mind, minor details fresh as if they happened seconds ago. Had I really killed General Zaroff, the hunter who could not be outhunted? I looked around the room, fully taking it all in. General Zaroff’s body was nowhere in sight, nor was any sign of blood. Perhaps there was a maid General Zaroff had that he forgot to mention? There’s no way to ask him now.

Rainsford looked back and saw a table with a knife and a lamp on it so he grabbed the knife and lunged at Zaroff and General Zaroff quickly moved out of the way. Rainsford fell on the ground.

"I see," he said. "Splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On guard, Rainsford." . . . He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided” (Connell 21). Zaroff rebelled against society by hunting humans on his own island. As a result of this someone beat him in his own game and killed him.

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.