Literary Devices In The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell

“The cry was pinched off as the blood-warm waters of the Caribbean Sea closed over his head”, only shortly into “The Most Dangerous Game” and Richard Connell already has us wanting more. In “The Most Dangerous Game”, Connell uses many literary devices to involve the reader further into the convolute labyrinth created as the story progresses. Such use of literary devices leaves the reader spellbound with the idiosyncrasy of Connells adventure. If the devices were absent we as the reader would be lost in the tedious and dry world that such literary devices had been outcast by the author. Literary devices are highly valuable in their use in items such as poetry, epics, and the everyday life of anybody and everybody. In Connell’s story “The Most Dangerous Game” the author uses foreshadowing and personification to further animate the characters and create believable eerie mood that provoked the reader’s thoughts.

In one instance the author writes, “‘No animal had a chance with me anymore. That is no boast; it is a mathematical certainty. The animal had nothing but his legs and his instinct. Instinct is no match for reason…I had to invent a new animal to hunt, he said’”. Another instance in where foreshadowing is used is when a character says “The old charts call it ‘Ship Trap Island,’…A suggestive name, isn’t it?” This foreshadows Rainsford becoming stuck on the island later on. Foreshadowing indicates many events throughout the story and shows how intricate and paramount a story can