THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME - RICHARD EDWARD

CONNELL

“WHEN A MAN WANTS TO MURDER A TIGER HE CALLS IT SPORT; WHEN A TIGER WANTS TO MURDER HIM HE CALLS IT FEROCITY.”—GEORGE BERNARD SHAW

CONTENTSCONTENTS Author’s Introduction About the story Characters Plot development Summary Interpretations Short Movie

ABOUT THE AUTHORABOUT THE AUTHOR

Born In New York. (October 17, 1893 – November

22, 1949) Began his career at a young age when he did some

time in jail for his father Became fascinating writer at the age of 10 He graduated from Harvard in 1915. His works include - Apes and Angels(1924) - Mad Lover(1927) - The Most dangerous Game

THE STORY IS ABOUT THE STORY IS ABOUT Genre: Short Story

Point of view : Third person limited

Setting—Ship Trap Island

Protagonist- Rainsford

Antagonist- zaroff

External Conflict—Struggle with an outside force.

Man vs. Man: Rainsford vs. Zaroff, Rainsford vs. Ivan

Man vs. Nature: Rainsford vs. the Sea, Rainsford vs. the jungle/island

CONTD…..

Man vs. Beast: Rainsford vs. the dogs

Internal Conflict—Struggle within oneself. Man vs. Man: Rainsford struggles with fear,

morality of hunting Man vs. Fate: Rainsford struggles with dying

Theme-Theme- Hunting is cruel. Don’t hunt humans.

CHARACTERSCHARACTERS

Sanger Rainsford, Sanger Rainsford,

-Renowned Hunter

- Skilled

- Clever

- Proud of his profession - Keen observer - Protagonist--Main Character

General Zaroff, General Zaroff, - Ex-army man - Hospitable - Fearless - Desires for more - In-human & Insane - Over confident - Skilled - Sophisticated

Ivan, Ivan, Zaroff's Russian servant, body guard and hunting

partner. Ivan is a giant, he is deaf, mute and dull.

Whitney, Whitney, Rainsford's friend who appears briefly in the

introduction, wondering what it would be like if he were the hunted instead of the hunter.

PLOT – SEQUENCE OF EVENTSPLOT – SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

Exposition --introduces the characters, background and setting

Rising Action –adds complications leads to the climax

Falling action –the action that is a result of the climax

Resolution –tells or implies the outcome of the story

Climax-highest point of action or interest. A moment of great emotional intensity or suspense in a plot

PLOT DIAGRAMPLOT DIAGRAM

Setting: Ship-Trap Island

Protagonist -- Rainsford

Antagonist -- Zaroff

•Rainsford jumps over the cliff to escape from Zaroff

•Rainsford is hunted by Zaroff

•Rainsford swims to Ship-Trap Island after falling off the yacht

Rainsford hides in Zaroff’s room

Rainsford and Zaroff fight

Rainsford kills Zaroff

SUMMARYSUMMARY Rainsford and Whitney, head towards Amazon

rain forest Whitney mentions about the Ship Trap island Rainsford ignores what Whitney has to say Considers hunting as the best sport Ignores the feeling of the hunted Whitney mentions about the fear of pain and fear

of death

Later Rainsford goes for the sleep Wakes up hearing the 3 shots of

gun Leaps on the rail to see what has

happened Lost his balance and fell off the

ship Swims and lands on the island Follows the sound he hears Follows the trail of the hunting

boots Sights an enormous building

Opens the iron gate and finds a gigantic creature (Ivan) standing with a revolver

Ivan- Deaf and Dumb Another man enters ‘General

Zaroff’- a Russian noble Appears to be a generous host Loves hunting but is bored by

killing animals He says, ‘ There is no greater bore

than perfection’

But he has found a new animal to hunt That animal has courage, is cunning and able to

reason Rainsford confused about which animal is

General Zaroff talking about General then says that he has chosen to hunt

humans This makes it Most Dangerous Game

Rainsford shocked and amazed with what he has heard

He is confused as to know where does these men come from

The General simply mentions that the island is the Ship Trap Island…..

The general had dozens of trapped pupils, collection of heads and hounds

Rainsford asked him what he would do if in case he refused to play the game

General persuaded him by saying that if he caught him within three days the general would kill him , if not the general would be defeated

General himself would use only a small caliber pistol

General suggests him to avoid the "Death Swamp”

Ivan bought a supply of food, hunting clothes and a knife

He was given moccasins and a three hours start

He set to the woods and assured to maintain a distance between himself and Zaroff.

Taking care not to leave the slightest mark, he climbed the tree

The First DayThe First Day

The Second DayThe Second Day

The general came searching with an automatic pistol

The general went away with a smile as he turned back

Rainsford made, what the general called a "Malay man-catcher" to trap the general

But only the generals shoulders got hurt

That night he set to prepare another trap " the Burmese tiger pit"

One of the General’s best hounds got killed

The Third DayThe Third DayRainsford was awakened by the sound of the houndsA trick Rainsford learnt in Uganda came up on his mindThrough this trick he managed to kill IvanThat night general Zaroff had a great dinner but two slight annoyance disturbed himHe saw Rainsford behind the curtains in his roomAt last, Rainsford managed to kill Zaroff and get rid of his terror

INTERPRETATIONINTERPRETATION

fear of death and the fear of pain is same in case of both human beings and animals.

‘A wearer only knows where the shoe pinches.’ In order to fully understand others, we must first walk in their shoes. Rainsford now knows what it feels like to be the “prey.” He may be a more compassionate hunter now.

makes us feel how inhuman it is to hunt animals just for the sake of fun and hence it should be discourage.