Forest Ecosystems
The Most Dangerous Game
By: Richard Connell
Title and Author
Title And Author
The title of our book is "The Most Dangerous Game" it is written by Richard Connell.
Richard Connell is one of the most successful screenwriters of his day. He was a sports reporter when he was ten, and he was editing his dad's newspaper when he turned sixteen! It seems as though he was born to be a writer, writing from his childhood to adulthood. He has been nominated for Academy Awards, and he won the O. Henry Memorial Award for this short fiction book "The Most Dangerous Game".
Setting:
The author mentions the setting in the first sentence of the book. It's a hint that the setting is important. Ship-Trap Island is a great place of mystery, even though the name kinda gives it away. The author gives the reader an easy picture with the scene "moonless," "dank," "warm," "Caribbean night," with the air like "moist black velvet". The men are going to the amazon to hunt. Ship trap island gives itself away by its name. The place is covered with trees, and is surrounded by rocky shores. The setting establishes the feeling that it's a place where things are bound to go wrong.
Conflict:
Rainsford vs. General Zaroff(character vs character)
General Zaroff loves to hunt but animals bore him now they have become too easy of game so he resorted into hunting the only species that could match his own wits: humans.
So General Zaroff forces Rainsford to become his prey in a three day hunt. Rainsford has to participate in the the hunt because he has no other way out of the island. If Rainsford wins, and is able to stay alive for those three days, he will be able to leave the island. But if Zaroff catches him in those three days, he will die. Now Rainsford is caught in a test of strength and reasons against the ultimate hunt.
Characters
Rainsford- The protagonist, Rainsford, is an adventurous hunter who is calm and focused, Rainsford handles any challenge without excuse, even though it could be falling overboard in the middle of the night or having to swim several miles to reach the shore. He’s survived a number of near-death experiences, from fighting during World War I to hunting dangerous animals in some of the world’s most exotic areas. Only during General Zaroff’s constant activity Rainsford truly feels fear about his basic talent to survive. Rainsford is considered a round character because we can feel what he is feeling, and get a greater understanding of who he is.
General Zaroff - General Zaroff is a Cossack and immigrant who lives on Ship-Trap Island and enjoys hunting men. General Zaroff’s high cheekbones, sharp nose, and pointed military mustache underlined his mysteriousness. As a young boy, his father gave him a little gun which was especially made to hunt sparrows like his father did. He later killed his first bear in Caucasus. However, he later grew bored with hunting, due to the animals that he was hunting, weren't as cunning as he expected them to be. So eventually, he started to hunt human beings.
Ivan - Ivan is a Cossack, he is General Zaroff’s “deaf and dumb(mute)” assistant. “The first thing Rainsford's eyes discerned was the largest man Rainsford had ever seen--a gigantic creature, solidly made and black bearded to the waist. In his hand the man held a long-barreled revolver, and he was pointing it straight at Rainsford's heart.” Ivan is considered a flat character because he only plays a small part in the General’s game.
Irony:
One of the most misused words in the English language
Definition: using words to convey a meaning that is the opposite of its literal meaning; containing or exemplifying irony:
Three examples of situational irony:
1. the fact that Rainsford, being a hunter, became the hunted
2. Rainsford didn't care about the prey he hunted and how they felt, but in the end, he realized how an animal at bay felt
3. the setting, Ship-Trap Island, is used by the general as a means of trapping ships
"Who cares how a jaguar feels?" Irony: In "The Most Dangerous Game," Zaroff wants to kill Rainsford to win the "game," but Rainsford kills Zaroff, therefore winning the game. At the beginning of the story, Rainsford was talking to Whitney and he said,"Who cares how a jaguar feels?" Rainsford ended up in the jaguar's position because he was being hunted. In "The Most Dangerous Game," zaroff was speaking to Rainsford. Zaroff said," I have electricity, we try to be civilized here." This is ironic because how is hunting humans for a hobby being civilized? Also, when the hunting is going on, his island is chaotic, not civilized. "He executed a series of intricate loops; he doubled on his trail again and again recalling all the lore of the fox hunt, and all the dodges of the fox. "At this part of the story, Rainsford had just started running away from General Zaroff. This direct quote tells that Rainsford feels like a fox (or a jaguar) being hunted. The importance of irony in a story is to engage the audience, and it makes the story more interesting. An author puts irony in the story to make the reader want to read more. It also gives the story an unexpected twist.
