Skip to main content

What are the two main things Rainsford and Whitney discuss on the boat, and why is one of these things so ironic in "The Most Dangerous Game" by...

En route to their hunting excursion in Brazil, Whitney and Rainsford discuss Ship-Trap Island and the hunter/prey relationship.


As they move through the dark sea, Whitney mentions that to their right is what the old charts call "Ship-Trap Island," adding that sailors have a dread of this place hidden in the dark. Whitney then observes that it will be light by the time they reach Rio de Janeiro, and Rainsford indicates his excitement about hunting jaguars:



"The best sport in the world"
"For the hunter," amended Whitney. "Not for the jaguar."
"....Who cares how a jaguar feels?"
"Perhaps the jaguar does," observed Whitney.
"Bah! They've no understanding."



Whitney counters that jaguars understand, at least, the fears of pain and death.


This last discussion is quite ironic because later in the narrative, Rainsford finds himself in the position of the jaguar he and Whitney have discussed. After falling off his ship and landing on Ship-Trap Island, Rainsford becomes the prey in the "most dangerous game" of General Zaroff, learning only too well the fears of pain and death. As the hounds chase Rainsford and howl when they catch a fresh scent of him, Rainsford "knew now how an animal at bay feels." In fact, when Rainsford finally manages to confront Zaroff in his bedchamber and the general congratulates him, "You have won the game," Rainsford demurs, "I am still a beast at bay..." He then challenges Zaroff to a duel so he may again play the role of predator.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Is there a word/phrase for "unperformant"?

As a software engineer, I need to sometimes describe a piece of code as something that lacks performance or was not written with performance in mind. Example: This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. Based on my Google searches, this isn't a real word. What is the correct way to describe this? EDIT My usage of "performance" here is in regard to speed and efficiency. For example, the better the performance of code the faster the application runs. My question and example target the negative definition, which is in reference to preventing inefficient coding practices. Answer This kind of coding style leads to unmaintainable and unperformant code. In my opinion, reads more easily as: This coding style leads to unmaintainable and poorly performing code. The key to well-written documentation and reports lies in ease of understanding. Adding poorly understood words such as performant decreases that ease. In addressing the use of such a poorly ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Is 'efficate' a word in English?

I routinely hear the word "efficate" being used. For example, "The most powerful way to efficate a change in the system is to participate." I do not find entries for this word in common English dictionaries, but I do not have an unabridged dictionary. I have checked the OED (I'm not sure if it is considered unabridged), and it has no entry for "efficate". It does have an entry for "efficiate", which is used in the same way. Wordnik has an entry for "efficate" with over 1800 hits, thus providing some evidence for the frequency of use. I personally like the word and find the meaning very clear and obvious when others use it. If it's not currently an "officially documented" word, perhaps its continued use will result in it being better documented.
Post a Comment
Read more