The Most Dangerous Game Literary Analysis

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, stretching his morals/values to escape from General Zaroff and the island that he being kept hostage on. At the beginning of the story, Rainford was a veteran who was on a hunting trip to Rio with his friends. His morals/values were that hunting is a sport and hobby to kill animals responsibly. He also valued human life, being a veteran from World War 1, and did not believe in killing humans for pleasure. A perfect example of how being flexible with one’s morals and values can lead to one’s success is where it states “Did not make me condone …show more content…
Rainford strongly believed with all his heart and mind that hunting humans is sinister and considered murder, not a game. Rainford would even rather be hunted by General Zaroff than to hunt alongside him. This proves that Rainford sticks to his own morals and values no matter what. Then, 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 Rainford on the island for period of three days and Rainford made a trap for Zaroff to fall into. Although Rainford’s morals tell him to value human life and not to kill other humans, being hunted by General Zaroff drove him to build a trap intended to kill General Zaroff. This trap is evidence of his slowly shifting morals would help him survive on the island and could potentially lead to his success or freedom. Finally, it states “I am still a beast at bay, get ready, General Zaroff.” These words were spoken before Rainford killed General Zaroff in the

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