The Most Dangerous Game rising action

This page allows you to explore the short story "The Most Dangerous Game."

*NOTE: The CONFLICT of a literary work in this plot map falls before the rising action and after the exposition.*

EXPOSITION: The exposition of a story is its beginning where the characters and setting are introduced. In Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game,” the story begins on a ship in the Caribbean that’s destination is Rio. Here we are introduced to Rainsford, the protagonist and a skilled hunter and author. We also address Whitney as Rainsford’s shipmate; however, he does not make another appearance in the story. Further along in the exposition, we meet Zaroff, the antagonist, and Ivan, his assistant, on Ship-Trap Island, a spooky island where “…sailors have a curious dread of the place…Some superstition…” (“The Most Dangerous Game.) This is where most of the story takes place. Because both General Zaroff and Ivan were Russian Cossacks in World War I, we can infer that the story takes place sometime after this war.

CONFLICT: A conflict in a literary work is a struggle between opposing forces. The main conflict of “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell is revealed when Rainsford discovers the presence of Zaroff on Ship Trap Island. Zaroff wishes Rainsford, whom he knows is a skilled hunter, to be his hunting partner. Once Rainsford discovers that Zaroff hunts humans, however, he quickly refuses to participate in the barbarous act. Zaroff, seriously offended, decides to hunt Rainsford himself. Zaroff says to Rainsford, “You’ll find this game worth playing…Your brain against mine. Your woodcraft against mine. Your strength and stamina against mine” (“The Most Dangerous Game”). Simply put, the main conflict is that Rainsford is trapped on unfamiliar territory and must escape from Zaroff, a barbaric man, to survive.   

RISING ACTION: The rising action in a literary work is all the events that lead to the climax where the conflict is intensified.  In “The Most Dangerous Game,” the rising action is everything that happens between the revealed conflict and the climax. This includes the action of Rainsford leaving a trail in the jungle. However, “Following the trail with the sureness of a bloodhound came General Zaroff” (“The Most Dangerous Game”.) Zaroff, however, decides not to kill Rainsford once he found him because he is having to much fun. In addition, Rainsford sets a trap for Zaroff in hopes of capturing him, but instead the trap kills Ivan, Zaroff’s personal assistant and one of Zaroff’s best dogs.

CLIMAX: The climax of a story is its highest point of action, emotion, or intensity. The climax in “The Most Dangerous Game” begins when Rainsford is being chased by Zaroff and his hounds. Upon hearing the hounds close in on him, Rainsford “leaped far out into the sea…” (The Most Dangerous Game”) off a cliff knowing it is his only chance at survival. In this moment, it is the climax because we don’t know if Rainsford will survive the fall.

FALLING ACTION: The falling action of a story is the events following the climax that decrease in intensity. In “The Most Dangerous Game,” the falling action begins after Rainsford jumps off the cliff in hopes of survival. After landing, he swims back to the chateau where Zaroff resides. Rainsford hides in Zaroff’s bedroom, and upon walking in, Zaroff is shocked to see Rainsford alive. “ ‘Rainsford!’ screamed the general. ‘How in God’s name did you get here?’ ” (“The Most Dangerous Game”.)

RESOLUTION: The resolution of a literary work is the outcome of the conflict. In the story, Rainsford tells Zaroff he is a ‘beast at bay.’ By this he means that instead of being the prey, he is now the hunter and Zaroff is his prey. Rainsford defeats Zaroff and sleeps in his bed.

MAIN CHARACTERS: 

RAINSFORD: Rainsford is the protagonist, or the main character who is working toward a goal. In this case, Rainsford’s goal is to get off the island safely. On this island, Rainsford is being hunted by Zaroff, a former military general and also a crazy man. In this scenario, Rainsford feels real fear, which contrasts with what Rainsford says in the beginning of the story. While talking to Whitney, his shipmate, Rainsford says, "Nonsense" to Whitney's remark, “Even so, I rather think they understand one thing-fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death.” In this case, Rainsford is a dynamic character, or a character that changes within a literary work, because he now realizes that animals can feel fear. In addition, Rainsford is also a round character, a character that has a fully developed personality with lots of character traits. We can conclude that Rainsford is resourceful, a quick-thinker, courageous, brave, adventurous, and determined from his adventure of Ship-Trap Island. While on this island, he thought quickly about jumping off the cliff and demonstrated determination when he killed Zaroff in the ending of the story. These character traits were attributes that helped him to become the ‘victor’ of the hunt.

ZAROFF: Zaroff is introduced as the antagonist, or the force attempting to stop the protagonist from reaching their goal, when we discover that he will try to stop Rainsford from leaving the island. We realize this when Zaroff tells Rainsford he will hunt him after Rainsford quickly disregards Zaroff’s attempts at convincing him to become his hunting partner. Zaroff is a static character, or one that does not change throughout the course of a literary work. Zaroff was a static character because he never changed from his disgusting, barbaric, and inhumane views on hunting. Zaroff is also a round character, a character who has a fully-developed personality, because he proves to have many character traits including: barbarism, cleverness, slyness, and skill. He shows true craziness and barbarism by the fact that he hunts humans for fun. He is clever, sly, and skilled because we clearly see him quickly follow Rainsford's trail in the woods and we know that up until Rainsford's 'turn' on the island Zaroff has never lost to another human. These traits are attributes that contribute to his downfall by Rainsford’s hand. We also know that Zaroff was a Russian Cossack in World War I.

IVAN: Ivan is Zaroff’s mute assistant. We know little of Ivan besides the fact that he was a Cossack in the Russian army in World War I, along with Zaroff. We also know that Ivan is a very large and scary looking man, who could be described as big and stern. Because we know little of Ivan, he is a flat character, a character without a fully-developed personality. Ivan is also a static character, a character who does not change throughout the story. Ivan doesn't change his stern personality at all. 

WHITNEY: Whitney is Rainsford’s shipmate, whom we see in the beginning of the story on the boat. Whitney is a thoughtful person because he thinks about his games' feelings and old superstitions, such as the one about Ship-Trap Island. Other than the fact that he is thoughtful, we know next to nothing about Whitney, therefore he is a flat character, one that doesn't have a fully-developed personality. In addition, Whitney is a static character because he does not change throughout the course of the story. 

THE CONFLICT OF "THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME"

    A conflict is a struggle between opposing forces. There are two main types of categories of conflicts: internal and external. An internal conflict is a struggle a character faces within themselves. An external conflict is a struggle between a character and an outside force. In addition to these two types of conflicts, there are five sub-categories, which include: man vs. man, man vs. self, man vs. nature, man vs. society, and man vs. supernatural (fantasy). The main conflict in “The Most Dangerous Game” is simply that Rainsford, the protagonist, wants to leave Ship-Trap Island safely and unharmed by Zaroff, the antagonist. Zaroff is hunting Rainsford and wants to kill him for fun. This conflict between the two characters can be classified as an external conflict because Rainsford, the protagonist, is struggling with an outside force, Zaroff. This conflict can also be classified as man vs. man because Rainsford is struggling with Zaroff, another man.

 THE SETTING OF "THE MOST DANGEROUS GAME"

    The setting of a story is where and when the story takes place. In “The Most Dangerous Game,” the story first takes place on a boat somewhere in the Caribbean that is headed for Rio. Later, Rainsford finds himself stranded on Ship-TrapIsland, which is also somewhere in the Caribbean. We can infer that it takes place sometime after World War I because both General Zaroff and Ivan were Russian Cossacks in the war. The setting clearly has a huge influence on the story. For example, if the story hadn’t taken place after World War I, then General Zaroff and Ivan wouldn’t have fought in the war; therefore, these two men might not have acted so barbaric and inhuman. Zaroff most likely wouldn’t have gotten tired of hunting animals because while fighting he would have hunted more often and had more practice. Instead, he became bored and decided to hunt humans. Zaroff says, “Every day I hunt, and I never grow bored now, for I have a quarry with which I can match my wits” (“The Most Dangerous Game”.) In addition, the mysteriousness of Ship-Trap Island provides excitement and enhancement to the plot. Whitney sets the mysterious tone of the island while talking to Rainsford on the ship. He say, “The old charts call it Ship-Trap Island…A suggestive name, isn’t it? Sailors have a curious dread of the place…Some superstition” (“The Most Dangerous Game”.) Also, the jungle on the island, provides excitement and conflict when Rainsford sets a trap on the quicksand and when Rainsford hides in a tree. In addition, Rainsford might not have jumped off a cliff if the story took place on a prairie, where the land is flat. 

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