When faced with life threatening situations, people have different reactions that can either save them, or let fear cause them to make fatal mistakes. In Ray Bradbury's science fiction short story, "A Sound of Thunder", the character Eckels goes on a safari in the past to hunt dinosaurs. Taking one look at the dinosaur, Eckels panics, steps off the path, kills a butterfly and causes a ripple in time that changes the future for the worst. However, a different response is shown in Richard Connell's science fiction short story, "The Most Dangerous Game". In the short story, the main character and hunter Sanger Rainsford falls off a boat and arrives on a mysterious island that is known to be dangerous to sailors. When Rainsford meets a psycho hunter, General Zaroff, who hunts humans for …show more content…
Rainsford is certain that animals feel no fear when being hunted. His opinion changes dramatically during the story when he is confronted with the same situation he deemed to be true. After being hunted like an animal and experiencing the trauma that they feel, he realizes that animals do in fact feel fear and his perspective on fear changes throughout the end his quest. When the other character Eckels, encounters the sole purpose of his quest, a dinosaur, it is his undoing. When Eckels comes face to face with the dinosaur, his failure to contemplate, prepare or realize that fear exists causes him to panic, leading to fatal consequences. Eckels has no fear at the beginning of his safari, but during his quest, he soon learns that fear exists and serves a purpose. Both character's quests change their opinions on fear and learn that fear is a very important aspect to life. Rainsford learns that animals feel fear and to respect that when hunting. Eckels learns that fear can help prevent people from doing things you may later regret. The two characters quests help them to learn more about the purpose of