The+Most+Dangerous+Game

Point of View: Third Person, omniscient

Protagonist: Rainsford

What type of character is the Protagonist? Round, Dynamic

Antagonist: General Zaroff

Describe the setting

Story starts off on an expensive sounding yacht and progresses to an island in the Caribbean. The island is practcially just a dense jungle, with a mansion. The story takes place in a rather moderen setting over the course of four or so days. The mood is tense, suspensful, and kind of creepy.

Type of Conflict:

Man vs Man and Man vs Environment

Describe the main conflict:

Rainsford is hunted by Zaroff and must flee the mansion but there is no where to run on the island.

Describe the Climax of the Story:

Rainsford appears in Zaroff's bedroom to kill him and feeds him to the dogs.

How does the Protagonist change over the course of the story?

Before Rainsford gets to the island, he talks about jaguars not feeling scared when they are being hunted. He has never experienced true fear and he doesn't understand how it feels to be the jaguar. He is cool and collected and refers to himself as a hunter of the hunted. Once he gets to the island and experience being the hunted, the jaguar, he becomes frazzled and full of morals. He states that killing a human is cold blooded murder and by the end of the story he has killed 2 people.

Describe the relationship between the title and the theme.

The title, The Most Dangerous Game, is talking about game in a way meaning something that is hunted. When Rainsford gets to the island he is the thing that is hunted, rather than the one who is hunting. That relates directly to the theme, Hunter of the hunted. First Rainford is a hunter, then he is hunted by Zaroff, then he hunts Zaroff.

How does the main conflict help to illustrate the theme?

When Zaroff is hunting Rainford, you see how Rainsford's role is reversed and now he is the hunted, rather than the hunter.

How does the climax help to illustrate the theme?

The theme has already been ilistrated many times in the story by the climax, Zaroff and Rainsford switch back and forth being hunters and hunted many times. The final switch is when the climax occers, Rainsford is the hunter and Zaroff is his pray. Rainsford kills Zaroff.

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

Simile: "Ugh! it's like moist black velvet."

Metaphor: "My whole life has been one prolonged hunt"

Personification:

'the wash of the speeding yacht slapped him in the face'

Symbol:

When Zaroff grinds the walnut beneath his heel, it is a symbol of how Rainford's hope that he has found safety (and sanity). When he crushed the nut, he also showed Rainford how he tricked ships into hitting the island and sinking so he got more game in his game.

Foreshadowing (give both elements):

'`but there was one small trait of the general's that made Rainford uncomfortable' is the first hint that something might not be right on Zaroff's island, and it turns out that Zaroff has a creepy, evil game where he hunts people around the island.

Irony:

Zaroff's obbsession with hunting ends up killing him.

On his way to hunt, Rainsford ends up being hunted

Imagery:

"Jagged crags appeared to jut into the opaqueness"

Describe the relationships between the class theme and the story.

When people started to be human was around the end of when they were still primitive, which in my opion, makes the primitive state the roots of humanity. In this story, the main characters go back to their primitive state while hunting each other. Rainsford starts out as a succesful hunter and ends feeling like a beastly animal. That shows that somewhere in the story, he has lost his humanity and he has switched from being the hunter, to being the hunted. Zaroff also becomes the hunted, first when Rainsford sets traps for him, and then later when Rainsford apears in his bedroom on the final night of the game. Zaroff never seems to lose his composure but right from the start of the story he seemed like he was still in his primative state.

1. What is meant by “He lived a year in a minute”? /2 When you have lots of adrenaline, like Rainsford did when he he was hiding from the Connell, time goes by slower. 2. What is meant by “I am still a beast at bay”? /2 When Connell says that Rainsford won the game Rainsford is still full of beast-like feelings and thinks he must kill the Connell to save himself. 3. In which sea has Connell set Ship-Trap island? /1 The Caribbean sea is where Connell set Ship-Trap Island. 4. How is Zaroff able to finance his life style? /2 Zaroff Invested heavily and succesfully in American security. 5. If Rainsford wins the hunt, what does Zaroff promise him? /1 If Rainsford wins, he gets his freedom. 6. What happened to Lazarus? /2 Lazarus the dog chased someone into the death swamp and got killed because of quicksand. 7. Where does Rainsford spend the first night of his hunt? /1 Rainsford spends the first night of his hunt in a tree. 8. How many acres did Zaroff’s father have in the Crimea? /1 He had a quarter of a million acres. 9. Why does Zarroff suggest Rainsford wear moccasins? /1 Zarroff suggests moccasins because they are harder to track. 10. What caused Rainsford to believe Zaroff knew he was hiding in the tree? Do you think he was right? Give reasons. /3 While Rainsford hides in his tree, Zaroff walks right beneath him and smiles, he laughs a little to himself and then walks away. Because Zaroff laughed, Rainsford thinks Zaroff saw him, and starts to freak out. I don't think that Zaroff did see Rainsford, he seems very keen to win at the game and probably would have the moment he had spotted Rainsford. 11. How does Zaroff stock his island with “game”? /2 Zaroff set a trap which makes lights flash, indicating a channel. The boats who see this light go towards it and smash against the rocks. 12. What happened to General Zaroff at the end of the story? /2 General Zaroff goes to bed thinking he has won the game, but Rainsford is waiting for him. Rainsford kills Zaroff and feeds him to the dogs. 13. Inspite of being hurt, Zaroff congratulates Rainsford on his “Malay mancatcher,” why? /2 Zaroff tries to kill Rainsford but in a very gentleman like way. The fact that Rainsford was able to hurt Zaroff proved that he was a great hunter and Zaroff does the gentleman like thing, which is to acknowledge it and congratulate him. 14. How do we know Rainsford is an exceptionally fit man? /2 Rainsford swims from the boat to the shore of ship trap island, and later from one end of the island to another end of the island. Also, Rainsford is able to run away from the general till dusk. He was also able to take his foot out of quicksand, which is not an easy thing to do. 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 Before Rainsford gets to the island, he talks about jaguars not feeling scared when they are being hunted. He has never experienced true fear and he doesn't understand how it feels to be the jaguar. He is cool and collected and refers to himself as a hunter of the hunted. Once he gets to the island and experience being the hunted, the jaguar, he becomes frazzled and full of morals. 16. How does Connell inspire fear without obvious bloodshed/grotesqueness. /3 Small details about Connell are rather frightening, he has pointed teeth (which I think is pretty creepy) he also has dark eyes and studies Rainsford when he first gets to the island. The Connell seems a little crazy which could be frightening because he is unpredictable to Rainsford. The Connell is also an exceptionally good hunter and he knows it, his heart is cold and his gun is ready to kill.

Completion 5/5

Effort 4/5

Content 4/5

Questions 31/32

Total 44/47