"The Most Dangerous Game" Classroom Notes
Summary:
OK...so we have this classic American Gothic short story, "The Most Dangerous Game," written by Richard Connel in 1924. The story is about this well-to-do dude named Rainsford who is on a trip to go hunting in Rio di Janero for jaguars. Things get real when he falls off his boat and is marooned on an island with the saucy, evil General Zaroff.
Zaroff is a part of the aristocracy (Upper class Gent with loads of money, and a pig attitude against inferior people) These ideas about General Z come out when he mocks Puritan idealism and does a little racial profiling when selecting the people that are worth killing (aka: anyone not white and privileged).
He is also an avid gamer...no not video games, but hunting animals for sport. In fact, he is so good at it, that he has grown bored and now hunts humans for an extra challenge. Zaroff invites Rainsford to join the hunt, but when Rainsford doesn't want to, Zaroff makes Rainsford play his game.
So Rainsford has to survive in the jungle woods for three days with a knife and his wits. Zaroff makes him feel like a chump, always one step behind. Zaroff has almost a supernatural abilities as a hunter, as if he could see in the dark. "The cat was coming again to play with the mouse." Rainsford, also an experienced hunter, makes use of his wits and survives three days. In the process, he kills Ivan, the brute "other" and learns the fear of being an animal that is hunted. Rainsford makes his way back to Zaroff's house and meets him there. The story ends quizzically, Rainsford has supposedly killed Zaroff and fed his corpse to the hounds.
Analysis:
One major idea that resonates throughout the text is social Darwinism: the world is made up of two classes: the hunter and the huntee. The strong survive by killing the weak and taking what they want. In the process of gaining power and strength, the value of human life is reduced to a silly game. Rainsford, as the story's protagonist, does what he has to in order to survive. Unfortunately, this ultimately leads to the loss of his own humanity. He becomes, by suggestion at the end of the story, the very evil that hunted him.
...
Read the short story for yourself here:
Full Text
Full Text Spanish Translation
Reading Guide
OK...so we have this classic American Gothic short story, "The Most Dangerous Game," written by Richard Connel in 1924. The story is about this well-to-do dude named Rainsford who is on a trip to go hunting in Rio di Janero for jaguars. Things get real when he falls off his boat and is marooned on an island with the saucy, evil General Zaroff.
Zaroff is a part of the aristocracy (Upper class Gent with loads of money, and a pig attitude against inferior people) These ideas about General Z come out when he mocks Puritan idealism and does a little racial profiling when selecting the people that are worth killing (aka: anyone not white and privileged).
He is also an avid gamer...no not video games, but hunting animals for sport. In fact, he is so good at it, that he has grown bored and now hunts humans for an extra challenge. Zaroff invites Rainsford to join the hunt, but when Rainsford doesn't want to, Zaroff makes Rainsford play his game.
So Rainsford has to survive in the jungle woods for three days with a knife and his wits. Zaroff makes him feel like a chump, always one step behind. Zaroff has almost a supernatural abilities as a hunter, as if he could see in the dark. "The cat was coming again to play with the mouse." Rainsford, also an experienced hunter, makes use of his wits and survives three days. In the process, he kills Ivan, the brute "other" and learns the fear of being an animal that is hunted. Rainsford makes his way back to Zaroff's house and meets him there. The story ends quizzically, Rainsford has supposedly killed Zaroff and fed his corpse to the hounds.
Analysis:
One major idea that resonates throughout the text is social Darwinism: the world is made up of two classes: the hunter and the huntee. The strong survive by killing the weak and taking what they want. In the process of gaining power and strength, the value of human life is reduced to a silly game. Rainsford, as the story's protagonist, does what he has to in order to survive. Unfortunately, this ultimately leads to the loss of his own humanity. He becomes, by suggestion at the end of the story, the very evil that hunted him.
...
Read the short story for yourself here:
Full Text
Full Text Spanish Translation
Reading Guide
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