Discussion Topic
General Zaroff's congratulations to Rainsford and Rainsford's subsequent actions in "The Most Dangerous Game."
Summary:
General Zaroff congratulates Rainsford on winning the game, but Rainsford's subsequent actions demonstrate his refusal to accept Zaroff's twisted sense of sportsmanship. Rainsford ultimately kills Zaroff, indicating his moral rejection of Zaroff's barbaric practices and ensuring that he will not become another human trophy in Zaroff's collection.
What words does General Zaroff use to congratulate Rainsford near the end of "The Most Dangerous Game"?
When he discovers Rainsford in his room, the general draws in his breath, saying with a smile, "I congratulate you...You have won the game."
However, Rainsford is not satisfied with just winning. He tells the general that he is yet "a beast at bay". Then, in a low voice that is edgy, Rainsford tells him to prepare himself. General Zaroff bows to Rainsford in his most gentlemanly manner and says,
"Splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The Other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On guard, Rainsford..."
Certainly, the general's courtly manners seem incongruous with his brutal nature. He delights in hunting the "most dangerous game" with no consideration for his fellow man, whom he reduces to "beasts at bay", animals for whom he has no sympathy. However, he maintains the decorum of his class by complying with the rules of his game,...
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and by expecting no special consideration being given to him, even when he knows full well what his fate is.
What action does Rainsford take after Zaroff congratulates him in "The Most Dangerous Game"?
Zaroff does indeed congratulate Rainsford. In fact, he congratulates him twice in the story. He first congratulates him when Rainsford makes a clever trap during the hunt. He makes a Malay mancatcher. He also wounds Zaroff with this trap. Zaroff is impressed.
"Rainsford," called the general, "if you are within sound of my voice, as I suppose you are, let me congratulate you. Not many men know how to make a Malay mancatcher.
The second time general Zaroff congratulates him comes at the end of the story, when Rainsford decides to go on the offensive. This completely took Zaroff by surprise, because Rainsford does not try to wait it out in the wood by hiding. Presumably others have tried to wait it out. Rainsford swims to Zaroff’s house to surprise him. When Zaroff returns, he sees that Rainford is there. He also knows that he will have to face Rainsford one on one in battle.
He says: The general sucked in his breath and smiled. "I congratulate you," he said. "You have won the game."
In this context, Rainsford presumably kills Zaroff. We can assume this because he slept in Zaroff's bed.
How does Zaroff congratulate Rainsford at the end, and what does Rainsford do next?
Having fallen off his ship and swum to Ship-Trap Island, Sanger Rainsford finds himself the unwitting guest of General Zaroff, a Russian with strange proclivities: he hunts the "most dangerous game" in the dangerous and deadly game of tracking his victim and killing him. However, if at the end of three days, the "quarry" has not been captured, Zaroff honors his rules and sets the man free.
Near the end of the narrative of "The Most Dangerous Game," Rainsford escapes Zaroff on the second day by leaping into the sea as he hears the hounds approaching. Later that evening, Zaroff dines and ponders the events of the day: "of course the American had not played the game." After dinner, he reads for a time, then the general locks himself into his bedroom. However, to his surprise, Rainsford steps out from the curtains. "Rainsford," screams the general, asking him how he has arrived in his room. Rainsford responds that he has swum as it was "quicker than walking through the jungle."
"I congratulate you," he said. "You have won the game."
Rainsford did not smile. "I am still a beast at bay," he said, in a low, hoarse voice. "Get ready, General Zaroff."
The general bows, as gentlemen do before they fence. He remarks, "Splendid! One of us is to furnish a repast for the hounds. The other will sleep in this very excellent bed. On guard, Rainsford."
Rainsford wins the duel, for he muses that he has never slept "in a better bed."
What does General Zaroff say to congratulate Rainsford in "The Most Dangerous Game"?
In Richard Edward Connell's short story The Most Dangerous Game, General Zaroff has grown weary of hunting markedly inferior beings of both the human and animal variety. Even the more skilled and intelligent of the sailors he has captured are no match for his cunning, for his knowledge of the island's geographical features, for his pack of highly-trained hunting dogs, and for his firearm -- the latter a particularly important advantage when hunting a human armed only with a knife. In Rainsford, however, the general has found prey equal to his own knowledge and skill of hunting. Three times during the course of the hunt, he congratulates Rainsford on the latter's ingenuity and skill, first, when the general discovers the Malay mancatcher his prey had erected that wounded the pursuer's shoulder. The second instance, again, occurs when the general survives one of Rainsford's traps, this time when a Burmese tiger pit fails to further wound the general but does kill his best dog. The final instance of the general commending Rainsford occurs at the story's end, when Zaroff is surprised by the appearance in his bedroom of his former prey, now-turned executioner. "I congratulate you," he said. "You have won the game."
For General Zaroff, this has, indeed, all been a game, albeit a deadly one. He has, finally, met his match, and he is impressed by Rainsford's superior "gamesmanship." Hunting, after all, is a sport, and the general is commending Rainsford for the latter's superior play.