“The Most Dangerous Game” Story Elements

2. “The Most Dangerous Game” Story Elements • Protagonist (main character) • Setting (where and when) • Plot (story line and events) • Conflict (struggle the protagonist undergoes) • Resolution (ending or wrap of story)

3. Protagonist • Main character • Rainsford • Writer, well-known hunter, World War I veteran • Knows tactics to outwit opponents – both animal and human

4. Setting • General Zaroff’s remote island • Post-World War I and Russian Revolution • Near the Amazon River – Brazil – South America

5. Plot • Rainsford goes overboard from the yacht • Swims to the nearby island • Comes a bloody trail that he takes, leading him to a mansion • Encounters a deaf mute bodyguard named Ivan; meets General Zaroff • General Zaroff tells Rainsford that he is bored by hunting animals. He has moved on to hunting humans. • Rainsford becomes Zaroff’s “prey” in a new type of game hunting. • Will Rainsford live or die?

6. Conflict • Man vs. Man – external conflict (force that can’t be controlled) • Man vs. Natural World – external conflict (force that can’t be controlled) • Man vs. Self – internal conflict (forces that can be controlled – thoughts, feelings, intelligence, awareness)

7. Resolution • Inconclusive ending – no clear statements by the writer to tell us the actual outcome of the final battle between Rainsford and General Zaroff • We assume, though, that Rainsford wins the game because the last man standing would be able to sleep in the comfortable bed in Zaroff’s room.