Character Essay “I’ll agree to do nothing of the kind,” is Rainsford’s response when he is asked not to speak of the island where a man goes for his favorite hobby; murder (Connell 37). Rainsford is just a poor sailor who swam onto Ship Trap Island to escape the frigid waters that he accidentally fell into. He meets General Zaroff and learns about his personality and actions. Shortly after that, Rainsford soon realizes he needs to get off of the island as soon as he can. He continues to keep a calm head throughout his stay. He knows what the right thing to do is and he does it every time. Rainsford will have to use his intelligence to win, at “The Most Dangerous Game.” Rainsford knows what is right and shows it throughout the story. He does not agree to keep quiet about what he has been told and things he has seen on Ship Trap Island (Connell 37). What happens on the island is wrong. General Zaroff, the owner of the island does not have the same beliefs as Rainsford. At that moment, he clearly tells General Zaroff that hunting men is not okay (Connell 35). No matter how boring hunting animals is, it is not okay to kill humans for a …show more content…
When an unfortunate accident throws Rainsford overboard, he stays calm (Connell 28). In this sudden event, he needs to stay calm, and he does that very well. From this point, he immediately looks around and surveys to find a place to go that isn’t stranded in the ocean. “General, I wish to leave this island at once” (Connell 36). Hearing all about the island and General Zaroff makes Rainsford decide he needs to leave. He is polite and firm, but not aggressive. Rainsford stays in reality when talking about the dark night with Whitney (Connell 27). He does not let his imagination get the better of him and stays focused on his treacherous journey. Staying calm, cool, and collected benefits Rainsford in his journey to and on Ship Trap
Another example of his likeable character and will to conserve his standards is right before the hunt begins. Since he is not willing to hunt humans, the general decides that he will hunt Rainsford! The only rule is that if he survives for more than three days, and beat the general's challenge, he is not aloud to tell any one about the island and what happened there. To this Raindsford responds, "'I will agree to nothing of the kind'" (6). This again shows Rainsfords abundance of character and hero like morals that make a very likeable
During the game Rainsford is terrified. But he pulls himself together because if he doesn’t General Zaroff will surely kill him. Rainsford displays courage, cunning, and reason in his escape from Zaroff. The first thing that Rainsford displays is courage.
After forcefully being thrown into the deadly contest, Rainsford knows he must stay calm and prepare himself for what is to come. Rainsford tells himself, “I must keep my nerve, I must keep my nerve” (Connell). He understands that once he panics, he will only put himself in a more dire situation. Quickly, Rainsford took control of his situation and began creating a plan. He knew a straight line would prove vain in his efforts to throw off his “predator”, so he began making a trail filled with intricate loops to confuse the psychotic killer.
First off, one thing Rainsford faced was strong versus the weak. In the beginning of the story Rainsford fell off a yacht by, what Richard called, “Ship-Trap Island.” Once he
In the short story The Most Dangerous Game, the author Richard Connell shows that Rainsford needs control of his emotions, patience , and expert hunting and decision making skills in order to defeat Zaroff. Rainsford needs to gain control of his emotions to outthink Zaroff, who symbolizes Rainsfords "steep hill". When he finds that he is going to be hunted his natural instinct is to run and panic, but then he stops to look around and get a grip on the task at hand. Then at a critical moment when Zaroff finds him in a tree, Rainsford panics again because he realizes Zaroff is on his trail and is toying with him. Once again, he gains control of his emotions and formulates a plan.
himself. This happened when Rainsford was on the island. He had to do his best to keep his composure and not lose his head. While he is in the jungle, he says “I will not lose my nerve”(184). This tells the reader that Rainsford was having trouble staying calm and not worrying.
Also, General Zaroff is an extreme hunter and doesn’t find pleasure in hunting regular animals. Zaroff says the most dangerous game is humans because they have the ability to reason. Rainsford is going to be hunted and is given a certain amount of time to survive. Moreover, while Rainsford is being hunted Zaroff
Rainford exposes his selfishness and lack of empathy by saying, “‘Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes-the hunters and the huntees. Luckily you and I are hunters’”(2). His actions throughout the story show his cruelty too. Rainsfords profession is killing animals, and while he does
This example shows that Rainsford had to use his wit and mind to survive and out play his foe. Towards the end of the story Rainsford escapes by jumping off a cliff into the ocean to get away from General Zaroff. Rainsford escapes the island in a very clever way: “He reached it. It was the shore of the sea ...
Tanner Toussaint In the short story The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, Rainsford is justified in killing General Zaroff. One of the reasons why Rainsford is justified in killing General Zaroff is on the island the only way to live is to hunt or to be the one being hunted. Secondly, Rainsford is justified in killing General Zaroff because Zaroff wanted to die. Lastly, Rainsford is justified in killing General Zaroff because killing Zaroff is going to be the only way Rainsford will escape the island from a psychopath.
These crucial moments display Rainsford a round and dynamic character. The General is a great character description of a static and flat character. In the story the General's beliefs, attitude, and perspective never change. Other than his boredom of traditional hunting that led him to develop his inhuman and unconventional game, he is not fundamentally challenged or influenced. His character influences the protagonist's character, and this is a significant part of the relation of the central idea.
Not only was rainsford in a conflict with General Zaroff he is in conflict with himself as he is finding his way to Ship Trap Island. “‘I must keep my nerve, I must keep my nerve,’ he said through tight teeth” (12). Rainsford also had a conflict with himself on the island when he was deciding what to do to get away from Zaroff. Rainsford was able to overcome the internal conflict when the dogs were chasing him and he needed to make the decision to jump into the water, fight the dogs, or climb a tree and hide. Man versus himself is very important to Connell’s story.
Besides, he will always remember the horrible sounds of the hunt although the game is over. While defending his survival “he heard [a] sharp scream of pain” when he was hiding (Connell 34). Accordingly, he does not know what he killed but, he is hearing the sounds of death and agony, which is traumatizing. This can foreshadow something or someone off Zaroff’s “team” got hurt or killed. Throughout the game, Rainsford becomes exceedingly nervous which is a feeling that is hard to forget.
It is now hard for him to trust anyone after being forced to be hunted. “The pit grew deeper; when it was above his shoulders, he climbed out and from some hard saplings cut stakes and sharpened them to a fine point. These stakes he planted in the bottom of the pit with the points sticking up” (Connell 34) because of this flashback Rainsford starts to get scared about himself hurting another human being. He won’t hunt again because he remembers his times of desperation and how he felt while trying to kill a living person. Another factor of Rainsford’s nervousness is when he told that the man being hunted the day before lost his head.
These reasons are why I believe that Rainsford’s ability to reason is a very important and helpful characteristic and it played a very important role in his survival on Ship Trap