Reflection Essay on The Most Dangerous Game

To hunt is to search for animals in hopes of killing them. To murder is to kill another human being. In the story “The Most Dangerous Game”, Richard Connell combines these two for a stunning and unpredictable plot. It tells the readers how the topic is introduced, displayed, and comes to a climax before the resolution. “The Most Dangerous Game” should be read next year, for it was different than the other stories and convivial to read. In the first place, “The Most Dangerous Game” is a different kind of story. Throughout the story, a new subject is revealed: a person hunting not animals, but people.
General Zaroff remarks, “It had become too easy. ” This means that the General wants an animal who has courage and the ability to reason. Rainsford is shocked at the idea of murder, and condones it immediately saying, “Hunting? Great Guns, General Zaroff, what you speak of is murder. ” Since the majority of stories do not speak of a person hunting people, “The Most Dangerous Game” should be read. Rainsford appears to be shocked at the idea of murder, saying “Civilized? And you shoot down men? ” General Zaroff seems to think it is perfectly okay.
This presents some unique character vs. character conflict. Furthermore, the story presents irony, as Rainsford overcomes odds and makes it out alive. The odds are very much stacked against his favor, but in the end Rainsford survives. That is another example of “The Most Dangerous Game” being a different tale. It also makes a person think. They may imagine what it would be like if it was them who were being hunted, and what they would do to protect themselves against the hunter. The majority of people would not have been able to outsmart people like Rainsford did.

“The Most Dangerous Game” puts a unique twist on the idea of hunting. The second example of why this short story should be kept in the ninth grade curriculum is the suspense that constantly builds as the story goes on. The suspense starts out when Rainsford swims onto Ship Trap Island. He hears a gunshot, signaling that there are humans near by. The reader wonders why there are gunshots and who is on the island. They find out that it is a man named General Zaroff, who hunts people. Zaroff and Rainsford agree to go hunting, but Rainsford is the huntee.
If the General has not killed him by three days Rainsford gets to go home. For three days in the story the reader gets anxious to see what is going to happen. Will he come out alive? Or will he be dead? Despite the fact that Rainsford outsmarts Zaroff once, Zaroff makes the person reading nervous by saying, “But I shall be back. I shall be back. ” This is meaning he will come back again to hunt for Rainsford, once again raising the level of suspense. In the end of the story, when Rainsford is proclaimed winner after the climax, “The Most Dangerous Game” has culminated the reader’s suspense.
Despite the challenging aspects of this story, “The Most Dangerous Game” is fun to read. Unlike the other stories, readers do not get bored while reading. This tale relates to the book, “The Hunger Games”, so readers that like the novel can find similarities in this. The action packed storyline is able to get readers on the edge of their seats. The literary elements, like foreshadowing in “The Most Dangerous Game” Made the story more significant and memorable. At the beginning of the story when Rainsford mentions the name ‘Ship Trap Island’, the reader suspects that it will come up again later.
In fact, Ship Trap Island ends up being the main setting of this narrative. This allows the bookworm reading to think about other situations that may occur later on. Overall, this story is pleasant and amusing. If a person is tired of doing their math homework or studying for a huge geography test, they can read “The Most Dangerous Game” and take a break from thinking. Some other short stories are found to be cliche, stale, or repetitous. Ninth graders want to read tales that are absorbing and charismatic.
“The Most Dangerous Game” is all of this plus numerous other things. Hence the satisfactory work of the author, this story shall be continued in the curriculum. On every page of “The Most Dangerous Game” the reader experiences a turn of a path or a great surprise. In some occasions the reader can even feel as if they are in the story. This proves just how cunning Connell’s word choice is. The dramatic and breathtaking plot gets the reader into it. “The Most Dangerous Game” is a great candidate to be read furthermore, because it is suspenseful, deviating, and pleasing.