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Conflict In Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game

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Most short stories have just one or two types of conflict. However, in Richard Connell’s, The Most Dangerous Game, this short story has all three types of conflict. The most common type of conflict in a story, man against man, has General Zaroff hunting Rainsford, and Rainsford fighting for his life. For man against nature, Rainsford battles through all the burdensome obstacles on and around Ship-Trap Island. The last, but not least arduous, conflict is man against himself. Rainsford struggles to keep sane while General Zaroff hunts him.
The type of conflict, man against man, may be the most popular type of conflict to be in a story. General Zaroff seeks pleasure in hunting humans, and Rainsford is his prey. “Rainsford’s impulse was to hurl …show more content…
Surrounded by sharp, large rocks and a powerful channel, this provides a struggle to the ships. “For a seemingly endless time he fought the sea” (2). Rainsford’s ship encounters the dominant channel and he plunges into the water, thrashing for air. These burdens make sure that the sailors float to the shore of Ship-Trap Island, dead or alive. Another obstacle in the nature of Ship-Trap Island is the quicksand that is located in the jungle which Rainsford hides in when General Zaroff hunts him. “‘I suggest, too, that you avoid the big swamp in the southeast corner of the island. We call it Death Swamp. There’s quicksand there”(10). If General Zaroff does not find the people that he hunts, he sends out the dogs to kill them, assuming they are stuck in the quicksand. The deadly burdens and insane people on this gruesome island, however, are not the only sources of death.
Man against himself, is a crucial struggle for all characters, especially ones who have ended up on Ship-Trap Island. A hefty, daunting man hunting human beings messes with character’s minds, and trying to save themselves from him is an even more challenging task. “‘I will not lose my nerve. I will not’”(12). Rainsford is being hunted by General Zaroff. Rainsford never thought the animals he hunted felt fear or despair when they were being hunted. But now that Rainsford is being hunted, he grasps that exact feeling, and he struggles to

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