Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Short Story 1: The Most Dangerous Game Summary

"The Most Dangerous Game" is a famous short story of a hunter named Rainsford, who falls off of a ship in the middle of the ocean, while on a hunting trip.  He swims to the island, known as Ship-Trap Island, and finds a huge house on the shore.  He is greeted by a deaf giant named Ivan and shown into the home of General Zaroff.  After what seemed like a lovely evening, Rainsford is forced, by the General, to be hunted down for three days on the island.  He takes his three day supplies and hides from the General for a whole day.  In the middle of the night, he hears dogs and footsteps and sets a trap, which is set off and kills Ivan the giant.  On the third day he has escaped the General and wins the bet, so Zaroff retreats to his bedroom to rest.  In the curtains hides Rainsford, who satisfyingly kills the General and feeds him to the dogs.  This is implied in the last line,  "He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided." (29).  

4 comments:

Julian R.E. said...

That's one of my favorite short stories. The whole idea of the book actually sounds fun to replicate, but maybe not with actual guns or the threat of death.

2NASH said...

After reading your post, I remembered what a great story this was. My favorite part of this story is the end when the author ends the story with the quote about never sleeping in a better bed.

Unknown said...

I loved this story and it brings back good memories from eighth grade! Seeing how Rainsford really had to think on his feet was interesting. I also really enjoyed the quote at the end about never sleeping in a better bed.

Kate J said...

I've read this short story, too. I find it violent and creepy. I think it shows a disgusting, horrible side of humans that is most likely there, but very hard to think about having. I mean can you imagine that there is a part of you that would, too, enjoy hunting down the general?