The Most Dangerous Game Instinct Analysis

During todays in class discussion over The Most Dangerous Game, many great questions were brought up. One of the questions mentioned was if you agree with General Zaroff when he says, “Instinct is no match for reason” (Connell 7). Although the ability to reason is important, I don’t completely agree with General Zaroff because I believe instinct is equally important and it really all depends on the situation.
One might not always have time to reason, and acting upon instinct will happen naturally and will be the best course of action for that situation. For example, if you bump into a hot surface, your natural instinct will cause you to pull away quickly to avoid a severe burn. In The Most Dangerous Game, one commonly known instinct that Rainsford
Since you have time to think through possibilities and formulate plans, you reduce, but not eliminate, the chances of surprises or errors occurring. The more time you spend thinking, the better. Rainsford hesitated before jumping off the cliff, which means that he might have thought about the possibilities. However, the time he had to think was so slight, I think his choice to flee was still more of an instinct. While the hunt was going on, Rainsford did occasionally have sufficient time to reason. For example, when he heard the distant sound of a pack of hounds coming his way, he had some time to reason. In this case, it is probably best to make a plan instead of just doing the first thing that comes to your mind. After thinking for a moment, Rainsford did come up with a plan. He meticulously set up a carefully placed trap that would end up claiming Ivan’s life. It wasn’t his intended target, but it helped him nevertheless. Reason can also be used to make educated guesses. When Rainsford was hiding in a tree, he noticed Zaroff smiled, looked at the tree he was hiding in, and turned around. He used his reason to conclude that the General was messing with him and decided to relocate to a new spot. Although I believe reason and instinct are equal, I think this story shows instinct as a superior skill. I don’t believe your instinct is superior in every case and being able
It is essential to be able to trust your instinct and to reason. Both of these skills are important and will be useful. In this story, I believe instinct is the reason why Rainsford was able to defeat Zaroff. During the hunt, Rainsford didn’t always have a lot of time to think, and he had to depend on his instincts and do whatever felt right. When Rainsford used reason, it was not always successful. During the hunt, he used reason to set up traps and avoid certain areas. However, the traps never succeeded in stopping or killing Zaroff. In the end, Zaroff kept getting closer and closer to Rainsford and he trusted his instinct to flee and leaped into the ocean. I believe this decision he made saved his life because the possibility of him defeating Zaroff and his hounds were very slim. Zaroff could not rationalize Rainsford’s decision and it led to Rainsford winning the