The+Most+Dangerous+Game

Justin S.

Short Stories - Literary Devices Title: __The Most Dangerous Game__

Point of View: 3rd Person Omniscient, limited.

Protagonist: Sanger Rainsford

What type of character is the protagonist? Round and dynamic.

Antagonist: General Zaroff

Describe the Setting: The time is sometime in the 1900's, and the mood is very Tense, Suspenceful, Scared, Sacred, Frightening, Forbidden. The location of where the story takes place must be somewhere in the Caribbean Sea.

Type of Conflict: Man vs. Man

Decsribe the main conflict: The main conflict is that Sanger Rainsford's has fell off his boat and ends up trapped on an island in the Caribb ean Sea. He then meets the owner of this mysterious island, General Zaroff. The General explains a game in which Rainsford is forced to play it or get killed. He must play this game of Zaroff's wisely or he will get caught and then also get killed.

Describe the climax of the story: The climax of the story happens when Rainsford jumps off of the cliff to escape from General Zaroff. He then begins to swim around towards General Zaroff's house and stakes out his bedroom for the Generals presence. Rainsford then surprises Zaroff and engages him in a battle to the death in which Rainsford wins.

How does the protagonist change over the course of the story? Rainsford changes from being a guy who doesn't care about what or how the hunted animals feel to really finding out what the animals feel when they are being hunted after he is put through a similar situation.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme. I think that the theme of the story is to try and put yourself in someones else's shoes and then try living their life from their point of view. The theme and the title are related because Rainsford was put into the shoes of the prey that he would otherwise hunt.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme? The main conflict helps to illustrate the theme because he now has to think more about how the prey is thinking. Where would Rainsford resort to hide and if he were given the option would he attack Zaroff? These are some of the questions he'd have to think about while he is under the stress of being hunted by Zaroff.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme? The climax of the story illustrates the theme because he had the opportunity to feel what it was like to be in the shoes of the hunted. He knows that General Zaroff needs to be stopped because he'll keep on killing more people. So, he battles Zaroff and kills him.

Give examples of each of the following literary terms in the story (use quotes):

Simile: "The sea was as flat as a plate glass window."

Metaphor: "...the general was a devil."

Personification: "...but the wash from the speeding yatch slapped him in the face..."

Symbol: The empty cartridge that Rainsford found symbolized civilization. It meant that Rainsford would be able to get something to eat, warm clothes, and a "safe" place to stay for a while.

Foreshadowing (give both elements): "The old charts call it 'Ship-Trap Island,' " Whitney replied. "A suggestive name, isn't it? Sailors have a curious dread of the place. I don't know why. Some superstition-" "This island is called Ship-Trap, " he answered. "Sometimes an angry god of the high seas sends them to me. Sometimes, when Providence is not so kind, I help Providence a bit. Come to the window with me." Rainsford went to the window and looked out toward the sea. "Watch! Out there!" exclaimed the general, pointing into the night. Rainsford's eyes saw only blackness, and then, as the general pressed a button, far out to sea Rainsford saw the flash of lights. The general chuckled. "They indicate a channel," he said, "where there's none. giant rocks with razor edges crouch like a sea monster with wide-open jaws. They can crush a ship as easily as I can cruch this nut." He dropped a walnut on the hardwood floor and brought his heel grinding down on it." The sailors get sort of like bad vibes whenever they pass Ship-Trap Island. This foreshadows the upcoming events in the story that may be taking place on this island. There could be bad things that perviously happened that scares the sailors. The truth is though, that there actually are bad things happening. People are being hunted like animals by general Zaroff. Irony: The irony about this story is what happens in the begining, Rainsford didn't seem to care about what the animals were feeling or what they were going through when they were being hunted by him. As the story progressed, he came to the realization of the feelings that run through the hunted's mind while trying to hide from their predators.

Imagery: "There was no sound in the night as Rainsford sat there, but the muffled throb of the engine that drove the yatch swiftly through the darkness, and the swish and ripple of the wash of the propeller.

Describe the relationship between the class theme and the story. The class theme of choices is strongly related into the story The Most Dangerous Game by the choices and decisions that are being made throughout the entire story. There are multiple choices that were made throughout the whole story, some of which lead to good things and others to bad. The decision that was made by the general was to hunt humans instead of animals because he was getting bored of hunting the same animals day in and day out. It was Zaroff's choice to not kill Rainsford even though he knew where he was because he wanted to have more fun with him because he knew Rainsford was a formidable enemy.

1. What is it meant by "He lived a year in a minute"?/2
 * This means that Rainsford's mind had so much going through his mind and was making so many life threatening decisions that he felt as though his entire life was flashing before in what seemed to be a minute. He also developed much more understanding of all the wrong things he has done in his life and that with this new knowledge he comes to the realization that he has been doing wrong all his life. **

**﻿﻿What is it meant by "I am still a beast at bay"?/2**

 * "I am still a beast at bay" means that he's comparing himself to a beast. He is trying to prove to himself that he has strengthened himself while staying on this island and that he was being hunted by Zaroff made him feel that he could take on anything else that comes in his path. **


 * 3. In which sea has Connell set Ship-Trap island? /1 **
 * The Caribbean Sea. **


 * 4. How is Zaroff able to finance his life style? /2 **
 * Zaroff is able to finance his rich and pampered lifestyle because he had invested in American security stocks. His father was also a very rich man owning a quarter of a million acres of very valuable land. **


 * 5. If Rainsford wins the hunt, what does Zaroff promise him? /1 **
 * Freedom to leave the island and take a trip to the mainland as long as he doesn't speak of anything that has happened or that he has seen on the island. **


 * 6. What happened to Lazarus? /2 **
 * Lazarus, Zaroffs prized dog, was killed by getting stuck in quicksand after following some prey that was being hunted by Zaroff. **


 * 7. Where does Rainsford spend the first night of his hunt? /1 **
 * During the first night of being hunted by Zaroff, he slept in a big tree with a thick trunk. **


 * 8. How many acres did Zaroff’s father have in the Crimea? /1 **
 * A quarter of a million acres. **


 * 9. Why does Zarroff suggest Rainsford wear moccasins? /1 **
 * Zaroff suggests that Rainsford wears moccasins because they leave a more difficult trail to trace. **


 * 10. What caused Rainsford to believe Zaroff knew he was hiding in the tree? Do you think he was right? Give reasons. /3 **
 * A couple reasons that caused Rainsford to believe that Zaroff knew that he was hiding in the tree that Zaroff was smiling at him through the branches, he deliberately blew a smoke ring in the direction of Rainsford and he stopped right by the tree in which he was hiding in. I think that Rainsford was right because Zaroff knew the island much too well to not know exactly where he was hiding and after hunting humans for awhile he knows where the hiding spots are. **


 * 11. How does Zaroff stock his island with “game”? /2 **
 * Zaroff stocks his island with "game" by making a false channel for unknowingly passer byers so that their ships will crash and then the people would have to come onto his island and play Zaroffs game. **


 * 12. What happened to General Zaroff at the end of the story? /2 **
 * General Zaroff is killed by Rainsford in the heat of battle. **


 * 13. Inspite of being hurt, Zaroff congratulates Rainsford on his “Malay mancatcher,” why? /2 **
 * Zaroff congratulates Rainsford on his Malay Mancatcher because not many people know how to make one and also because it only makes the game more interesting for general Zaroff. **


 * 14. How do we know Rainsford is an exceptionally fit man? /2 **
 * We know that Rainsford is an exceptionally fit man because he ran from the castle for two hours trying to make as much distance between him and Zaroff as he could before he started to hunt him down thus showing he has exceptional finesse. **


 * 15. Discuss the state of mind of Rainsford before he lands on the island versus that after he meets the General. What is ** different? (Especially about how he perceives animal feelings.)/5
 * Right before Rainsford got stuck on the island, he had no in depth feelings for animals whatsoever. He said to Whitney that animals could not understand fear and only thought that there were two worlds...the hunters and the prey. I am positive that Rainsford is going to have a different view of hunting animals. **** After being trapped on the island with Zaroff and being hunted, Rainsford finally knew how it felt to be the hunted. **


 * 16. How does Connell inspire fear without obvious bloodshed/grotesqueness. /3 **
 * Connell inspires fear without the obvious bloodshed or grotesqueness by saying to the readers how Zaroff savagely hunts people and how they are tortured on his creepy island. Then he tells the readers how Rainsford is really feeling about Zaroffs hunting. Without having any actual combat situations with bloodshed, he has planted a twisted seed of fear in the reader's fearful mind. **


 * Justin & Daniel. **