The most Dangerous Game
“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell is based on the events of the early 20th century. The wealthy Americans had found pleasure in hunting big-game animals for leisure. The novel presents the story of a big-game hunter who meets an unlikely fate during his journey to his hunting spot. Sanger Rainsford starts a journey towards the Amazon for a hunting experience. The hunting experience does not happen since Rainsford eventually becomes hunted when he swims to Ship-Trap Island. In ″The Most Dangerous Game″ Richard Connell uses characterization to create a sense of suspense that keeps readers wondering until the very end.
“The Most Dangerous Game” begins with various events of suspense, and the author appears more interested in leaving the readers in the state of suspense. In the conversation between Rainsford and Whitney, the Ship-Trap Island is mentioned: “Sailors have a curious dread of the place… superstition maybe…,” Richard (88). The fact that Rainsford and Whitney do not give substantial details concerning the island leaves the readers in suspense. In a bid to cool the suspense left to the readers, the authors use Rainsford as the test sample to swim to Ship-Trap Island to equip the reader with more details concerning the island. However, the strategy that the reader uses to take Rainsford to the island leaves the reader with many questions unanswered concerning the relationship between Whitney and Rainsford.
The events that led to the separation between Rainsford and Whitney leave many questions unanswered. First, the reader is not given any details concerning the fate of Whitney (Vargas et al. 27). Even Rainsford does not appear concerned whether Whitney would come back to look for him or not and the reader is left wondering whether the two hunters were united in their objective for the journey. Also, readers are left in suspense concerning the source of the sound that led Rainsford to fall off the yacht. Rainsford joins the reader in the suspense and decides to swim towards the source of the sound instead of following his yacht. The clever use of suspense takes the readers across the story with the desire to see the ending of Rainsford, who appears to be the protagonist in the story.
Suspense continues to carry the reader along with the events in the ship-Trap island. Rainsford meets Captain Zaroff and does not trust the intentions of the captain. When the captain is explaining to Rainsford the kind of games that he plays on the island, both Rainsford and the reader are not sure of the fate that was awaiting Rainsford. Suspense leads Rainsford into questioning Zaroff further and later Rainsford realizes that he had also become one of the hunted: “Tonight… we will hunt, you and I…,” Richard (8). However, the final goal of the hunt does not seem clear since Zaroff does not kill Rainsford when a chance appears. Even inside Zaroff’s residence, Zaroff does make a move to kill Rainsford, and instead, Rainsford proposes a challenge. The reader is however left to unanswered suspense since the outcome of the challenge is not reported, and the reader is left to make their conclusions.
In sum, ″The Most Dangerous Game″ is mostly based on suspense, and the reader is motivated to read to the end in such answers. The separation between Rainsford and Whitney leaves questions concerning the fate of Whitney. Also, the presentation of events from the water to Ship-Trap Island leaves the reader desiring to know the next event. The story ends in suspense since the outcome of the challenge between Rainsford and Zaroff is not reported.
Works Cited
Connell, Richard. “The Most Dangerous Game.” Stories for Men. Routledge, 2017. 88-107.
Nuraini, Aisy. An Annotated Translation of Metaphors and Similes in Richard Connell’s Short Story The Most Dangerous Game. Diss. Program Studi Sastra Bahasa Inggris FBS- UKSW, 2017.
Vargas, Juan Carlos Saravia, and José Roberto Saravia Vargas. “Human Degradation: A Text-to- Film Comparison of the Human Hunts in Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” and Golding’s Lord of the Flies.” Revista de Lenguas Modernas 27 (2017).