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mcacev 's review for:
The Most Dangerous Game - Richard Connell's Original Masterpiece
by Richard Connell
"He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided"
The Most Dangerous Game is a short story by Richard Connell, following Sanger Rainsford, a young American hunter who through the power of sheer idiocy, falls of his yacht while en route to Brazil and ends up on an island called Ship Trap. The only inhabitant on this island is a former Russian General Zaroff, a man obsessed with hunting. The general proposes a very simple 'game' to Rainsford; if Rainsford can survive in the jungle for 3 days while Zaroff hunts him, he can leave the island.
I read The Most Dangerous Game for the first time in high school and have loved this little story ever since. It's a great adventure/suspense piece, and I know very little about hunting.
On this reread, I only love it even more. The premise is great, but what really makes the story for me, is the dynamic between Rainsford and Zaroff.
Rainsford is a very typical American protagonist of this era. He is brave, has very strong moral convictions, but is also more than a little naive and prejudiced. I couldn't help but compare him to Prendick from The Island of Dr. Moreau because I read both of these on the same day, and I way prefer Raisnford's more proactive character. He sets traps and outwits Zaroff and there is a real sense that he deserves his victory at the end.
My absolute favorite, over the top moment is the conversation between Rainsford and his friend Whitney. Rainsford assertion that no one cares "how the jaguar feels" while being hunted, followed up by "Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes--the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters" (p. 4) is about on par with Connell throwing a brick in your face that says "THEME DAMMIT".
This exact sentiment is later paralleled by Zaroff's amazingly racist statement of "Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift?" (p. 20) where he talks about hunting "blacks, Chinese" and "mongrels".
And yet, Zaroff is an amazing character. He's like a proto-Bond villain: he dresses impeccably, has near superhuman reflexes and hunting abilities, killed his first bear when he was 10, and has so much sexual chemistry with Rainsford, if this were a movie made now, it would look like 90 min of the homoerotic volleyball scene from Top Gun. I loved all the non-nonsensical justifications for his hunting addiction, making fun of Rainsford for being "puritanical" about not wanting to kill people and my absolute favorite comment "Oh, yes," he said, casually, as if in answer to a question, "I have electricity. We try to be civilized here." (p. 22).
There is nothing redeemable about him, and I don't understand how it was an assignment in school to write the ending of this story. The ending is fine? It doesn't need rewriting or any additions? If anything, I would have loved to see the duel between Rainsford and Zaroff, but not anything after Rainsford wins. And I don't see any universe in which Rainsford would take Zaroff's place; it's pretty heavily implied that he would just escape the island. Why else would we even mention the Spanish crew that's being held captive by Zaroff?
Overall I love this story. It was great in high school and it's still great now, and if anything, it definitely inspires me to track down more stories from Connell.
The Most Dangerous Game is a short story by Richard Connell, following Sanger Rainsford, a young American hunter who through the power of sheer idiocy, falls of his yacht while en route to Brazil and ends up on an island called Ship Trap. The only inhabitant on this island is a former Russian General Zaroff, a man obsessed with hunting. The general proposes a very simple 'game' to Rainsford; if Rainsford can survive in the jungle for 3 days while Zaroff hunts him, he can leave the island.
I read The Most Dangerous Game for the first time in high school and have loved this little story ever since. It's a great adventure/suspense piece, and I know very little about hunting.
On this reread, I only love it even more. The premise is great, but what really makes the story for me, is the dynamic between Rainsford and Zaroff.
Rainsford is a very typical American protagonist of this era. He is brave, has very strong moral convictions, but is also more than a little naive and prejudiced. I couldn't help but compare him to Prendick from The Island of Dr. Moreau because I read both of these on the same day, and I way prefer Raisnford's more proactive character. He sets traps and outwits Zaroff and there is a real sense that he deserves his victory at the end.
My absolute favorite, over the top moment is the conversation between Rainsford and his friend Whitney. Rainsford assertion that no one cares "how the jaguar feels" while being hunted, followed up by "Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes--the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters" (p. 4) is about on par with Connell throwing a brick in your face that says "THEME DAMMIT".
This exact sentiment is later paralleled by Zaroff's amazingly racist statement of "Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift?" (p. 20) where he talks about hunting "blacks, Chinese" and "mongrels".
And yet, Zaroff is an amazing character. He's like a proto-Bond villain: he dresses impeccably, has near superhuman reflexes and hunting abilities, killed his first bear when he was 10, and has so much sexual chemistry with Rainsford, if this were a movie made now, it would look like 90 min of the homoerotic volleyball scene from Top Gun. I loved all the non-nonsensical justifications for his hunting addiction, making fun of Rainsford for being "puritanical" about not wanting to kill people and my absolute favorite comment "Oh, yes," he said, casually, as if in answer to a question, "I have electricity. We try to be civilized here." (p. 22).
There is nothing redeemable about him, and I don't understand how it was an assignment in school to write the ending of this story. The ending is fine? It doesn't need rewriting or any additions? If anything, I would have loved to see the duel between Rainsford and Zaroff, but not anything after Rainsford wins. And I don't see any universe in which Rainsford would take Zaroff's place; it's pretty heavily implied that he would just escape the island. Why else would we even mention the Spanish crew that's being held captive by Zaroff?
Overall I love this story. It was great in high school and it's still great now, and if anything, it definitely inspires me to track down more stories from Connell.