The Most Dangerous Game free essay sample

The short story â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Richard Connell is composed of character, setting and conflict. One of the critical themes in the short story is irony, which plays a major role in the story. There is irony in the setting, a remote jungle island, the conflict, murder verses hunting, and the characters, General Zaroff who is a crazed man-hunter and Mr. Rainsford, his prey. Irony is essential to the plot of the short story, â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game†. It can be recognized multiple times throughout the duration of the story, particularly within the literary elements conflict and characterization. The conflict is contradictory or off in many instances. Being that the hunter, Rainsford, becomes the hunted. Zaroff identifies the conflict as he states: â€Å" You’ll find this game worth playing†¦Outdoor chess! And the stake is not without value, eh? †(Connell 21). This quote is when Zaroff first decides to inform Rainsford that they will be playing the game. We will write a custom essay sample on The Most Dangerous Game or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Another twist of the unexpected is when Zaroff was so engrossed in the thrill of the game that he forgot about its danger. Zaroff left himself vulnerable to attack, forgetting that in â€Å"outdoor chess†, there were two possible victors. The roles of the hunter and the hunted were again switched, as proven in the quote, â€Å"A man, who had been hiding in the curtains of the bed, was standing there†(Connell 27). Here, Rainsford decides to â€Å"trade† roles with Zaroff, only further proving that the conflict was ironic. The characters are ironic for various reasons. Zaroff is a rich, respected, intelligent, and seemingly civilized man. He turns out to be a psychotic hunter who experiences thrill from murder. His refined or sane side is represented in the following quote, â€Å" ‘You’ll have a cocktail, Mr. Rainsford,’ he suggested. The cocktail was surpassingly good; and the table appointment were of the finest-the linen, the crystal, the silver, the china†(Connell 15). There are multiple other examples such as the General’s intellect, his great wall of animal heads, and how he has read every one of Rainsford’s hunting books. Also, his military attire and general ranking were deceiving as well. With his pristine looks and luxurious lifestyle, he manages to deceive Rainsford. Rainsford hunted the man in a horrible fashion. Rainsford is an ironic character because in the beginning of the novel, he was conversing about how animals that are being hunted have no fear and that he feels no shame about being the hunter. As shown in the quote, â€Å"You’re a big game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how the jaguar feels? ’ ‘Perhaps the jaguar does,’ observed Whitney. ‘Bah! They’ve no understanding†(Connell 10). This is ironic because in an unexpected twist, Rainsford becomes the prey and realizes what it was like to be the hunted. Irony obviously plays a major role in the short story. The characters as well as the conflict in â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† exhibits the theme irony throughout the story. â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† obviously encompassed many forms of irony. The setting, however, used a form of irony in almost all aspects. Irony ties into the setting in few cardinal examples. The physical setting itself was ironic, as proven by the quote, â€Å"But as he forged along he saw to his greatest astonishment that all the lights were from one enormous building a lofty structure with pointed towers plunging upwards into the gloom†(Connell 13). Connell describes that there is an abandoned island off the coast of the Amazon, with a towering building petruding out of the uninhabited landscape. This is ironic because murder occurs daily in this dark, dense jungle and it lies on the outskirts of an immense, luxurious estate. This is a clear example of irony in the setting. The fact that something as fundamental as setting uses irony, illustrates just how much important it is to the short story. The short story â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Connell applies the theme of irony in almost all aspects of the story. The three main literary elements that exhibit irony include setting, conflict, and characterization. The entire island was ironic, the way the regal house stood awkwardly over the immense jungle. The characters were also ironic; Zaroff a seemingly respectable man doubles as a murderer. Also, Rainsford a respectable hunter is transformed into the hunted. The conflict was quite ironic; it changed with little to no notice on several occasions. The short story, â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† was built off of this theme; almost every component of the story incorporated irony in one way or another. The Most Dangerous Game free essay sample The Most Dangerous Game, written by Richard Connell has been capturing the attention of readers for many decades. In this story of survival and escape, Connell uses many literary devices to create a more interesting and dramatic effect. Some literary devices used in the story are internal and external conflict, characterization, and role-reversal Characterization is an important device used in this story, as it provides insight into the way characters are presented. For example, General Zaroffs physical appearance: He was a tall man past middle age, for his hair was a vivid white, but his thick eyebrows and pointed military mustache were as black as the night from which Rainsford had come. His eyes too, were black and very bright. He had high cheek bones, a sharp cut nose, a spare, dark face, the face of a man used to giving orders the face of an aristocrat. He was a sophisticated man, yet he was manipulative, arrogant, and cold hearted. We will write a custom essay sample on The Most Dangerous Game or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page When his servant Ivan died, he was aggravated that he would have to replace him. Two slight annoyances kept him from perfect enjoyment. One was the thought that it would be hard to replace Ivan. Role-reversal is another literary device used in this story. For example, in the beginning of the story, before Rainsford arrived on the island, he was a hunter. After arriving on the island, and meeting General Zaroff his role were reversed from the hunter to the hunted. However, towards the end of the story the roles were reversed again, Rainsford became the hunter and Zaroff was the hunted. The conflict in this story is shown in many different forms. The internal conflict is man vs. self. When Rainsford was being hunted in the jungle he had to use all his physical and mental abilities to try and outsmart General Zaroff. The external conflicts are man vs. man, hunter vs. hunter, and predator vs. prey. Though there are many conflicts in this story, the main one is man vs. man. With the use of these and other literary devices, Richard Connell created the story for which he is best known, The Most Dangerous Game The Most Dangerous Game free essay sample What if it the issue about the important idea in the story? The most important idea is about the character Rainsford versus nature, Rainsford versus himself, and Rainsford versus Zaroff. In the story â€Å"The Most Dangerous Game† by Richard Connell the main character, Rainsford, experiences both have internal and external conflict. Rainsford experiences have the external conflict. For example, when he fell in the ocean and had a tough battle with the water â€Å"He struggle up to the surface and tried to cry out †¦ him gag and strangle†. Rainsford barely have enough energy to swim to the Ship-Trap Island. He were had struggle with the water and trying to fight back for his life. In addition, when he on the ship with his friend and talk about the weather† ‘Nor four yards’, he admitted Rainsford. ‘Ugh! It’s like moist black velvets’ †. The weather is really bad, and it so dark even he has good eyes but he can’t see anything if it kind of far. We will write a custom essay sample on The Most Dangerous Game or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The weather is an effect to how Rainsford fell in the ocean. Rainsford external conflict show that how he versus the nature and himself. Rainsford’s internal conflict created many mental challenges for him. For example, when he fell out of the ship, in the ocean he had to stop panicking or he would drown â€Å"A certain cool headedness had come to him it was not the first time he had been in a tight place†. He had been danger place many times so he had more experience and know what to do. He is a very brave person, if it was someone else may be the will be really scared and don’t know what to do. In addition, when in the jungle he keeps telling himself that he will not lose his nerve â€Å"I will not lose my nerve. I will not†. He had to control himself to go through all the game. If he being scared and don’t know do anything he may lose the game. In Rainsford internal conflict it show he is a brave person, how can he control his thinking to be life. Connell has written a story about hunted people, a serious game in the world. There is a lot of people get lost, have to play the game, and got killed by a man. Nobody knows who they are. But one day, a man comes to the island. He also has to play the it. â€Å"The Game†. And he win.