by Shelly Estill

Created on: September 28, 2009

Richard Connell's protagonist in "The Most Dangerous Game," (rpt. in Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson, Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound and Sense, 9th ed. [Boston: Wadswoth, 2006] 67) Sanger Rainsford, shows the reader through his actions, as well as his deeds, that he is a realistic and rational man firmly planted in his certainty of the world around him. His view of himself as a moralistic individual is best played out as his ideals are questioned, examined, and ultimately discarded as weak by his antagonist, General Zoroff. It is through this conflict our hero, the accomplished hunter of dangerous beasts, himself becomes the hunted and ultimately the instinctual creature able to survive its harrowing ordeal.

From the beginning, Rainsford proves he has "A certain cool-headedness" (69). ). Even as he struggles in the ocean after falling off of the yacht he is traveling on, he keeps his senses about him. This enables him to abandon, seemingly without worry, the ship he was sailing on for land he has rationalized must exist nearby simply because he has heard shots from that direction. This unknown island, he feels, will be his salvation, for "Where there are pistol shots, there are men. Where there are men, there is food" (70). He is so sure that the world is ordered and makes sense that he apparently ignores the gun Ivan holds on him upon their first encounter, as well as his openly aggressive nature towards him by simply stating " I am Sanger Rainsford of New York. I fell off of a yacht. I am hungry" (71) He completely dispels Ivan's mannerisms because they do not fit into his neat box of what the world and the people populating it should be like according to his stance.

Rainsford shows us his moral nature through his verbal clashes with General Zoroff. He openly attacks the general telling him that he "speak(s) of murder" (76) as Zoroff explains his new diversion of hunting men, not wild animals for sport. As their verbal jousting escalates, Rainsford refuses to join the Cossack in the hunt. The general decides Rainsford is to be his next quarry. Offering Rainsford a deal, General Zoroff tries to bargain with the man by offering to allow him to leave the island if he survives the hunt provided that he "say(s) nothing of his visit" there (80); Rainsford replies that he will "agree to nothing of the kind" (80). Rainsford clearly demonstrates throughout this heated exchange that he is a man of principle. Yes, he is a hunter and demonstrates great pride

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