The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell begins with two big game hunters, Whitney and Rainsford, on a yacht discussing the legend surrounding an island known only as “Ship-Trap Island”, and how it has earned itself such a reputation. In what turns out to be an act of foreshadowing, Rainsford and Whitney discuss whether or not the prey animals they hunt feel any fear of death while they are being hunted. Rainsford discredits Whitney by replying that the “hot weather is making you soft”. Richard Connell uses his word choice to develop a sense of unease and once the reader learns what is on the island, it solidifies the stories tone of eeriness and fear.
When Rainsford falls off the boat while reaching for his dropped cigarette he lands in “the blood-warm waters of the Caribbean Sea” and hears an animal-like screech that the does not recognise in the distance. Assuming it came from the island, he swims in that direction. Once on the island, he finds a .22 cartridge, then trampled underbrush along with a large crimson stain. As it darkens outside, Rainsford sees some lights in the distance, and after further investigation, it seems that they come from a single château on a cliff, where “the sea licked greedy lips in shadows." Without knowing much more than the general appearance …show more content…
Zaroff invites Rainsford to dinner where they discuss hunting and the different species of game they have hunted. General Zaroff gives Rainsford a brief history of his time serving the Russian Czar and how he has killed an impossible number of animals. He tells of how hunting big game had begun to bore him, so he came up with a new type of animal to hunt, one with the ability to reason. At this point, Rainsford realises that General Zaroff hunts humans on his island, and Zaroff shows him the channel where ships crash into sharp rocks to acquire more
When Rainsford falls off the boat while reaching for his dropped cigarette he lands in “the blood-warm waters of the Caribbean Sea” and hears an animal-like screech that the does not recognise in the distance. Assuming it came from the island, he swims in that direction. Once on the island, he finds a .22 cartridge, then trampled underbrush along with a large crimson stain. As it darkens outside, Rainsford sees some lights in the distance, and after further investigation, it seems that they come from a single château on a cliff, where “the sea licked greedy lips in shadows." Without knowing much more than the general appearance …show more content…
Zaroff invites Rainsford to dinner where they discuss hunting and the different species of game they have hunted. General Zaroff gives Rainsford a brief history of his time serving the Russian Czar and how he has killed an impossible number of animals. He tells of how hunting big game had begun to bore him, so he came up with a new type of animal to hunt, one with the ability to reason. At this point, Rainsford realises that General Zaroff hunts humans on his island, and Zaroff shows him the channel where ships crash into sharp rocks to acquire more