A Most Dangerous Game Suspense Analysis

“The suspense is terrible. I hope it will last” (Oscar Wilde). Though this quote is ironic, the reasoning behind it is accurate, especially in literature. Though suspense can be quite off putting and frustrating for a reader, it also makes the story much more intriguing. Authors use suspense to pull a reader into their story, keeping them on the edge of their seats and always wondering what will happen next. This is seen in the short story “A Most Dangerous Game”, in which Richard Connell uses foreshadowing, conflict (internal and external), and setting to generate suspense. Richard Connell uses foreshadowing in “The Most Dangerous Game” to provoke trepidation for the main character, Rainsford, among readers. In the beginning of the story, Rainsford and his crewmate Whitney are having a conversation about a jaguar’s feelings about being hunted, and Rainsford quite nonchalantly says that he doesn’t “care how a jaguar feels”(19)(CS1). With this quote, readers wonder if he will know how a jaguar feels about being hunted; therefore, readers grow very apprehensive when Rainsford meets Zaroff, a

Upon arrival, Rainsford is greeted with “jagged crags”, “high screaming”, and “swirling waters”; Rainsford also hears the “crisp staccato[s]” of gunshots (21). Rainsford is introduced to an eerie environment; thus, this is very effective in creating apprehension (CS3). Likewise, an ostentatious house on a near deserted island arouses suspicion, and it is bound to cause uneasiness (CS1). The house is described as having a remarkable “medieval magnificence” (23). A mansion on a sinister island, isolated from the rest of civilization, will cause suspense as readers wonder why the house is there. Connell takes advantage of a setting that arouses suspicion to create a suspenseful