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Light And Darkness In The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell

842 Words4 Pages

Richard Connell’s strategic use of light and darkness as well as size imagery in the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” represents the danger levels that the character faces but in a rather odd way than what the average reader would assume. Connell treats light within the text of the story as an object to avoid and rather large objects to bond with. Darkness within the novel is treated more as a physical object rather than a wavelength of light and is described as something the character can feel. By giving light and darkness as well as sizes opposite perceptions, Connell clearly attempts to symbolize danger in a rather unique way in which a reader audience must pay close attention.
In The Most Dangerous Game, Connell cycles between light …show more content…

Connell brilliantly contradicts safety by having meager places and objects compared with the fear that immense spaces depict. (I believe that) Usually, elaborate dwellings such as General Zaroffs’ massive fortress bring to mind that an well educated civilian must reside within the complex; however, Connell uses text to describe the massive structure as an “ . . . Palatial chateau . . . where cliffs dive down . . . to where the sea lick[s] greedy lips in the shadow” (43). (In particular, notice that) In various sections of the text, the enormous, breath-taking alcazar is mentioned as a quite brilliant structure built from dirt for a good purpose, yet here, it appears to the reader as something magical but gives second thoughts after the imagery of the “sea licks greedy lips” appears to the mind of the being. (I believe that) This sense of brilliance yet horrific nature continues as the hunter approaches the steps of the fortress in which the narrator says, “He lifted the knocker . . . and it startled him with its booming loudness” (43). (In particular, notice that) As Rainsford comes face to face with the structure of the door, the imagery of the knocker alerts the reader that it must be a fine castle in which he gives his presence but the descriptions of the loudness personifies in what may be the gun shot in which Rainsford is about to enter a challenge. This stated, the reader can identify that light and dark are two adversaries who try to “out-do” the other and small objects and massive objects are taken literal for what may state in the text but carries much deeper

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Richard Connell’s uses similes in “The Most Dangerous Game” to build suspense and make the reader think deeply into the meaning of the text. Connell’s use of similes creates a very suspenseful tone throughout the story. In doing so, he forces the reader to think deeper into the meaning of not only the passage, but the story as a whole.

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This adds anther perspective to the story by twisting the role of one of the hunters to make it a more interesting and dangerous hunt which appeals to a broader spectrum of readers. This is a good example of irony since Rainsford a hunter becomes the

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While reading Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game”, readers find that the determining fact that makes it so gripping is the intense style in which he develops tension and foreshadowing to create suspense and a sense of uneasiness. Especially when Rainsford tumbles off his yacht in the Caribbean into the “blood warm waters” (15). “His pipe, striking the rope, was knocked from his mouth. He lunged for it; a short, hoarse cry came from his mouth”. Readers are afraid for Rainsford, that maybe he won’t survive the harsh environment of the fierce jungle.

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In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game,” Richard Connell uses setting to add to the plot, fabricating a thrilling read packed with action and suspense. For example, the main setting for the story is an island. Rainsford is fighting for his life, and the fact that he is trapped on an island contributes to the tension and excitement the story delivers. The author shows the readers what is going on in Rainford’s head, and depicted his thoughts as, “Now he got a grip on himself, had stopped, and was taking stock of himself and his situation. He saw that straight flight was futile; inevitably it would bring him face to face with the sea.

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An image, sound, action or other figure with symbolic significance that contributes to the development of a theme in a literary work is referred to as a motif. These tools can be used to advance and deepen themes while connecting to reader’s personal experience and shaping their future perception of the figure used. While in “The Most Dangerous Game” the motif of red represents a single theme “Invierno” uses the motif of winter to represent several and “Paali” uses more than one motif to develop a wide variety of emotional and educational themes. In Richard Connell’s short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” the motif represents a single theme.

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Both authors, Richard Connell and Edgar Allan Poe, use imagery extensively in their stories, “The Most Dangerous Game” and “The Cask of Amontillado,” respectively. Connell’s story in particular is very thrilling by describing in considerable detail the setting, surroundings, and sensations encountered by the main character, Mr. Rainsford, each moment of his anguishing encounter which began with a fall into the sea from a yacht and led to encounters in a scary remote chateau and through a marshy island jungle while being hunted by two ominous individuals and their ravenous hounds. Poe’s story focuses on the sinister, evil, vengeful mind of the main character, Montresor, and vivid descriptions of the dark, damp, musty catacombs with eerie walls

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In the physical reality, mood is used to distinguish how someone feels. However in the literary world, authors tend to manipulate mood in order to draw a reader in. Within Jack Finney 's "Contents of a Dead Man 's Pocket," Finney manipulates the reader’s mood in order to capture their attention. Similarly, Richard Connell alters the readers mood by creating suspense within his story "The Most Dangerous Game," drawing the audience into the story. However, while Finney creates anxiety among the readers through description, Connell creates tension through the characters speech, thought, and describing the actions of others.

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“Even cannibals wouldn't live in such a god-forsaken place” “Connell 1”. This is an example of foreshadowing, a type of literary device used in the short story The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell. Literary devices are great ways of enhancing the reader’s understanding of a story. Two devices that help you understand the story the best are imagery and similes. Imagery helps paint a mental picture for the reader, while similes compare two unlike objects using like or as.

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Conner’s Affective Deliverance of Suspense Many stories build suspense, but no story delivers like “The Most Dangerous Game”. The narrative of “The Most Dangerous Game” builds tension by utilizing short sentences and shifts in perspective. Between World War One and World War Two, a brilliant man named Richard Connell decides to write a story named “The Most Dangerous Game”.

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The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell is a short story that depicts two hunters hoping to hunt in the Amazon that happen to come across a notorious island known as “Ship-trap” Island. One of the hunters wash up on shore of the Island and is introduced to feeling of being hunted. The author uses this character to show sympathy and compassion towards hunted animals. As I’m reading through this story the author uses the character, Rainsford, to express the value of life.

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In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” by Richard Connell, the main character, Rainsford, falls off a yacht and ends up swimming to a mysterious island. On this island, he meets a man named Zaroff who kills humans as game, Rainsford has to survive on this island while Zaroff tries to hunt him down. Throughout the story the author demonstrates that things are not always what they seem on the surface. To develop this idea, the author uses irony and symbolism. In order to see this is true, one must compare the time when Rainsford first sees the Chateau and when he closely observes it, with the time when Rainsford first meets General Zaroff and after he gets to know him.

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The two stories “The Cask of Amontillado” and “The Most Dangerous Game” both show great uses of imagery. But one of them, “The Most Dangerous Game,” shows the most detail, that helps you almost see the story in your head while you are reading it. These two stories get you suspensefully hooked as soon as you start the book. In “The Most Dangerous Game,” Rainsford, a hunter, has fallen overboard a ship and is lost on Ship Trap Island. He has a eery feeling about this island all before he meets General Zaroff, who ends up being a psycho hunter who hunts him as one of his fun games.

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In the novel The Road by Cormac McCarthy, the author writes with vivid imagery to create a setting for the reader. Dark and light imagery are very prominent throughout the novel. The author develops a theme of danger and safety through the use of light and dark imagery. In the novel, when light imagery is written by McCarthy, the reader knows that the boy and the man are safe.

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Connell uses foreshadowing to create suspense throughout the story. The first instance of foreshadowing is right in the third paragraph. As Rainsford and Whitney are chatting on the boat, on their way to a hunting trip, Whitney points out an island. Whitney says about the island “ ‘The old charts call it Ship-Trap Island... suggestive name isn’t it?’

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Most people when they hear “The Most Dangerous Game” they think of bull riding or other dangerous games that don’t involve death. “The Most Dangerous Game” is a suspenseful cliff hanging story that follows the days of a castaway on the island of a crazed hunter. Rainsford is a big game hunter who falls off a boat near the island of General Zaroff, a big Cossack general who is looking for an alternative to hunting dangerous animals but with a twist. Throughout “The Dangerous Game” Rainsford and General Zaroff both show examples of IRony and exert arrogance.

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