Thesis: With the help of vivid characters, unexpected plot, and stylistic devices the stories “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell and “The Child by Tiger” by Tomas Wolfe raise the question of a twofold nature of every human who lives balancing between being a victim and a predator.
Introduction
The main ideas of “The Most Dangerous Game” and “The Child by Tiger”.
The theme of human cruelty and ambiguity of human soul described in two stories.
The basic conflicts of the stories and the moral questions they raise.
The main differences in the message conveyed by the authors.
The development of Sanger Rainsford and Dick Prosser’s characters in the course of the stories.
The personal characteristics of Sanger Rainsford and Dick Prosser.
The protagonists of two stories turn from hunters to victims and vice versa.
The possibility to justify Sanger Rainsford and Dick Prosser.
Do the protagonists of two stories deserve the sympathy of a reader?
The differences of narration and tone chosen by Richard Connell and Tomas Wolfe.
The role of symbolism in both stories.
Conclusion
Sometimes even a human does not know the depths of one’s soul that can differently unfold depending on the life circumstances. In their short stories, Richard Connell and Tomas Wolfe present two unlike approaches to the same idea: all people are divided into hunted and hunters and these roles can interchange. The writers use unexpected plots, interesting characters, and rich language to make the reader think about the essence and nature of cruelty and communicate that the evil always bears evil.
“The Most Dangerous Game” is a story of a hunter who ends up being hunted (Connell, 1924). Sanger Rainsford boasts of being one of the best hunters and believes that the hunted animals are just the objects for human pleasure and do not feel anything, even fear. However, the fate prepares an unexpected change for him as he turns into a target himself and is forced to flee and fight to save his life. The author shows how cruel people can be if they have strength and power to influence somebody’s life and states that such cruelty is endless. When Rainsford returns to kill Zaroff this proves that violence is a vicious circle with no end, turning people into animals that run or attack. Yet the major difference between people and animals is the free will, as an animal hunts to live while human hunts just for joy. This raises the moral question or choice as people always have to choose what to do. The both authors imply that the characters could have acted differently and the murder in the result of their decision.
Cruelty leads to cruelty and the short story shows that once people find evil in their souls and start to feed it, it will prosper. Nobody can fully know the one’s hidden desires and fears. This what actually unites the stories by Connell and Wolfe, as “The Child by Tiger” also depicts the evolution of inner evil under certain circumstances (Wolfe, 1937). The inner feeling of resentment caused by the racial inequality and inability to defend himself turns Dick Prosser into a murderer. The contrast of two stories is of particular interest as it raises an important moral question: Is there any case when a murder can be justified? After reading Connell’s story the one is left with no empathy to the main hero as Rainsford always was the murderer. “The Child by Tiger”, on the contrary, leaves a place for some empathy and understanding. Both stories frown upon cruelty and disclose the twofold nature of a human soul, yet the authors created different plots and dissimilar protagonist to achieve this effect.
At the beginning of “The Most Dangerous Game”, Sanger Rainsford is depicted as a cruel hunter who does not believe that he is doing something wrong and does not see evil in his actions (Connell, 1924). He kills to pleasure his ego and to prove something to himself and other people. On the other hand, Dick Posser who seems to be a good man with a poor fate. At first, he is a perfect worker, a voracious reader of the Bible, kind to children and eager to teach them, but in the course of the story, he changes under the influence of other people. He always had some evil deep in his hurt but tried to nip it in the bud, and it looks like he would manage to do this if he were not bullied. Despite their personal stories and motives, both protagonists have something in common: their roles change throughout the stories. Connell and Wolfe show that any human can easily turn from a hunter to a hunted and vice versa. Rainsford becomes a target in a hunting game he would love to play himself while Posser turns from an enslaved person to the one who decides others fate. An interesting point is that despite that fact that Posser killed nine people he still has the right to be justified by the reader or at least shares his guilt with his offenders. At the beginning of the story, his soul balanced between good and evil, but the discrimination stimulated the resentment and turned it into the willingness to kill (Wolfe, 1937). This support the main theme that even the tiniest negative people feed will end up turning into great evil. The story of Posser may provoke the reader’s sympathy while the situation with Rainsford differs. The Connell’s characters, namely Rainsford and Zaroff, are obviously cruel people with no chance of being saved and it feels like they fully deserved their fates.
The differences in characters and plots are also supported with the help of the tone, style of narration, and stylistic devices. “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell is written in a form of dialogues to stress the emotions and thoughts of the characters and create a tension. The reader feels engaged in the situation which rapidly changes. Connell fills the story with a range of symbols, such as red color (blood and cruelty), darkness (disorientation), and jungles (being lost and powerless). “The Child by Tiger” by Tomas Wolfe is a first person narration with many subjective descriptions that show the main character through the lens of another person. Contrary to Connell’s story, this one is retarded, contain more details, which has more impact on the reader’s perception. Wolfe also heavily relies on symbolism, including snow, not typical for Posser who is an African, that changes the course of the story. In both cases, such stylistic choices create the mood of the stories and include implicit messages for a curious reader.
“The Most Dangerous Game” and “The Child by Tiger” differ in plot, characters, tone, and style, yet they are united with the same message. Both authors attempt to state that cruelty is not a result but a cause and choice. People should better understand the instability of their lives and analyze the depth of their souls to get rid of evil and protect themselves from its consequences.
References
Connell, R. (1924). The Most Dangerous Game. Retrieved from http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcp/pcp_97542_lit_lu/ebook/media/connell_dangerous.swf
Wolfe, T. (1937). The Child by Tiger. Retrieved from http://media.pearsoncmg.com/pcp/pcp_97542_lit_lu/ebook/media/wolfe_tiger.swf?key=28802312651054553630262017
