The Most Dangerous Game Mood Analysis

In “The Most Dangerous Game,” the setting creates a suspenseful mood which often helps the reader to predict what is going to happen next or to better understand a character. Connell writes great details in the exposition of the novel that create a foreboding mood for the upcoming storm. Before Rainsford finds himself stranded on Ship Trap Island, Connell writes, “There was no sound in the night as Rainsford sat there but the muffled throb of the engine that drove the yacht swiftly through the darkness, and the swish and ripple of the wash of the propeller” (20). The lack of sound in the night, the muffled throb of the engine and the ripple and swish of the propeller all work together to create a sense of anticipation or a foreboding mood for

Connell provides the first look at the general’s home and he clearly creates an ominous mood. After Rainsford has crashed on the island “he forged along he saw to his great astonishment that all the lights were in one enormous building-- a lofty structure with pointed towers plunging upward into the gloom. His eyes made out the shadowy outlines of a palatial chateau; it was set on a high bluff, and on three sides of it cliffs dived down to where the sea licked greedy lips in the shadows” (23). By describing the building as a lofty structure with pointed towers set up on a high bluff with shadows all around, Cornell is using the setting to create an perilous mood for the reader. The building Rainsford describes seems powerful and evil, which also foreshadows the character of the general himself. Finally, when Rainsford has learned of the general’s “game” and his current setting creates a sense of helplessness or powerlessness. The night before he is hunted, Rainsford states, “Once he thought he heard stealthy steps in the corridor outside his room. He sought to throw open the door; it would not open. He went to the window and looked