“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell: Analysis

“The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell is a short story about a man whose identity is suddenly switched from that of an advanced and talented hunter to that of one being hunted. Rainsford falls off the ship that he is on with his friend Whitney while making their way up the Amazon to hunt, and when he finally makes it to shore he finds himself on an island where people are hunted by a man who goes by the name of the general. One quote that I found especially interesting was said by the general to Rainsford when he is telling him about why he hunts people:
“Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift? If I wish to hunt, why should I not? I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships—lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels—a thoroughbred horse or hound is worth more than a score of them” (8).
I found this quote to be thought-provoking for many reasons. The general tries to be justified in his actions by saying that he deserves to use his gift of hunting. He makes it seem as though killing people for fun is the same as playing a sport, or doing puzzles: since he is good at doing it he sees no reason why he should ever have to stop or feel bad about doing it. I found it fascinating that the general, while at first glance is a monster with no regard for human life, does have his own warped sense of morals. He gives his targets a somewhat generous fight each time, although the fact that they are forced into being a part of the fight is clearly less than fair. He says that he hunts the “scum of the earth,” but it is unclear who exactly would be worthy of escaping his pursuit, since he names quite a variety of people as his targets. This idea of honor amongst thieves was one that I dwelled on for a while, because the general is so confident in his ways that he almost seems convincing in his explanation for why he deserves to hunt innocent people.
Another interesting aspect of this quote is the irony that exists in this conversation through Rainsford’s opinions.  In the beginning of the story, Rainsford scoffs at Whitney for having some regard for the feelings of those who he hunts, but now he is placed more into Whitney’s position. It is unclear where Rainsford draws the line for who deserves to live versus die. It seems as though he feels only humans deserve to live, although this brings into question the idea of all life forms being equal versus humans being superior. Another idea that is worth debating is how the general claims that Rainsford is too naïve in his ways about hunting, while he himself still believes in the theory of survival of the fittest. While this is not necessarily a naïve viewpoint, it is certainly too primal to describe humans in society today. This surprised me because the general portrays himself as a very distinguished man, but his ideas about human life are closer to being outdated than anything else.