Introduction to Transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game”
The transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game” is in the character of Rainsford. Although in our lives we see several people staying on the same course, several characters do not witness any transformation even in the imaginary world of fiction. They stay flat and the same as they are in the beginning of the story. Even among several such characters, there is an inner transformation manifested in their habits and attitude more than in their outward acts. Such as the stories of Richard Connell have the same characters who do not change their outward actions, but still, they go through a certain psychological or inward transformation. This transformation takes place due to several reasons. This transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game”, presents a situation where a big-game hunter goes through a situation of being hunted by another hunter. Rainsford changes inwardly because he becomes a beast at heart and kills his pursuer, but outwardly he does not change and stays the same hunter who merely hunts.
Transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game”
Rainsford experiences change and psychological transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game” of being a hunted by the end of the story. He starts his voyage with his colleague Whitney to the Amazon to hunt the jaguars which are highly cunning animals. Therefore, they hope to enjoy this “best sport in the world” (Connell) but his friend thinks otherwise. Rainsford shows his true colors saying “You’re a big-game hunter, not a philosopher?” (Connell). These are his exact words and he feels pride at his being a lucky person that they are “the hunters” (Connell). This shows his pride in being lucky that they are among the hunters, but soon he found himself in the other role. He falls down from the yacht when looking out into the forest and reaches the forest where he finds a “palatial chateau” (Connell). As an experienced hunter, he instantly recognizes that there is something sinister in the air and that the forest is “An evil place”(Connell). He realizes that he has gone through these things earlier in his life for “it was not the first time” (Connell), he has been at such a place. But this is something different. He is finding it a mirage “but it was not a mirage” (4). Soon he was with the Cossack general with his dumb and deaf sidekick, enjoying a delicious meal and champagne. However, one thing about him was making him uncomfortable that was “he found the general studying him” (Connell). It ended when he told him that “I hunt more dangerous game” (5). This is the point where he found himself preparing psychologically but this transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game” does not come to fruition as yet. He further added that he had experienced all types of hunting and this no more interests him. Therefore, he may go to pieces if he leaves it like (Connell), he tells Rainsford. This slow narration of the general slowly continued working on him psychologically and it reached its culmination when he told him that he wanted an “ideal animal” (Connell) at which he looked in disbelief at first. However, he wanted to confirm and demurred to which General Zaroff said that “Life is for the strong to be lived by the strong, to be lived, if needs be, taken by the strong “(Connell). He clearly understood what he meant and this was the point he protested to get rid of this but found no arguments working on the general. There were two choices to run and escape but to go to pieces by his sidekick Ivan. However, he chose the second one due to his psychological transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game” that he felt every minute of his life during this chase as an animal being hunted down. He was going through the same fear of pain and fear (1) and even tried several methods an animal would have tried such as cats and foxes. It is where this transformation made him feel “how an animal feels at bay” (Connell) and there he acted but like a reasoning human being and jumped into the sea to reach his chateau before him by swimming. When the general came to sleep in his bed he found the changed Rainsford there smiling saying “I am still a beast at bay” (Connell) which means that he has no reason now not to kill him. This shows how his mind transformed from a hunter to huntee and then “a beast at bay” (Connell).
Type of Transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game”
The other argument that he does not change outwardly and there are no physical signs is also correct. No physical change is ever observed from his signs and polemics which take place in his mind that he has changed. First, he is seen arguing his case with his friend Whitney to tell him that animals do not feel as if they are “no understanding” (Connell) but he alerts him that they, though, understand “fear” (Connell). Then they talk about the place and there is no change whatsoever. Even when he falls down into the sea and makes his way to the sea, he is the same and there is no physical transformation. Then he reaches the “palatial chateau” (5) and faces the general at his dinner table. Again there is no transformation. Even when he is told that he is going to be a huntee, he does not experience any change and tries to deal with it through his reason. However, when he sees that there is no end, he goes through physical exertion by running for two full days in the forest. Still, he holds his mind saying “I will not lose my nerve.” (Connell). This shows that he has not changed physically though at the end he says that “I am still a beast at bay” (Connell) which is a sign of his psychological transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game”. He is the same lucky hunter who hunts down his pursuer.
Conclusion
Summing up the argument, it can be said that Rainsford witnesses a great psychological transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game” from the start of the story up to the end. He becomes a beast at heart and kills his hunter, though at the beginning he claims that he is lucky that he is not a huntee, but at the end, he is a hunter. However, physically he stays the same hunter who merely kills his pursuer. His psychological transformation is the same as an animal has to go through fear and pain of death when being hunted down by the hunters like him. However, he retains his nerves and does not lose his senses. Had he lost all this, he would have been an easy prey for General Zaroff, though he is his huntee, but it is his partly beast and partly human nature that makes him win the game by the end of the day. It means he is a round character though outwardly he is the same, Rainsford. But it is this inner transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game” that matters.
Works Cited
- Connell, Richard. “The Most Dangerous Game.” 1994. Fiction Eserver. <http://fiction.eserver.org/short/the_most_dangerous_game.html>. Accessed 20 Nov. 2022.
Relevant Questions about Transformation in “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell
- How does the transformation of man in “The Most Dangerous Game” reflect the idea that power and privilege can lead to a disregard for human life, as seen through General Zaroff’s evolution from a seasoned hunter to a ruthless predator?
- What role does the transformation of man in “The Most Dangerous Game” play in conveying the story’s central theme of the thin line between civilization and savagery, particularly as Rainsford experiences a shift in his perspective on life and death?
- How does the transformation of man in “The Most Dangerous Game” underscore the eerie and unsettling nature of Ship-Trap Island, emphasizing how the isolated and dangerous environment can influence individuals, like the way it shapes the characters’ behaviors and decisions?
