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Revenge In The Most Dangerous Game By Dr. Ellen Taliaferro

1079 Words5 Pages

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 …show more content…

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 …show more content…

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

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In the short story The Most Dangerous Game, the author Richard Connell shows that Rainsford needs control of his emotions, patience , and expert hunting and decision making skills in order to defeat Zaroff. Rainsford needs to gain control of his emotions to outthink Zaroff, who symbolizes Rainsfords "steep hill". When he finds that he is going to be hunted his natural instinct is to run and panic, but then he stops to look around and get a grip on the task at hand. Then at a critical moment when Zaroff finds him in a tree, Rainsford panics again because he realizes Zaroff is on his trail and is toying with him. Once again, he gains control of his emotions and formulates a plan.

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1. Does Rainsford’s perspective on hunting shift throughout the story? Give evidence to support your answer. Yes in the beginning of the story Rainsford tells Whitney “Who cares how a jaguur feels?”. He then proceedes to tell Whitney that “They’ve no understanding “.

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In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” Rainsford fits the category of Zaroff’s ideal animal to hunt, because Rainsford displays the attribute to reason by being able to make many life saving decisions throughout the story. Rainsford has the ability to reason from the very beginning of the story, because he was able to remain calm to make a life saving decision in an unnerving situation, which proves that he fits the quarry for Zaroff to hunt. As he was in the water, he recalls the gunshots he heard while he was still on the yacht, “they had come from the right, and doggedly he swam in that direction, swimming with slow, deliberate strokes, conserving his strength” (Connell 14). Whereas most people would have panicked in the situation

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Rainsford was justified in killing General Zaroff. During the time Rainsford is in Zaroff’s house they have a conversation about hunting. Zaroff tells Rainsford about him hunting humans. Rainsford says, “I can’t believe you are serious, General Zaroff. This is a grisly joke...........

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Being afraid of (someone or something) as likely to be dangerous, painful, or threatening is called fear. In the short story The Most Dangerous Man by Richard Connell is a short story about fear and battling against two men to see who wins the hunting game. Rainsford has to fight to the end of the game to win if he does not then he will lose. To beat General Zaroff Rainsford needs to step up his game and be smart and not be lazy. As Rainsford is getting close to the game he need to be smart because General Zaroff will catch up and he could defeat Rainsford.

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(Connell, 7) The general becoming more than just a hunter, for Rainsford this had changed on how hunting was becoming especially after what Zaroff was speaking more into. Not to mention, “ “I can’t believe you are serious, General Zaroff. This is a grisly joke.” “Why should I not be serious?

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When he washes ashore on Ship-Trap Island and meets the general, they get into a discussion about big-game hunting. Realizing that the general’s big-game hunting is hunting for humans, Rainsford’s reaction is one of shock and disbelief. He responds to the general’s statements saying, “I can’t believe you are serious . . . This is a grisly joke . . . Hunting?

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It seems as Rainsford realized that this is a game of hunt. However, only that the chess pieces have changed. In addition, as Rainsford is fleeing from the general, he comes to face an ultimatum: either to be killed by his pursuer, or placing the fate in his own hands. As shown, he intrepidly chooses the latter. “It was the shore of the sea…twenty feet below him [Rainsford] the sea rumbled and hissed.

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Another example of his likeable character and will to conserve his standards is right before the hunt begins. Since he is not willing to hunt humans, the general decides that he will hunt Rainsford! The only rule is that if he survives for more than three days, and beat the general's challenge, he is not aloud to tell any one about the island and what happened there. To this Raindsford responds, "'I will agree to nothing of the kind'" (6). This again shows Rainsfords abundance of character and hero like morals that make a very likeable

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Due to him becoming sympathetic towards the prey, it might affect his hunting, whether or not he will continue the sport he loved. When the hunting tables were turned on Rainsford, in Richard Connell’s, The Most Dangerous Game, we see into the mind of Rainsford. He learns what it I’d like to be hunted, and his thoughts from before, to during, to after, all affects his views on the sport oh hunting

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Also, General Zaroff is an extreme hunter and doesn’t find pleasure in hunting regular animals. Zaroff says the most dangerous game is humans because they have the ability to reason. Rainsford is going to be hunted and is given a certain amount of time to survive. Moreover, while Rainsford is being hunted Zaroff

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Therefore, Rainsford won’t ever hunt again because he is traumatized by his experiences on the island. With all his experiences on the island Rainsford became traumatized. For example when Zaroff tells Rainsford about the type of hunting he does, which he hunts actual men. “Hunting? Good God, General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder” (Connell 23).

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However, it does not change for the better. In the middle of the story when he finds out Zaroff hunts fellow human beings, to Zaroff's surprise, Rainsford’s thought and reaction is utter shock and disbelief. “‘But you can’t mean-’ gasped Rainsford. ‘And why not?’”(10). Zaroff knowing Rainsford was a great hunter he hoped that Rainsford would accompany him on a hunt; however, Rainsford accuses him of being a cold-blooded killer.

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We can infer that while on the yacht, feeding a human being to animals would never have occurred to him, and if it had, that he would have treated it like “grisly...cold-blooded murder.” Revenge also did not seem to be an important aspect to him before becoming the subject of Zaroff's dangerous game, but when he returns and encounters Zaroff in his bedroom, he soon resumes the hunt, this time with Zaroff as the prey. Rainsford compromises his own morals by continuing the game, and he even seems to enjoy killing his new human prey, resting comfortably in Zaroff's “very excellent” bed after killing the general and feeding him to the hounds. Thus, the reader realizes that perhaps Rainsford may have decided that hunting humans is not so “barbaric” after

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The the book “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, has lots of challenges and conflicts throughout the whole story. Two hunters are on a yacht in the Caribbean Sea, when one falls off and washes up on an island. There, he meets General Zaroff, a man with only one desire. To hunt humans. He makes Rainsford (the man from the shipwreck), go loose on the island in order to hunt him.

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