Conflict In The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell

Life is like a sports game. Some games you win, some you lose. In life, some days are full of conflict, and some are not. Rainsford faces man versus man, man versus nature, and man versus self conflicts in the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. The first conflict is man versus nature. In the middle of the night, Rainsford hears a series of gunshots near by. Consequently, he jumps out of bed and climbs to sit on the edge of the boat so he can see better. Everyone else is still asleep. Suddenly he drops something over the side and tries to lean forward to catch it, but falls into the water. It is really foggy outside and he cannot tell where the shore is so he just swims. After a while of swimming, he arrives at a group of huge, jagged, sharp rocks. It takes him a while to climb over them, as he is tired from all of that

After a long day, it is bedtime for Rainsford, he goes to sleep but is later woken by an animal in the woods, he can hear a pack of hounds getting closer and closer to him. He is panicking about what he is going to do, but all he wants to do is go to bed. “At daybreak Rainsford, lying near the swamp, was awakened by the sound that made him know that he had new things to learn about fear”(22). This indicates man versus self, as he is afraid of what could be lurking in the woods. The author displays hunger, fighting and fear. In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, Rainsford experiences man versus man, man versus nature and man versus self conflicts. Rainsford demonstrates man versus nature when he wakes up hungry on the island. General Zaroff and Rainsford show man versus man when they go against each other. The main character represents man versus self when he is woken by the sound of animals in the jungle. During everyday life, people experience conflict. Whether it being having a fight with someone, being scared of something or even having a