Literary Analysis of The Most Dangerous Game

Andrew Thedens
Denver High School

Have you ever felt that you knew how nature was and how it works but in reality nature wasn’t what you thought it was.

The misconception of believing man can control nature, instead of the other way around is very deceiving. As humans we think that we can control what happens in our world but it’s an order that can’t be altered. Often we have believed we can control the things that can’t be controlled. The author uses three man types of conflicts that are faced by the main character in the most dangerous game. The three conflict types are man vs. man, man vs. nature, and man vs. society. When Sanger Rainsford is talking with Whitney he realizes how great of a sport that hunting is but only from a hunter’s perspective he doesn’t know what it’s like to be the one being hunted. Sanger Rainsford thinks that animals are supposed to be hunted because they are unintelligible, incapable to reason, and show no sign of emotional feelings. He becomes caught up in his own beliefs and perspectives of his side of the hunt. Blinded by this his becomes put in dangerous situations that he never thought he would be hunted in his own game, by one of his own kind. These three conflicts detail how Sanger Rainsford changes from the hunter to the hunted. He didn’t realize that just because animals can’t reason doesn’t mean he can’t be the most dangerous game. When he first meets the general for the first time he appears to be kind, polite, generous, and a true gentleman when he is taken in as his guest. As their conversations sink into more dangerous topics, they begin to disagree with each other and the situation tenses up. The more he learns about the general the more he never thought that the man could be capable of. The General tells Sanger Rainsford that he has developed a new sensation to hunting of creating a new animal to be hunted. The more he takes in from the general the more he didn’t expect to hear. Richard Connell the author of The Most Dangerous Game uses three conflict types that detail what the character faces as the story unravels. These three conflicts help to form a mood to the story to show that even the most civilized beings can sink deeper in themselves than society had truly intended. They may become corrupt and twisted in their own world and perform cruel acts on others even if they’re lives depend on it.
Richard Connell uses the man vs. nature conflict to show what Sanger Rainsford goes through when he is placed in dangerous situations. As humans we can’t change what nature intends for us but it can control us. It is an order that can’t be altered. Richard Connell uses the man vs. man conflict to show what the character faces between General Zaroff and Ivan. Although to Sanger Rainsford the general appears to be very kind hearted and welcoming. He doesn’t realize that the more he gets to know him the more he doesn’t expect to discover about his true corrupt and cruel side. The general wears a mask that only shows what he seems to be like on the outside and what good things he does for others. But the mask is only seen from the outside, hiding his flaws on the other end of the mask that hide who he really is. When he takes it off he becomes a whole different person with a whole different attitude. Richard Connell uses the man vs. society conflict to show that the true face of society is worse than he believes it really is. Society is full of kind civilized people that can become corrupt and twisted in their own minds and truly lost inside themselves. They will become more savage and barbarous than society had intended. Even the most civilized men can be changed forever.
In the most dangerous game, the main character Sanger Rainsford falls off a yacht and has to swim through vast currents to survive or he will drown. Even though he is exhausted he knows what he needs to do, he