In "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell, the protagonist, Sanger Rainsford falls overboard from his ship and is trapped on an island owned by a former Russian general Zaroff. After wandering through the jungle and finally encountering the general, Rainsford is horrified to learn of the General's pastime of hunting shipwrecked sailors. It is then that Zaroff expels Rainsford from his home and begins his hunt, creating the many conflicts found in the story. These can be noted as a man v. man conflict, a man v. environment, and a man v. self conflict. Analyzing these, the reader can realize that the conflicts not only move the plot forward, but reveal important messages about morality.
The first, most obvious conflict in the story is the man v. man conflict between Zaroff and Rainsford, with the two men involved often describing it as a game of wits. It is Rainsford's intellect against Zaroff's. Through this conflict, the two men truly show their personalities and characteristics. Zaroff is arrogant and does things out of impulse, while Rainsford uses reason to plan his movements. Ultimately it is Zaroff's arrogance that kills him in the fight against Rainsford. Ironically, Rainsford's whole perception of the world reverses on him when he is put into the hunt. Safe on the boat, he declared himself a hunter, but on the island it is him who is being hunted.
It could also be argued that "The Most Dangerous Game" has another conflict, man v. environment. In his intense struggle for survival, Rainsford must fight off the effects of insects biting him, deadly quicksand, and thick vegetation. In this way, the jungle itself acts almost as an extension of Zaroff himself, trying to trap and hunt Rainsford. The darkness of the island and its unforgiving terrain are symbols for Zaroff's evil. However, it is later in the story that Rainsford uses the native terrain to his advantage in creating traps and escaping his pursuers, ultimately succeeding in his fight against the island with the death of Zaroff.
The final conflict which can be observed in the story is a man v. self conflict within Rainsford himself. Early in the text, he is described as not caring whether his prey felt fear, declaring " 'Who cares how a jaguar feels?' " to his friend Whitney. However, after hearing of General Zaroff's hunting activities, he is faced with several moral dilemmas. Is man any different from animal? Or are animals the same as man and thus feel the same fear, the same convictions? The author, Richard Connell, brings the theme of what it means to be prey and what it means to be predator up several times throughout the text, particularly in the dialogue between Rainsford and Zaroff to demonstrate the moral change in Rainsford as the story progresses. By the end of his ordeal, the reader can assume that Rainsford may have a drastically different opinion on the subject of hunting.
The various conflicts of "The Most Dangerous Game" can be found upon first inspection of the plot yet can also extend far deeper into the subtext of the story. The three conflicts interweave with one another and each directly affect the outcome of different situations in the plot. For example, the fact that Rainsford was put into a position where he would be hunted as in a man v. man may very well have influenced his moral choices just as should he not be forced to play Zaroff's game, he may have come around to the general's side of the argument. It is important to recognize the conflicts present yet also relate them to possibly connections that the author may be attempting to establish with the reader, such as the criticism of Aristocratic society through Rainsford's ordeal. The best example of this being the repeated stating of there being an upper class and a lower class in life before showing such classes materialized in a dual to the death and thusly showing their flaws.
The first, most obvious conflict in the story is the man v. man conflict between Zaroff and Rainsford, with the two men involved often describing it as a game of wits. It is Rainsford's intellect against Zaroff's. Through this conflict, the two men truly show their personalities and characteristics. Zaroff is arrogant and does things out of impulse, while Rainsford uses reason to plan his movements. Ultimately it is Zaroff's arrogance that kills him in the fight against Rainsford. Ironically, Rainsford's whole perception of the world reverses on him when he is put into the hunt. Safe on the boat, he declared himself a hunter, but on the island it is him who is being hunted.
It could also be argued that "The Most Dangerous Game" has another conflict, man v. environment. In his intense struggle for survival, Rainsford must fight off the effects of insects biting him, deadly quicksand, and thick vegetation. In this way, the jungle itself acts almost as an extension of Zaroff himself, trying to trap and hunt Rainsford. The darkness of the island and its unforgiving terrain are symbols for Zaroff's evil. However, it is later in the story that Rainsford uses the native terrain to his advantage in creating traps and escaping his pursuers, ultimately succeeding in his fight against the island with the death of Zaroff.
The final conflict which can be observed in the story is a man v. self conflict within Rainsford himself. Early in the text, he is described as not caring whether his prey felt fear, declaring " 'Who cares how a jaguar feels?' " to his friend Whitney. However, after hearing of General Zaroff's hunting activities, he is faced with several moral dilemmas. Is man any different from animal? Or are animals the same as man and thus feel the same fear, the same convictions? The author, Richard Connell, brings the theme of what it means to be prey and what it means to be predator up several times throughout the text, particularly in the dialogue between Rainsford and Zaroff to demonstrate the moral change in Rainsford as the story progresses. By the end of his ordeal, the reader can assume that Rainsford may have a drastically different opinion on the subject of hunting.
The various conflicts of "The Most Dangerous Game" can be found upon first inspection of the plot yet can also extend far deeper into the subtext of the story. The three conflicts interweave with one another and each directly affect the outcome of different situations in the plot. For example, the fact that Rainsford was put into a position where he would be hunted as in a man v. man may very well have influenced his moral choices just as should he not be forced to play Zaroff's game, he may have come around to the general's side of the argument. It is important to recognize the conflicts present yet also relate them to possibly connections that the author may be attempting to establish with the reader, such as the criticism of Aristocratic society through Rainsford's ordeal. The best example of this being the repeated stating of there being an upper class and a lower class in life before showing such classes materialized in a dual to the death and thusly showing their flaws.