Rainsford's Conflict In 'The Cask Of Amontillado'

Conflict between different characters or objects can impact a story's plot and can make the story more interesting. Rainsford has different conflicts with different things. General Zaroff, quicksand and his fear are a few of the obstacles that Rainsford has to face. In this story, there are examples of different conflicts such as, man versus man, man versus nature, and man versus self. General Zaroff and Rainsford have a relationship that is a perfect example of man versus man. When Rainsford is in the jungle hiding while Zaroff is hunting him down. Hunting is like a game to Zaroff and he is using Rainsford to have some fun by trying to kill him. The narrator even states: “The cossack was the cat; he was the mouse” (12). In this scenario, Rainsford is basically the general’s prey. The general is even more eager to hunt Rainsford down because he has heard that Rainsford is a brilliant hunter and has even written books about hunting. Because Zaroff has become obsessed with hunting so much, he is trying to hunt and kill Rainsford. Rainsford also has a conflict with nature itself. When Rainsford is in the jungle hiding from his predator, the general, he gets caught in quicksand. He struggles to get out as the narrator says, “He tried to wrench it back, but the muck sucked viciously at his foot” (12). Rainsford has …show more content…
The general is looking for Rainsford while he is hiding in a tree. The general finds him, and just smiles a deadly smile, as if letting Rainsford know that he knows where he is and will kill him soon, but then he just walks away. This frightens Rainsford as he says, “‘I will not lose my nerve, I will not’” (12). Rainsford is terrified at the fact that Zaroff knows his location because Rainsford made multiple trails, but Zaroff knew which one to follow. He must fight his own fear and exhaustion, otherwise Zaroff will soon kill him. Of course, this is an example of man versus self since he is fighting his