The+Most+Dangerous+Game

Short Stories - Literary Devices Title: **The Most Dangerous Game**

- Third Person/Omniscient
 * Point of View:**

- Sanger Rainsford of New York City
 * Protagonist:**

- Round, Dynamic
 * What type of character is the Protagonist?**

- General Zaroff
 * Antagonist:**

- Mood: Suspenseful, tense, surprising - Place: Ship-Trap Island in the Caribbean Sea - Time: Early 1900's
 * Describe the setting:**

- Man vs. Man
 * Type of Conflict:**

- After Sanger Rainsford is forced to swim himself to the nearest land after an event that causes him to fall of his boat, he meets General Zaroff, who is the antagonist. Zaroff states that he enjoys hunting more realistic game, such as humans. Rainsford is then in a conflict with Zaroff, because he too is human, and he endures a series of events while trying to escape from Zaroff.
 * Describe the main conflict:**

- The climax of the story is when Rainsford appears in Zaroff's bedroom behind the curtains, and they decide to settle the game by letting the winner sleep in the comfortable bed.
 * Describe the Climax of the Story:**

- Rainsford changes dramatically by the end of the story. At the very beginning, he tells his buddy Whitney that he has no sympathy towards his game, the jaguar. Whitney doesn't agree with this, and also thinks his idea of being superior as the hunters not the huntees is ridiculous. Rainsford loved being at the top of the food chain, and clearly didn't have a care in the world for his game. However, after only a few events in the story, the tables turn. Rainsford is placed as the huntee, and is being hunted by Zaroff, the antagonist. Rainsford realizes and understands the way his game probably felt while he was the hunter, not the huntee.
 * How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?**

- The Most Dangerous Game, according to Zaroff, are humans. The theme, empathy, and the title relate because humans have the ability to make to make other humans feel empathy. The Game made another human, such as Rainsford, feel empathy.
 * Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.**

- The conflict between Zaroff and Rainsford is what helps create the theme. If Rainsford had not been placed in a situation where he was the one being hunted, he wouldn't have learned the lesson of empathy. These two relate because it took Rainsford a scary adventure for him to realize how it must have felt being the one hunted.
 * How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?**

- Rainsford realizes how it must have felt to be the jaguar at the beginning of the story, and after his realization of empathy, he wants to seek revenge. He surprises Zaroff in his bedroom, and they make the deal that the winner of the game will sleep in the comfortable bed. He wanted to kill Zaroff not only to win the game, but also show him a lesson of empathy. Although it is not directly stated in the story, Rainsford does experience empathy, and puts that to action during the climax.
 * How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?**


 * Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):**

- "The sea was as flat as a plate-glass window."
 * Simile:**

- "...he had the face of a man used to giving orders, the face of an aristocrat."
 * Metaphor:**

- "...the muttering and growling of the sea breaking on a rocky shore."
 * Personification:**

- The lighthouse built by clever Zaroff played as a symbol of safety. It is the exact reason why Rainsford was lured onto Ship-Trap Island.
 * Symbol:**

- The name of the island that Rainsford gets trapped on is Ship-Trap Island. The name itself is foreshadowing that it is a land designed to trap ships. This is later proven when Rainsford does get trapped on the island with Zaroff.
 * Foreshadowing (give both elements):**

- An example of pure irony could be the simple fact that Rainsford was the hunter at the beginning of the story looking for game. Yet after only a few events, he is the one being hunted.
 * Irony:**

- "The dining room to which Ivan conducted him was in many ways remarkable. There was a medieval magnificence about it; it suggested a baronial hall of feudal times with its oaken panels, its high ceiling, its vast refectory table where twoscore men could sit down to eat. About the hall were the mounted heads of many animals---lions, tigers, elephants, moose, bears; larger or more perfect specimens Rainsford has never seen. At the great table the general was sitting, alone."
 * Imagery:**

- Empathy is an element of humanity that some of us have learned. Humans have the ability to place ourselves in someone else's shoes, and to have sympathy for someone else, although we may not always choose to. I say humans, because it's hard to say that animals really care about other animals. They kill each other for food and survival. However, we may not always choose to be empathetic, much like Rainsford at the beginning of the story. His experience is a perfect example of how he changed from no care at all, to realizing what empathy really meant. As long as you've had the right experience in your life, every single person can feel and show empathy.
 * Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.**

"He lived a year in a minute" is a phrase the author used to describe Rainsford's emotion while hiding from Zaroff. He waited alone for Zaroff for what seemed like a year in the suspenseful setting.
 * 1. What is meant by “He lived a year in a minute”? /2**

Rainsford says this because he is describing to Zaroff that the game is not over for him. He doesn't want to let the the game end without a victory. He is directly telling Zaroff himself that he will not be satisfied until there is a real winner.
 * 2. What is meant by “I am still a beast at bay”? /2**

The Caribbean Sea.
 * 3. In which sea has Connell set Ship-Trap island? /1**

While leaving Russia because of the revolution, Noble Zaroff invested heavily in American securities. He no longer has an official job, because he has enough money to do without one.
 * 4. How is Zaroff able to finance his life style? /2**

Zaroff promises Rainsford sleep in his very excellent bed if he wins the hunt.
 * 5. If Rainsford wins the hunt, what does Zaroff promise him? /1**

Lazarus followed another man, and tried the "Death Swamp" in the southeast corner of the island. He died in the quicksand.
 * 6. What happened to Lazarus? /2**

Rainsford spends the first night of his hunt in a tree.
 * 7. Where does Rainsford spend the first night of his hunt? /1**

Zaroff's father had a quarter of a million acres in the Crimea.
 * 8. How many acres did Zaroff’s father have in the Crimea? /1**

Zarroff recommends moccasins to Rainsford because they left a poorer trail.
 * 9. Why does Zarroff suggest Rainsford wear moccasins? /1**

Zaroff studied the ground by the tree Rainsford was hiding in, which was proceeded by a wicked smile. Rainsford thought that Zaroff had saw him at this point. He also thought that maybe his moccasins had left a trail towards the tree, despite the fake trail he set up. I believe Rainsford was correct, and that Zaroff didn't make a move because he simply wanted to enjoy the game a little more. In my opinion, his wicked smile that he flashed towards the tree confirmed this decision.
 * 10. What caused Rainsford to believe Zaroff knew he was hiding in the tree? Do you think he was right? Give reasons. /3**

Zaroff's island is called Ship-Trap Island. He has designed the small land to look like a safe place by placing a fake lighthouse on it. The lighthouse and the canal that he made looks welcoming, but it is really a trap. Once people end up on that land with the intention that they found a safe environment, they are permanently trapped on the island, forced to play his dangerous game, and can really only swim off the island to escape.
 * 11. How does Zaroff stock his island with “game”? /2**

Although the author does not go into detail about the events at the end, it is stated that General Zaroff lost the battle to Rainsford. Rainsford wins the battle and gets his reward of a comfortable sleep at the end.
 * 12. What happened to General Zaroff at the end of the story? /2**

Zaroff enjoyed the intelligence of Rainsford, because for the first time in a while, Zaroff had some real competition. He enjoys the fact that Rainsford makes him think, and is more fun of a game.
 * 13. Inspite of being hurt, Zaroff congratulates Rainsford on his “Malay mancatcher,” why? /2**

Rainsford hid from Zaroff for quite some time. If he was not fit, a quick runner, and super speedy, then he would not have been able to escape Zaroff. He was able to quickly dig holes in the ground, and run at a quick pace to avoid the antagonist. Rainsford was also involved in various athletic activities such as sprinting, climbing, and swimming.
 * 14. How do we know Rainsford is an exceptionally fit man? /2**

At the beginning of the story, Rainsford evidently had no sympathy for his game, which is stated when he is talking to Whitney who disagrees. He thinks Whitney is talking rubbish and acting like a philosopher when he suggests that perhaps the Jaguar has feelings too. He believes that the world is made up of hunters and huntees, and is glad to be at the top of the food chain. However, after only a few events in the story, Rainsford has empathy for the humans that Zoraff refers to as the Game. Rainsford realizes what it is like to be the hunted. He learns the lesson of empathy the hard way, and experiences this during his adventures on Ship-Trap Island.
 * 15. Discuss the state of mind of Rainsford before he lands on the island versus that after he meets the General. What is different? (Especially about how he perceives animal feelings.)/5**

Richard Connell anticipated the reader by creating tense, suspenseful events along the plot. The amount of description he used created long paragraphs, almost acted as if the author were stalling to make the reader more and more tense, as they kept reading on too find out what happened. He also had the ability to make the reader feel as though they were in the moment in the story, and therefore allowing the reader to have the same emotions, such as fright, as Rainsford. Lastly, he was able to use powerful dialogue, mainly by Zaroff to scare Rainsford. Just with a few words he was able to scare Rainsford, and depending on whether the reader was really into the story or not, the reader could feel the fear and suspense as well.
 * 16. How does Connell inspire fear without obvious bloodshed/grotesqueness. /3**

47/47 Excellent!