Revenge In The Most Dangerous Game By Dr. Ellen Taliaferro

Will Rainsford Ever Hunt Again

Dr. Ellen Taliaferro once said “Trauma leaves fingerprints on the Victim, these don’t fade when the bruises do.” In the book “The Most Dangerous Game”, a big game hunter gets trapped on an island with another famous hunter. However, throughout the story he learns he doesn't hunt animals but instead, men. Rainsford ends up being the prey that is hunted on the island. He will not hunt again, he has too many traumatizing memories from this experience.

Rainsford will not resume hunting since he is emotionally scarred from his time on the island. Zaroff keeps him in suspense, as he is misleading him throughout the game. During this event “the general was playing with him” and making him stay in uncertainty (Connell

He sees Rainsford but does not kill him; instead, he smiles and walks off, leaving Rainsford in uncertainty. Moreover, the antagonist also has him wait dreadfully many times to see what will happen next. He knew that the general “shall be back” after almost being found the first time (Connell 34). Rainsford is now confused and does not know what will happen when the general comes back, but he knows he will which creates nervousness. Connell uses pacing to build suspense because he has to wait for his fate to be revealed. Besides, he will always remember the horrible sounds of the hunt although the game is over. While defending his survival “he heard [a] sharp scream of pain” when he was hiding (Connell 34). Accordingly, he does not know what he killed but, he is hearing the sounds of death and agony, which is traumatizing. This can foreshadow something or someone off Zaroff’s “team” got hurt or killed. Throughout the game, Rainsford becomes exceedingly nervous which is a feeling that is hard to forget. Zaroff made him so nervous that

He does not consider murdering as a way of hunting. When Zaroff was trying to persuade him to hunt he responded by saying “Hunting...speak of is murder” (Connell 27). Rainsford knows the difference from hunting and murder. This makes him different from Zaroff resulting in him not wanting to be inconsiderate like the antagonist. To continue, he knows the difference between just hunting and actually murdering people. The general thinks that he will enjoy this but, Rainsford is a “hunter, not a murderer” (Connell 27). He loves to hunt, but doesn’t believe in hunting people. He does not want to be a murderer like Zaroff is. Rainsford, unlike the antagonist, is caring, he thinks about people's lives, and refers to hunting, not murder. This shows external conflict because the general wants him to hunt people but, he doesn’t want to commit murder. In addition, he understands that the general’s prey is still human beings. When the general mentions hunting people, he replied “but they are men” (Connell 27). Rainsford begins to get angry at him for killing men, since this is against his thoughts. He thinks that killing men is wrong and should not be done. Coupled with, he doesn’t believe any type of murder can be right, under any circumstance. Zaroff is trying to explain they are “civilized here” but they “shoot down men” (Connell 28). Rainsford is thoughtful and believes that you can not be civilized if you have