Dynamic Change In Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game

he Most Dangerous Game
Around the time after World War 1 on Ship-Trap Island, Rainsford, the protagonist of this fantastic prose, goes through a dynamic internal change. In his short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”, Richard Connell, portrays and paints a picture of how civilization and society can ever defeat a man’s murderous drive; the instinct in a man that pressures him on to perform a murderous task. Connell also touches on how the roles can change: the dominant can become subservient or less than, and how the forceful and strong minded can become the weaker ones. He tries to make the reader understand that to be successful, the hunter (the strong), must imitate the hunted (the weak); the man must act the animal, and civilization must impersonate and hide its brutality. The major conflict reflects dynamic change in the main

Instead of being fearful and wanting to give up, Rainsford became zealous; a fearless survivor. “ Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed. Rainsford hesitated. He heard the hounds. Then he leapt far out into the sea.” (27). When he throws himself off the cliff into the rocky waters below, he knows that he may not live, yet he becomes fearless and takes the risk. Rainsford's instincts arose and he wanted to survive, but he did it in a manner where he stood his ground, retained his strength, and grew valiant. “In his hand the man held a long-barreled revolver, and he was pointing it straight at Rainsford's heart… ‘Don't be alarmed,’ said Rainsford with a smile…” (9). Rainsford, in this situation, displayed a smile to show he wasn't the enemy nor was he fearful. Not only does Rainsford survive the gunman and the great fall from the cliff, but he shows the great audacity to go before Zaroff and return to finish the fight. Rainsford is a survivor. Furthermore this shows a change is Rainsford's paradigm from the parts of the story where he believes animals have no