The Most Dangerous Game Group

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azucena
azucena
Student
High School - 12th Grade

Why is the island called Ship Trap Island in The Most Dangerous Game?

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Posted by azucena on Wednesday January 14, 2009 at 4:16 PM and tagged with name, reason, ship trap island, the most dangerous game.

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  1. scdaniel Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    "Watch! Out there!" exclaimed the general, pointing into the night. Rainsford's eyes saw only blackness, and then, as the general pressed a button, far out to sea Rainsford saw the flash of lights.

    The general chuckled. "They indicate a channel," he said, "where there's none; giant rocks with razor edges crouch like a sea monster with wide-open jaws. They can crush a ship as easily as I crush this nut." The reason the island is called Ship Trap is because that is exactly what it is.  Rainsford had difficulty seeing the island in the dark and had he not fallen off of his yacht, he would have headed straight for that channel, and according to the quote above, his ship would have been utterly destroyed, leaving him (and we can assume many others before him) “trapped” on the island.

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    Posted by scdaniel on Wednesday January 14, 2009 at 4:50 PM


  2. troutmiller Teacher
    High School - 12th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    The name Ship Trap Island refers to what the island does to ships in the Caribbean.  General Zaroff has a lighthouse on his island that attracts ships.  This lighthouse makes it appear as if there is a safe passage through there.  However, it lures ships in to the jagged rocks that break up the ships as they near the island.  When the waters pull the ships in, their ships are wrecked and the men are trapped there.  That is how Zaroff gets new prey every so often.  The men become his "game" of hunting.

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/most-dangerous/style

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    Posted by troutmiller on Wednesday January 14, 2009 at 4:53 PM


  3. engtchr5 Teacher
    High School - 10th Grade

    eNotes Editor

    Zaroff has turned his island into a trap for ships, hence the name. When sailors are stranded due to following Zaroff's fake channel lights, he then uses them as game in a hunt. Ships are drawn by a series of lights (placed by Zaroff) into razor-sharp rocks, and hence, the inhabitants become shipwrecked prey for the general's deadly game.

    Rainsford did not land on the island as a result of the lights, but rather, fell overboard while pursuing his pipe. It is coincidental that Rainsford, himself a skilled hunter, winds up on the island of a big-game hunter like Zaroff, but it serves to make the plot more intriguing. 

    Sources:
    http://www.enotes.com/most-dangerous/

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    Posted by engtchr5 on Wednesday January 14, 2009 at 5:59 PM

  4. texasmade
    texasmade Student
    High School - 9th Grade

    It's called ship trap island because General Zoroff traps people on ships.

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    Posted by texasmade on Thursday February 12, 2009 at 7:43 AM