The Most Dangerous Game Literary Analysis

Words: 543
Pages: 3

In the short story, The Most Dangerous Game, by Richard Connell, the theme would definitely be flexibility in one’s morals and values can lead to success. This theme relates to the protagonist, Rainford, changing his morals/values to escape from General Zaroff and the island that he being kept hostage on. A perfect example of how being flexible with one’s morals and values can lead to one’s success begins on page 10, where it states “Did not make me condone cold-blooded murder”. This was when General Zaroff was telling Rainford how he hunts humans on the island for pleasure and trying to reason that since they both served in World War 1, it was okay to do, in which Rainford responded with the previous quote. Rainford strongly believed with all his heart and mind that hunting …show more content…
This proves that Rainford sticks to his gut no matter what. Then, on page 17, the text states “He stepped back from the quicksand a dozen feet or so and, like some huge prehistoric beaver, he began to dig.” At this point in the story, General Zaroff was hunting down Rainford on the island for period of 3 days and Rainford made a trap for Zaroff to fall into. Although Rainford does not believe in the killing other humans, his need to survive the 3 days he was being hunted for drove him to build a trap intended to kill General Zaroff. This trap is evidence of his slowly shifting morals that would help him survive. These shifting morals could potentially lead to his success or freedom. Finally, on page 19, it states “I am still a beast at bay, get ready, General Zaroff.” These words were spoken before Rainford kills General Zaroff in the flesh. He referred to himself as the predator and Zaroff as the prey, switching the roles in which General Zaroff had put in place for him and Rainford. After 3 days of tirelessly running from General Zaroff, Rainford’s morals went from never condoning murder to murder to