Dangerous Game Anaylsis

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Alexander Lemus Professor Beck ENC 1102 November 8, 2012 Short Story Analysis The Hunter Becomes the Hunted Richard Connell’s short story “The Most Dangerous Game” (rpt. in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine’s Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense, 12th ed. [Boston: Wadsworth, 2012] 67-85) may be considered as one of his most famous literary works. It portrays the fate of Rainsford, a renowned hunter, who ends up on Ship Trap Island where quickly from hunter he turns into the hunted. Rainsford chased by General Zaroff, using his experience and wits to cunningly escape from the hunter and even wounding him with traps. He eventually kills Zaroff as a result; Rainsford becomes the most dangerous game on Zaroff’s island. The most dangerous game as General Zaroff suggests, appears on his island, even though he may be referring to Rainsford because of his hunting experience and only says sailors are in his basement as to disguise this. {x}Stopped{x} General Zaroff, a Cossack, has hunted game for many years and he has grown weary of hunting them for it has become too predictable and no longer amusing, so he looks for alternate forms of entertainment. Retaining his position of control he makes the ship wrecked play a game of hunted and hunter. General Zaroff believing that humans pose a bigger challenge than animals since they possess highly regarded reasoning not based on solely on instinct; they flux both very nicely. Seeking intellect in order to avert what he considers animalistic, the General fails to see that he himself has become what he desperately tries to hunt. The hunt the General begins appears littered with imagery, analogies, and symbolism by the author. An excerpt from Connell’s short story The Most Dangerous Game tells us the imagery he uses: “He lifted the knocker, and it creaked up

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