Home > The Most Dangerous Game Summary & Study Guide > The Most Dangerous Game Group > Discussion Board

I need someone with much experience and knowlege on the literature piece to assist me with a few questions.

What does Rainsford mean by evil being "tangible"?

The passage to which "tangible" is used is spoken, not by Rainsford, but his companion on the ship, Whitney, with whom Rainsford converses in the night. In the exposition Whitney tells Rainsford that the "tough-minded old Swede" on the ship has told him that the island has an evil name among seafaring men and asked him, "Dont' you feel anything?"

The word tangible means capable of being touched; real or actual.  When the old sailor senses the evil emanating from Ship-Wreck Island, Whitney becomes concerned because the Swede is tough-minded and would "go up to the devil himself and ask him for a light"; he is not one to be superstitous and must have sensed something real.  Having created a credible hint of ensuing danger and evil, the author, Richard Connell, foreshadows what is to happen later in the narrative.  He also characterizes Rainsford as skeptical of such premonitions--"Pure imagination" he tells Whitney. This skepticism later leads Rainsford into his becoming the "animal at bay" for General Zaroff in the "most dangerous" of games.