The Most Dangerous Game

“The old charts call it ‘Ship-Trap Island,’ Whitney replied. ‘A suggestive name, isn’t it? Sailors have a curious dread of the place. I don’t know why. Some superstition—’”

Connell builds a sense of foreboding within the first few lines of the story: a dreaded island with a chilling name, superstition, and an exceptionally dark night. The island’s name also foreshadows since the reader later learns that Zaroff tricks passing ships into coming too close to the island and crashing on the rocks. Finally, the break at the end of the quote indicates Rainsford interrupting Whitney, something he does more than once during their relatively brief conversation. Rainsford’s lack of regard for the sailors’ superstition and repeated interruption of Whitney show him to be prideful and insensitive.

“‘Great sport, hunting.’ ‘The best sport in the world,’ agreed Rainsford. ‘For the hunter,’ amended Whitney. ‘Not for the jaguar.’ ‘Don’t talk rot, Whitney,’ said Rainsford. ‘You’re a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?’ ‘Perhaps the jaguar does,’ observed Whitney. ‘Bah! They’ve no understanding.’ ‘Even so, I rather think they understand one thing—fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death.’ ‘Nonsense,’ laughed Rainsford. ‘This hot weather is making you soft, Whitney. Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes—the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters.’”

The exchange between Rainsford and Whitney highlights the story’s primary irony: Rainsford feels no sympathy for the animals he hunts, yet he later becomes the hunted prey. Rainsford eventually understands the fear of pain and death firsthand from the animal’s perspective. Although Rainsford has enjoyed status as a hunter, that position is not permanent.

“Rainsford heard a sound. It came out of the darkness, a high screaming sound, the sound of an animal that is in an extremity of anguish and terror.”

Connell uses vivid imagery to describe the horrible sound Rainsford hears as he tries to swim to shore. He also foreshadows the terror Rainsford will feel when Zaroff pursues him. This imagery and