Empathized In The Most Dangerous Game

Have you ever had to fight for your life because someone is hunting you? Probably not. In ”The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the main character Sanger Rainsford gets hunted by General Zaroff. Rainsford has to struggle to fight for his life. Over the course of the story, Rainsford realizes what it is like to be hunted because he has experienced being prey. The author uses intense events to show how people are not able to empathize with someone else’s issues unless they are put into these situations.
First, the most important piece of evidence that leads the reader to understand that Rainsford feels empathy is stated in the short story. Connell writes, “Then it was that Rainsford knew the full meaning of terror” (35). When Rainsford is being hunted in the jungle, he has just realized that Zaroff could have killed him, but he was saving him for another day's sport. This explains how Rainsford can empathize with the animals he has hunted because he has felt the same terror that the animals face when being hunted. His fear of Zaroff now shows that he can empathize with being hunted.

Initially, Rainsford feels that animals being hunted do not understand or feel the terror that a hunter puts upon the animal. He thinks he will always be a hunter and does not care if the animals have an understanding of being hunted. Then when he meets Zaroff, the tables are turned and now Rainsford is being hunted. Lastly, Rainsford has the opportunity to murder Zaroff quickly, but he chooses to make it a fight. Rainsford over the course of three days has completely flipped his opinion on those that are hunted and those that