The Most Dangerous Game Theme

359 Words2 Pages
In the exposition of “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Conell, the reader is introduced to the protagonist, Sanger Rainsford. He’s a hunter aboard an Amazon-bound yacht somewhere on the Caribbean, but not for long! The sound of gunshots causes Rainsford to fall overboard. The story continues somewhere on a mysterious Caribbean island known as “Ship-Trap island” On the island Rainsford first meets Ivan, a strong but deaf man. He later meets General Zaroff. Zaroff is another hunter who invites Rainsford to dinner The inciting incident occurs when Zaroff explains how he hunts humans! When Rainsford refuses to hunt with Zaroff, he becomes Zaroff’s next target. This reveals the central conflict. Zaroff is hunting Rainsford in a three-day battle to the death. The rising action begins with Rainsford preparing for the hunt. Rainsford receives hunting supplies and is told to leave. First, he attempts to confuse Zaroff with a miss-leading path, but fails when Zaroff spots him hiding in a tree. Zaroff pretends to ignore Rainsford, who has survived day one. The next day, Rainsford sets up the maylay man catcher, trying to capture Zaroff. This only bruises Zaroff’s shoulder. Rainsford also tries different traps, a knife trick that kills Ivan, and a Burmese tiger pit, which kills a hound. Rainsford runs for his life until faced with a cliff, where he jumps into the sea. The climax is when it is clear that the hunter becomes the prey. When the reader knows that Zaroff is no longer powerful and that the tables have turned in favor of Rainsford. This occurs when Zaroff turns on his bedroom light and sees Rainsford alive and ready to fight. The falling action begins with Rainsford and Zaroff’s assumed fight. When Rainsford shows, up he is congratulated on winning but proposes a fight with the loser being fed to the dogs. It was said that only one man will sleep in
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