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Themes and Colors. LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Most Dangerous Game , which you can use to track the themes throughout the work. Civilization and Community. Condoned Violence vs. Rainsford, however and, presumably, the… read analysis of Condoned Violence vs. Extreme Social Darwinism. The primary moral or lesson of the story concerns the distinction between hunting, murder, and self-defense.
Sanger Rainsford recognizes that hunting animals and killing someone in self-defense is justifiable and sometimes necessary. The use of this literary device suggests that Connell wanted to convey the hunter versus the hunted ideals of General Zaroff as an important theme which propels the plot. Also the constant suspense of the story makes it entertaining. The story is inspired by the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that were particularly fashionable among wealthy Americans in the s.
S-Rainsford killed Zaroff in self defense. P-Against his will Rainsford was forced to participate in a 3 day hunt where Zaroff tried to hunt and kill Rainsford. He was a tall man past middle age, for his hair was a vivid white; but his thick eyebrows and pointed military moustache were as black as the night from which Rainsford had come. His eyes, too, were black and very bright. In the end, Rainsford is able to beat Zaroff by killing him. Rainsford is able to evade capture by having Zaroff think he died.
He has to try to survive. Both characters are well-accomplished big-game hunters. As the story unfolds, however, their roles change.
Rainsford is thrust into the position of the hunted. However, he tries to undermine the game by setting traps for the hunter. Rainsford's form of hunting is passive whereas Zaroff's is active. The fragility of this relationship between the hunted and the hunter is not only displayed in the resolution of the story but also through various passages.
For example, Zaroff describes several interactions with animals that resulted in injury on his part. The central moral theme of the story involves the distinction between murder and hunting. Rainsford sees a clear difference between the two, hence his disgust at Zaroff's hunting of men.
Zaroff, on the other hand, sees his pastime as similar to a war. This particular theme remains a source of tension throughout the story. As Rainsford is hunted, he does his best to try to destroy Zaroff through a series of traps. In the end, it is implied that Rainsford has proven to be the greater hunter. When he finishes, he hides nearby. Zaroff returns later, tracking the trail through the jungle. His foot touches a branch that triggers the dead tree.
It falls toward him. He leaps out of the way. It doesn't crush him, but it does glance off his shoulder, injuring it. Zaroff laughs, congratulates Rainsford on his trap, and says he'll be back when his wound is attended to. Rainsford flees until after dark. The ground becomes soft; he realizes he's reached the quicksand. In front of it, he digs a deep hole.
He sharpens some hard saplings into stakes and puts them in the hole, points up. He covers it with weeds and branches. He hides behind a nearby tree. Zaroff approaches the position quickly. Rainsford hears the cover breaking and a cry of pain. He looks out, but Zaroff still stands by the hole. His dog fell into the trap.
Zaroff commends Rainsford. He goes home for a rest. At daybreak, Rainsford wakes to the sound of a pack of hounds. He climbs a tree. He sees Ivan with the dogs, and Zaroff close behind. Rainsford ties his knife to a springy sapling and ties that down with a vine. He takes off through the jungle. The baying of the hounds stops suddenly.
Rainsford climbs a tree. The knife had snapped into Ivan. He dashes through the trees again, and comes to the shore. There's a twenty foot drop. Across the cove, he can see the mansion. He jumps in the water. Back home, Zaroff has his dinner. He's annoyed with two things—having to replace Ivan, and that he didn't kill his prey.
He reads and then goes to his bedroom. Zaroff congratulates him on winning the game. Rainsford warns Zaroff that the contest isn't over for him. Zaroff bows. He says the loser will be fed to the dogs, while the winner will sleep in his bed.
One of the major themes of the story is established in the opening conversation between Rainsford and Whitney. The story would work just fine without this scene, so it should set up something important. Besides creating a sense of mystery and foreboding about the island, it let's us know what lesson Rainsford, and the reader, might learn. Rainsford calls hunting the best sport in the world.
Whitney qualifies this by saying it's best for the hunter, not the jaguar, who might feel bad. Rainsford dismisses this as nonsense, saying "They've no understanding. Whitney says they know "The fear of pain and the fear of death. What's more, he doesn't seem to care either way, saying "The world is made up of two classes—the hunters and the huntees. Rainsford soon finds his role reversed as he's being hunted like an animal.
Of course, every normal person can agree that hunting humans is immoral, as Rainsford does, saying "what you speak of is murder. This definite distinction that Rainsford makes is put to the test by his plight. He's put in the place of the animals he hunts. Of course, the fact that Rainsford is terrified does nothing to settle the question of what an animal feels. These are feelings experienced by a human. But the reversal would certainly make Rainsford, and the reader, consider the possibility that a hunted animal also feels dread and terror.
We also note that Rainsford's ability to reason is what saves him at every turn. If an animal does indeed feel a comparable fear, their situation seems all the more unfair, as they have no hope of reasoning their way out of it.
At the end, Rainsford identifies as an animal, saying "I am still a beast at bay.
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