Week Thirty

The Most Dangerous Game

There is a mysterious island in a dangerous part of the ocean. On this island is a mansion owned by a reclusive aristocrat with a love of hunting, and a jungle stocked with his game....but just what does he hunt?

The Facts

Text: The Most Dangerous Game Author: Richard Connell

Genre: Thriller, Horror, Suspense Year: 1924

Available: Here (Free!)

Content Warning: guns, hunting, mentions of violence to animals and humans. Scenes of human being hunted.

The Fiction

There are some short stories with premises so unique and evocative that everyone knows of them. Even if you haven't read the actual story, then you've been exposed to some part of the premise through pop culture. Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game is an example of such a tale. This story, or at least the premise has been adapted many times.

What's that premise? That of all the animals on Earth man is the most dangerous (and therefore the most exciting) to hunt. This idea of a person or group capturing and hunting other human beings for sport has been spoofed in comedies like The Simpson's, used for horror in fantasy shows like Supernatural, or as the mystery of the week in procedural shows like Criminal Minds. Most recently a modern film adaptation, called The Hunt, was met with controversy and a delayed release after real life mass shootings, with accusations the film would glorify such behavior.

It's a popular and versatile premise with elements of horror, mystery, suspense, and action, with philosophical ponderings on the human spirit and our relationship with animals. It also helps that The Most Dangerous Game is simply a well written story.

So beyond the premise what is the plot of this story? Well The Most Dangerous Game follows protagonist Sanger Rainsford, a famous big game hunter and his struggle to survive after falling off a yacht in a dangerous and mysterious part of the ocean. After hearing gunshots Rainsford is able to locate and swim to a nearby island where he finds a jungle and a lone mansion.

After knocking on the mansion door and almost getting shot by the butler Ivan, he meets the master of the house, General Zaroff. The General recognizes Rainsford by his reputation as a great hunter and invites him in. Rainsford is at first charmed by the handsome and aristocratic General, and the two of them talk eagerly of their shared passion: hunting. General Zaroff tells Rainsford he is eager to show him the hunting on the island because he has secured the most dangerous (and exciting) of game: a creature that is courageous, fierce, and capable of rational thinking beyond instinct.

Rainsford is horrified when the General tells him this special animal is in fact other human beings. He refuses to join Zaroff on his hunt and demands to leave the island. Zaroff offers him the same deal as every captive on the island: Rainsford can be given to Ivan who has his own sadistic sports, or he can try to survive in jungle for three days with General Zaroff hunting him. The General promises if Rainsford survives he will let him go, although no one has ever beaten him at this game.

Rainsford takes the chance, and the rest of the story details his increasingly desperate attempts to survive and out maneuver the General, all while trying to keep calm and not give into the panic of being prey. I don't want to spoil the ending by giving away the winner of the hunt, so I will only say that the end of the story examines the dynamics of General Zaroff and Rainsford and of predator and prey.

The Feeling There's so much to love about this story! A mysterious island in the sea, an evil aristocrat, a cat and mouse game. On their own all of these are good tropes, and this story combines them! That means great setting, great characters (you know I love a good villain!) and an exciting plot.

There's also some great prose in this story! Lines that describe the darkness of the night as "moist black velvet," or the sea as "muttering and growling" bring such life to the setting. Connell didn't just have an interesting idea for a story he is also a genuinely talented writer making choices even in diction that help to create the menacing and mysterious mood of the story.

As a character Rainsford is a great horror protagonist. He's not necessarily a good man, considering his love of hunting, but he also isn't anywhere near the monstrous General or Ivan. His past gives him the knowledge and skill to go up against General Zaroff in his hunting game. Rainsford is almost a proto action movie hero: able to keep a clear head in a situation where most would panic, and able to use his unique combination of skills and knowledge to survive and eventually turn the tables on his pursuer. (Die Hard, anyone?)

Then there are the deeper themes of this story such as: hunting and our relationship with animals, human as animal both as predator and prey, and what it means when humans prey on each other. There are some fascinating details in relation to these themes such as Zaroff insisting on his aristocratic lifestyle and being "civilized" even as he participates in the animalistic pastime of hunting to kill. Is Zaroff civilized because of his wealth and comforts, are they all only illusions? What does it mean for humanity to become animalistic? Or worse monstrous?

The hunters in The Most Dangerous Game propose that there are two kinds of people: the hunter and the huntee, The story then asks: if we indulge in those two position are we even people anymore? Or are we only animals--only beasts divided by the distinction of predator or prey.