Values for Survival (The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell Book Analysis)

📌Category: Books, The Most Dangerous Game
📌Words: 672
📌Pages: 3
📌Published: 28 January 2022

Survival is what we live and strive for, but successfully surviving is a whole different story. When fighting mentally and physically for your right to be alive, you have to remember you are not just fighting for yourself, you are fighting for those who love you as well. Surviving certainly is not an easy task, but over years our ancestors have made it easier with inventions and discoveries. In the end, it's up to you to decide your story. But take this, for example, you are an animal getting hunted by something stronger and smarter than you. What values or qualities do you need to have to survive? Being motivated and having the capability to be resourceful or witty in any given situation, are essential ideas in order to survive in this world. 

Motivation is vital because without the right drive to accomplish something you cannot do anything. When a person is running a marathon, they have to push through and have an incentive to finish, whether that be money or fitness. Everything has a motivation behind it and it bends your mind at its will.  “I must keep my nerve. I must keep my nerve”,(line 174) shows that through sheer motivation Rainsford is able to push himself through the fear and uncomfortableness that he is feeling while hiding from Zaroff in a tree. Even though he knows Zaroff is a highly experienced hunter and marksman, he tells his mind to keep going and not get fazed by it. He says this again(line 186) to motivate himself yet again and push forward through fear, anxiety, and panic. “Did not make me condone cold-blooded murder”,(line 114) a point in the story in which Rainsford thought it was immoral or wrong to kill other humans, but then goes against the very fact which he states and kills Zaroff. Why do you think he does this? The answer lies within Rainsford’s mind. Rainsford knows that he is either gonna come off the island alive, or Zaroff is. This very fact stimulates Rainsford’s mind to do whatever he can to survive. "Thank you, I'm a hunter, not a murderer." He again repeats this same idea, which shows his beliefs in not killing people, and sticks to that until he is motivated otherwise. This motivation for survival helps him push through, and in the end, defy what he believed in when killing Zaroff. 

Resourcefulness and wit are highly important in the aspect of survival. Take this scenario, for example, you are in a house with no electricity. You find a way to start a fire(with rock and stick or matches), and you create a source of heat and light for you. Then you make the fire a little bigger and cook something above it. This is an example of resourcefulness and wit. Another important scene in The Most Dangerous Game is when Zaroff is chasing Rainsford and applauds him for his efforts when Rainsford tries to trap Zaroff.  "Your Burmese tiger pit has claimed one of my best dogs. Again you score. I think, Mr. Rainsford, I'll see what you can do against my whole pack. I'm going home for a rest now. Thank you for a most amusing evening." (line 195)This shows how resourceful Rainsford is on such short notice. Rainsford also leaves trails to confuse Zaroff at the beginning of the hunt. "I'll give him a trail to follow," (line 178). These are just a few examples to show how resourceful Rainsford is only equipped with a knife but manages to make Malayan mancatcher as well as these traps. By using his settings to his advantage, Rainsford is easily able to evade his capturer.  Rainsford hesitated. He heard the hounds. Then he leaped far out into the sea. . . . Rainsford leaps off the edge of a cliff and supposedly dies, but it is later revealed that Rainsford is actually alive and inside Zaroffs house. Rainsford uses his brain and knows that Zaroff is the better hunter and he will catch him eventually, so the only way to beat him was if Zaroff did not know he was alive. This will lead Zaroff to believe he has won the game when in fact, he has not. Without being so resourceful and witty Rainsford would never have beaten Zaroff and survived The Most Dangerous Game.

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