The+Most+Dangerous+Game

Short Stories - Literary Devises Title: __The Most Dangerous Game__

Point of View: Omniscient

Protagonist: The protagonist is Rainsford

What type of character is the Protagonist? He is a __dynamic__ and __round__ character

Antagonist : General Zaroff

Describe the setting : The story takes place on "Ship-Trap Island". It's creepy, scary and mysterious with surprises lurking around every corner. The time passes from night to day throughout the story. There are trees, caverns and quicksand pits. It is not a very huge island, as one could easily reach the other side in no time at all, but it is what is held inside the island that counts.

Type of Conflict: Man vs. Man

Describe the main conflict : I believe the main conflict is man vs. man because Zaroff is hunting Rainsford in a game of "cat and mouse", Rainsford has to protect himself, and ends up killing Zaroff because of the position that Zaroff placed Rainsford and all of the other castaways in.

Describe the Climax of the Story: I think the climax of this short story is around the end, when Zaroff believes the hunt is over and thinks that Rainsford has won, little does he know that Rainsford is waiting behind the curtain. Then Rainsford jumps out and tells Zaroff that he's not done with him and ends up killing him.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?

In the beginning Rainsford believes that animals do not feel, and that hunting is the best sport in the world, he's selfish and a great hunter. In the middle, Rainsford begins to feel a little apprehensive when he hears that Zaroff hunts humans. Shortly after, Rainsford turns form the "hunter" to the "huntee". While he is running for his life he explains that he understands how the animals at bay feel, when he becomes one. He begins to value life in a way he never has before.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.

The title "The Most Dangerous Game" represents the most dangerous "game" as the prey/game being humans, but also the "game" as in "cat and mouse". This game of "cat and mouse" shows how Rainsford passed from the hunter to the hunted, he understands the concept of "valuing life" a lot more, and in a more complex manner by understanding how animals feel while they are being hunted. They are fearful, just as Rainsford was during the "game".

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?

The main conflict man vs. man represents the theme because the hunt, the center of the conflict, is what makes Rainsford realize that animals fear, humans fear, and when placed into a situation where he becomes the prey, he starts to understand the fact that life is very valuable, and to take that away from somebody for your own pleasure is unthinkable.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?

With the climax being the point where Rainsford jumps out from behind the curtain and kills Zaroff, it shows how Rainsford changed and figures out that it is not humane to kill humans, and take the value of life away from them. Once, Rainsford became the "animal", he felt just as the animals do while being hunted. Rainsford killed this man because he does not want to see this happen to anybody else, for anybody else to lose their lives.


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

Simile: "It's like finding a snuff-box in a limousine", "An apprehensive night crawled slowly by like a wounded snake...", "It's like moist black velvet.",

Metaphor : "The lights of the yacht became faint and ever-vanishing fireflies..."

Personification: " An apprehensive night crawled slowly by like a wounded snake, and sleep did not visit Rainsford..."

Symbol: "lions, tigers, elephants, moose, bears" are animals, but they also represent the specimens that Zaroff has hunted, as their heads were all mounted on his wall.

Foreshadowing (give both elements): When Rainsford is trying to figure out what new kind of animal Zaroff is hunting, he says "but no animal can reason", Zaroff says "there is on that can", this makes us reflect and think that he has created a new animal in a lab. Then a while later, Zaroff says that it's humans that he hunts, and we realize that he was talking about humans in the beginning, not some new species because humans can speak and reason.

Irony : Rainsford says that he is a "hunter, not a murderer", in the end he kills Zaroff, which is murder.

Imagery : An example that stood out for me "the jungle weeds were crushed down and the moss was lacerated, one patch of weeds was stained crimson."

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.

Rainsford felt fear, like all animals that are being hunted. Fear is an instinct of human nature, therefore we could easily relate to all of the words of the author, we imagined ourselves in the position that Rainsford was in, being the prey. One does not feel fear until there is a threatening, opposing force which would be General Zaroff.

QUESTIONS :

1. What is meant by “He lived a year in a minute”? /2

He lived a year in a minute, means that he felt so much fear, it represented the amount of fear someone feels in a whole year. Time was also moving very slowly, Rainsford was anxious and experienced the amount of anxiety someone would feel in a year.

2. What is meant by “I am still a beast at bay”? /2

Rainsford decided that after being hunted for 3 days and seeing the horrors that come from "hunting" humans, he was not going to let Zaroff off the hook so easily. Once Zaroff was finished off, nobody else would be murdered the same way.

3. In which sea has Connell set Ship-Trap island? /1

He was in the Caribbean Sea.

4. How is Zaroff able to finance hi s life style? /2

Zaroff had invested heavily in American securities.

5. If Rainsford wins the hunt, what does Zaroff promise him? /1

Zaroff promises to acknowledge himself defeated and will return Rainsford to the mainland near a town, but he has to promise not to tell anyone of this "game". Rainsford does not agree.

6. What happened to Lazarus? /2

Lazarus followed a foolish man to the southeast corner of the island, "Death Swamp". That is where they both died in quicksand.

7. Where does Rainsford spend the first night of his hunt? /1

He rested on the broad branches of a huge tree.

8. How many acres did Zaroff’s father have in the Crimea? /1

His father was a very rich man and owned a quarter of a million acres in the Crimea

9. Why does Zarroff suggest Rainsford wear moccasins? /1

The moccasins leave a "poorer" trail. It's harder to follow Rainsford if he's wearing them.

10. What caused Rainsford to believe Zaroff knew he was hiding in the tree? Do you think he was right? Give reasons. /3

First, Zaroff studied the ground, then he looked at the tree, he was almost looking right where Rainsfod lay, but then Zaroff stopped. Rainsford's theory was that Zaroff was having too much fun because Rainsford was a pretty smart and talented hunter, and Zaroff enjoyed playing this game of cat and mouse because he got to be the cat.

11. How does Zaroff stock his island with “game”? /2

The island is called "Ship-trap", when there are storms, the sailors end up on the island. Zaroff also has a light hooked up to a button so when he's not geetting any "game" he'll use this, and it indicates a channel, when there isn't actually one.

12. What happened to General Zaroff at the end of the story? /2

Rainsford killed General Zaroff. Rainsford got back into Zaroff's room, and Zaroff said that one of them is to furnish repast for the hounds, the other will sleep in the bed. At the end Rainsford is lying in the bed.

13. Inspite of being hurt, Zaroff congratulates Rainsford on his “Malay mancatcher,” why? /2

Zaroff says that not many men know how to make a Malay man-catcher. Also this means that Rainsford is very intelligent and this is exactly the kind of "prey", Zaroff enjoys to hunt.

14. How do we know Rainsford is an exceptionally fit man? /2

He climbed trees, ran far distances across the whole island, and that same day he swam in the vicious waters all the way back to Zaroff's home.

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

At the beginning of the story, Rainsford and Whitney are talking. Rainsford says that "hunting is the best sport in the world", then Whitney says "well not for the prey". Rainsford says that Whitney "is a big-game hunter, not a philosopher, and who cares how the animal feels". Whitney says "perhaps the prey does feel". Rainsford feels as they have no understanding. Whitney says "they understand one thing and that is fear, fear of pain and fear of death". Then, once Zaroff and Rainsford meet, Rainsford feels as if it's not right to kill humans. In the end of the story while Rainsford is running for his life he realizes how the animals at bay feel. Rainsford was used to being the hunter not the huntee. During this whole game of "cat and mouse", Rainsford began to understand the concept of how the "mouse" feels.

16. How does Connell inspire fear without obvious bloodshed/grotesqueness. /3

The author uses very descriptive language. We also experience fear because we can relate to Rainsford by imagining ourselves in his position, being hunted then murdered, it's not humane and not right. We feel as if we are on the journey, experiencing the "game" along side him.

Completion 5/5

Effort 5/5

Content 5/5

Questions31/32

total 46/47