The Most Dangerous Game Literary Analysis

The Most Dangerous Game, a Literary Response The Most Dangerous Game, a short story by Richard Connell, follows the suspenseful events as the hunter becomes the hunted. Set in the 1920’s The Most Dangerous Game concerns the expert hunter and main character, Rainsford, whenever he falls overboard at sea and swims to the nearest body of land, known as “Ship Trap Island”. It is on this mysterious island that Rainsford stumbles upon the magnificent home of General Zaroff, a fellow hunting enthusiast, although of a different sort. The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell features conflict, style, and imagery. Upon meeting General Zaroff, a tall older man with white hair and a dark mustache, Rainsford also meets his large assistant, a deaf and dumb Cossack, named Ivan. General Zaroff’s appearance and language parallel the fineries of the lavish home, which Ivan’s appearance and lack of language parallel the enormous size and chaos of the jungle surrounding the home. Rainsford is given a well-tailored suit to wear and invited to an exquisite dinner in Zaroff’s lavish dining hall, the walls adorned with animal heads. During dinner General Zaroff and Rainsford rush into a detailed conversation about their mutual fondness for hunting. Rainsford points out that he believes the Cape Buffalo, an animal upon Zaroff’s wall, is the most dangerous of animals to hunt. Zaroff presents foreshadowing, by disagreeing with Rainsford and saying the Cape Buffalo is not the most dangerous animal. Zaroff then invites Rainsford to hunt on the island with him, and then begins to tell the story of his past and how he came to the island. It is during this conversation that the climax of the story is reached as Zaroff admits to having to “invent” a new animal to hunt. Although it takes some time Rainsford slowly realizes that Zaroff is referring to hunting humans. This is an ironic situation as Rainsford is sitting before the most gracious of hosts, who has just admitted to a “sport”