“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man's determination” (Tommy Lasorda). This rousing notion is an integral factor of the protagonist’s success in Richard Connell's “The Most Dangerous Game”. Sanger Rainsford, a famous New York Hunter, fell overboard from his hunting charter in the Caribbean. He landed on a strange island, and on it he discovered a fellow hunter by the name of General Zaroff. Zaroff used this island to hunt the ultimate game; Man. After his refusal to partake in the twisted sport alongside the General, Rainsford found he was to be hunted himself. Through his remarkable experience of dueling nature and man alike, the author bespeaks the invigorating theme: People who have a sound sense of
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His first attempt to accomplish this was weaving like a panther through the brush to leave as much of a complex trail behind him so he could not be followed. After this, he promptly ascended a tree and slept. To his dismay and horror, the General could indeed follow his trail, and in the blackness of night (12). A cold realization then dawned upon him: the the general had spared him in order to enjoy another day's sport. However, Rainsford refused to stop fighting where other lesser men certainly would have broken down. Through his resolve, Rainsford then set out into the wilderness to once again play the cat and mouse game that is the hunt. Later, as the circumstances of his his situation become increasingly dire, he is burdened by an additional conflict, this being his ongoing battle within the confines of his mind to keep a level head which is expressed through his continuous reminders to himself of “I will not lose my nerve. I will not”(12). These mental checks helped him to keep his eye on the prize and greatly bolstered his drive to win the General’s depraved game. If Rainsford had not constantly kept his mind sharp with these mnemonics, he surely would have succumbed to his most primal instincts and lost his nerve
His first attempt to accomplish this was weaving like a panther through the brush to leave as much of a complex trail behind him so he could not be followed. After this, he promptly ascended a tree and slept. To his dismay and horror, the General could indeed follow his trail, and in the blackness of night (12). A cold realization then dawned upon him: the the general had spared him in order to enjoy another day's sport. However, Rainsford refused to stop fighting where other lesser men certainly would have broken down. Through his resolve, Rainsford then set out into the wilderness to once again play the cat and mouse game that is the hunt. Later, as the circumstances of his his situation become increasingly dire, he is burdened by an additional conflict, this being his ongoing battle within the confines of his mind to keep a level head which is expressed through his continuous reminders to himself of “I will not lose my nerve. I will not”(12). These mental checks helped him to keep his eye on the prize and greatly bolstered his drive to win the General’s depraved game. If Rainsford had not constantly kept his mind sharp with these mnemonics, he surely would have succumbed to his most primal instincts and lost his nerve