The Most Dangerous Game Literary Analysis Essay
Hollern
Men and Beasts One might shudder at the thought of being hunted by another man. In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” Richard Connell reveals the idea of being hunted and slain by another man is all too real. In this story Rainsford finds himself stranded on an island whilst being hunted by General Zaroff who happens to be a skilled hunter in his own right. In this short story the line between man and beast is clouded and the fight between logic and instinct ensues. In this story Rainsford finds that the difference between man and beast is a thin one. In one part Rainsford is dining with his soon to be hunter,General Zaroff. Rainsford is then startled to find that Zaroff is a murderer because he seems to be a
decent person but then he reveals his secret “ ‘I wanted the ideal animal to hunt,’ explained the general… it must have courage, cunning and above all, it must be able to reason.’ ‘But no animal can reason,’ objected Rainsford. ‘My dear fellow there is one that can.’ ‘But you can't mean-’ ‘And why not?’ ‘I can't believe you are serious General Zaroff. This is a grisly joke.’Why should I not be serious I am speaking of hunting’ (Connell 9). This shows the idea of man versus beast because it shows how this once civilized man is now finding a way to rationalize the murder of another man. We find that it merely took the idea of a fresh and new challenge to tip Zaroff off the edge. Additionally we discover that Zaroff,however being insane, is composed and can reason like a rational human. Zaroff is revealing that he knows what he is doing is wrong but he masks it for himself so that he can continue to do so because it keeps him in good spirits “ ‘I have electricity. We try to be civilized here.’ ‘ Civilized? And you shoot down men?’ A trace of anger was in the general’s black eyes” (Connell 10). This scene shows that the General himself is aware that he is a murderer but he cannot tell himself that otherwise he would not be able to live with himself. Thus we learn that the difference between man and beast is small and all it just takes a few small actions to change one's life forever. It is found that Zaroff himself murders people through the rationalization of “they are lesser” or the weak deserve to be preyed on by the strong”. It is also revealed that a man will go to any lengths to justify his own actions no matter how heinous. Therefore the idea behind The Most Dangerous Game is to show that men and animals are not as different as most would like to believe.
Men and Beasts One might shudder at the thought of being hunted by another man. In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” Richard Connell reveals the idea of being hunted and slain by another man is all too real. In this story Rainsford finds himself stranded on an island whilst being hunted by General Zaroff who happens to be a skilled hunter in his own right. In this short story the line between man and beast is clouded and the fight between logic and instinct ensues. In this story Rainsford finds that the difference between man and beast is a thin one. In one part Rainsford is dining with his soon to be hunter,General Zaroff. Rainsford is then startled to find that Zaroff is a murderer because he seems to be a
decent person but then he reveals his secret “ ‘I wanted the ideal animal to hunt,’ explained the general… it must have courage, cunning and above all, it must be able to reason.’ ‘But no animal can reason,’ objected Rainsford. ‘My dear fellow there is one that can.’ ‘But you can't mean-’ ‘And why not?’ ‘I can't believe you are serious General Zaroff. This is a grisly joke.’Why should I not be serious I am speaking of hunting’ (Connell 9). This shows the idea of man versus beast because it shows how this once civilized man is now finding a way to rationalize the murder of another man. We find that it merely took the idea of a fresh and new challenge to tip Zaroff off the edge. Additionally we discover that Zaroff,however being insane, is composed and can reason like a rational human. Zaroff is revealing that he knows what he is doing is wrong but he masks it for himself so that he can continue to do so because it keeps him in good spirits “ ‘I have electricity. We try to be civilized here.’ ‘ Civilized? And you shoot down men?’ A trace of anger was in the general’s black eyes” (Connell 10). This scene shows that the General himself is aware that he is a murderer but he cannot tell himself that otherwise he would not be able to live with himself. Thus we learn that the difference between man and beast is small and all it just takes a few small actions to change one's life forever. It is found that Zaroff himself murders people through the rationalization of “they are lesser” or the weak deserve to be preyed on by the strong”. It is also revealed that a man will go to any lengths to justify his own actions no matter how heinous. Therefore the idea behind The Most Dangerous Game is to show that men and animals are not as different as most would like to believe.