The Most Dangerous Game Character Analysis

Improved Essays
Conflict in “The Most Dangerous Game”
Rainsford is a hunter who is put in a tight situation by the antagonist, General Zaroff, who forces him to make decisions. These decisions all come with some type of conflict. Richard Connell provides many different conflicts in “The Most Dangerous Game,” some including: person versus person, person versus himself, and person versus society.
The main conflict in “The Most Dangerous Game” would be between Rainsford and Zaroff. The first time conflict arises between these two is when General Zaroff introduces Rainsford to his game he has invented. Rainsford is completely appalled and does not believe what he has heard when General Zaroff tells him what this game is. Rainsford responds by saying,” I can’t believe you are serious, General Zaroff. This is a grisly joke” (Connell 15). This one response shows that Rainsford is in complete disagreement with General Zaroff and
…show more content…
Though this type of conflict is different. This conflict is between Rainsford and society. In society there are a set of laws that must be followed. In this story Rainsford is faced with the conflict whether or not to break a certain law, this law being murder. In society murder is wrong and Rainsford knows this, at one point in the story he even says, “Good God, General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder” (Connell 15). This statement shows that Rainsford believes murder is wrong. While at the beginning of the story Rainsford believes this, it becomes evident that his view changes as the story goes on. By the end of this story Rainsford is the one who becomes the murderer.
Conflict is one of the most important parts of “The Most Dangerous Game”. From the beginning to the end of the story conflict can be seen. Conflict is what makes this story so intriguing. Several different types of conflicts are provided, including person versus person, person versus himself, and person versus

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    (Connell 6). Zaroff challenges Rainsford to a game where they try to kill each other. If Rainsford kills Zaroff or remains alive after 3 days he is allowed to leave the island. In my opinion this is an example of abnormal and violent social behavior. No one should think it would be a “game” to have two people try to kill each other for fun.…

    • 817 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the most dangerous game rainsford heard 3 shots and he fell of the boat he swam to the island he meets zaroff and rainsford finds out he is a killer he and that it wrong to kill but zaroff thanks it is right because their life is short and he thanks it is fun to kill humans. he was trying to kill the people that did nothing to him it tells you in the story he says he kills people rainsford he had to guess zaroff was killing the people that pass thru but get killed. Rainford is going to get hunted by zaroff and if ranford win he'll get to kill zaroff but if zaroff win he kills rainford It means the people on the island will be hunted and killed. Its right because they're going to die anyways its better if zaroff kills…

    • 148 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every story portrays an idea, or theme, that the reader most likely picks up on and follows throughout the story. A theme in “The Most Dangerous Game” is that civility and savagery are in everyone. In “The Most Dangerous Game” Richard Connell’s idea of civility and its relationship to savage, comes to life through a series of traits in Sanger Rainsford and General Zaroff and how they react to certain situations. In The Most Dangerous Game, Richard Connell proves, through Sanger Rainsford and General Zaroff, one action doesn’t fall specifically under one category of civil or savage, and even if an overall human being might be classified as civil, or savage, that individual can perform savage, or civil, acts. Sanger Rainsford shows many civilized qualities.…

    • 989 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “The Most Dangerous Game” is a story of two men fighting against each other in a life or death hunting competition. The setting in all stories set the mood for the rest of the story. The main places in “The Most Dangerous Game” is the ship they traveled on past the island, the mansion Rainsford stayed in, and the jungle that Rainsford and Zaroff hunted in. Each of these places had a different feeling and affected the emotion of the characters, which made up the mood of the story. The more moods a story has, the more emotion and better understanding there is in the story.…

    • 545 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Connell and Browning use conflict to convey a theme to be aware of what one self is doing so as to not affect others in a negative way. Connell uses conflict to enrich the passage by having General Zaroff hunt Rainsford. The conflict comes from when the general first starts hunting Rainsford because there is a lot of detail when it comes to Rainsford being hunted. Not only is there…

    • 244 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    The battle someone faces can help in recognizing who he or she truly is. The utilization of the knowledge they discover on their journey will determine the result of their battle. For this battle to even begin, a force of opposition must be present. In John Knowles novel A Separate Peace, he conveys the battle Gene Forrester goes through to discover himself. Gene’s battle occurs at the Devon School, where he discovers the existence of his enemy.…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Decent Essays

    “The Most Dangerous Game” narrative centers around about 3 things: hunting, Rainsford, and his attempt to stay alive. There are two people, Rainsford and Whitney, that are on a yacht and they are hunters. They pass an island and Whitney tells Rainsford that it is a dangerous place. Whitney leaves Rainsford to get ready for bed. While Rainsford is alone, he hears 3 gunshots, which makes confusion and interest blossom in his mind.…

    • 262 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Richard Connell uses many ways to arouse conflicts in “The Most Dangerous Game.” The use of conflicts in stories creates suspense, creates the plot, and allows the characters to develop as the story goes on. One of the very first suspenseful settings…

    • 234 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Another example of plot similarities, is that Rainsford sets the same traps in both versions of The Most Dangerous Game. In both interpretations of the story, when Rainsford is challenged to the hunting game by Zaroff, he sets a sapling trap, a hole trap, and a sand trap. Despite these and many more similarities, there are also notable differences in the two storylines. One example of a great difference is that there is a time difference in the versions of the story. In the book, Rainsford is challenged to survive for three days while being hunted by Zaroff.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The readers are able to label the protagonist and the antagonist between Rainsford and Zaroff. In The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, Rainsford and Zaroff share many similarities and differences which results in Rainsford changing his mind about hunting by the end of the story without becoming like Zaroff because of their different characteristics. In the…

    • 970 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    Conflict will forever be a part of society, greatly influencing it whether for the better or worse. The more positive uses for conflict are often found in literature through novels and plays. Inherit the Wind is a play in which conflicts help drive through and carry on the plot. These conflicts stem from various issues, mainly between the difference in mindsets and past relationships. However, this play addresses society’s three main conflicts; person versus person, person versus self, and person versus society through the use of characters and motifs.…

    • 1337 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In today’s world, many people get involved in activities that make them happy,but for one man, this enterprise not only gives the man pleasure, but ends the life of another human. In the story “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, General Zaroff, the antagonist, is a cold, heartless man who couldn’t care less about anyone or anything but his hunting and own joy. General Zaroff spent his life hunting and killing, but when the thrill of killing an animal was nowhere to be found, he turned to killing men, and from there General Zaroff became a cold and heartless murderer. “I hunt the scum of the earth-sailors from tramp ships-lascars, blacks, chinese, whites, mongrels…”(Connell 225). General Zaroff has no hate or disliking for any…

    • 341 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Most Dangerous Game; Conflicts of Story Writing Some people ask what makes a story so good. Well, the answer is conflicts. Conflicts give the story a purpose; a thrill of action. The best stories have all three conflicts, man versus man, man versus self, and man versus nature.…

    • 1040 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What is conflict? In literature, conflict is a struggle between opposing forces. This struggle can be eternal, and it is only something that the main character has to deal with. The main character’s conflict could be external as well, something they have no control over. The stories “The Necklace,” “Rules of the Game,” and “The Most Dangerous Game” all deal with conflict.…

    • 1071 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In the story the most dangerous game we are able to see a man vs man conflict between rainsford and general zaroff. i think that i am able to see the conflict because it is from a third person objective point of view. Through this point of view i can see i can see all the characters speech and actions and the story, when you are dealing with a conflict it makes it more interesting. Another example from the most dangerous game would be “ why should i not be serious this is hunting”. This shows a man vs society conflict, because rainsford does not agree with zaroff's opinions on hunting.…

    • 786 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays

Related Topics