The Most Dangerous Game

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The short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”, by Richard Connell is about the hunter and the hunted, and the suspense created by competition and human survival. The situational irony at the end of the story makes you think about what you would do when faced with death and what lengths you would go to avoid it. The author effectively uses suspense, dilemma and situational irony to illustrate the theme of good versus evil. The story takes place in 1924 on a small island called Ship Trap Island located in the Caribbean (“The Most Dangerous Game”, Connell pg. 9). The protagonist of the story, Rainsford, and his partner, Whitney are sailing in the darkness that engulfed the sea. Their purpose is to do what they considered to be the greatest sport. They were hunters and were headed to the Amazon to hunt Jaguars, and tigers. Sailors feared this island and Rainsford thought it was just outright imagination. The sky is filled with darkness when suddenly; he hears three gun shots followed by more shots again and again. A piercing scream startles Rainsford and the pipe he is smoking falls out of his mouth and into the sea below. As he tries to reach for it he falls into the water and no one hears him scream. His only chance for survival is to swim. Rainsford swims for what seems like an eternity and ends up at the shoreline of the island. He walks on the shoreline and later finds a place that looks like a mansion. There he meets the antagonist of the story General Zaroff who bought the island to hunt. Zaroff was a hunter as well but wants a different type of thrill that the big game animals no longer provided. He would train men from the ships that were wrecked and stranded on the island. He then would provide them with food and a knife for three days. Once they were trained they were led out into the island and given a head start while Zaroff chase after them and they

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