Discussion Topic
Irony and Title Significance in "The Most Dangerous Game"
Summary:
In Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," irony plays a central role, with the main situational irony being the reversal of roles where the hunter, Rainsford, becomes the hunted by General Zaroff. Verbal irony is evident in Zaroff's statements, such as when he calls his captives "pupils" and refers to his murderous activities as "civilized." The title itself is ironic, as it suggests both a perilous game and the idea of humans as the most dangerous quarry, highlighting the deadly nature of Zaroff's hunt.
In Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," what is the story's irony and an example of verbal irony?
"The Most Dangerous Game" is heavily ironic, a quality that is reflected in its basic story: a big game hunter, trapped on an island, is forced to serve as quarry in someone's else's hunt. This reversal of fortunes, where the hunter becomes the hunted, is the main driving irony of the story, but it's not the only example of situational irony Connell employs.
Another example of irony can be found in Zaroff's own hunting ability and the way in which it has dominated and shaped the course of his life. However, the irony here lies in the fact that Zaroff is so skillful a hunter that he can no longer gain any satisfaction from hunting traditional game (and thus turns to hunting humans instead). You might expect that a person of such exceptional ability would find fulfillment from their accomplishments, but for Zaroff it creates a crisis.
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's own hunting ability and the way in which it has dominated and shaped the course of his life. However, the irony here lies in the fact that Zaroff is so skillful a hunter that he can no longer gain any satisfaction from hunting traditional game (and thus turns to hunting humans instead). You might expect that a person of such exceptional ability would find fulfillment from their accomplishments, but for Zaroff it creates a crisis.
Finally, one last notable example of situational irony can be found in the tension between civilization and brutality, expressed in the lifestyle of Zaroff himself. Zaroff is described as highly cultured and aristocratic. He lives in a mansion (featuring all the amenities of modern civilization) and, in his interactions with Rainsford (before their hunt begins), he takes his responsibilities as host seriously: offering food, a bed, conversation, etc. Beneath his airs of civility, however, Zaroff is a murderer who hunts fellow human beings for his own enjoyment (with Rainsford himself soon to become his chosen victim).
Connell's story also contains verbal irony as well. One example can be found when Zaroff describes the "choice" he offers each of his victims when inviting them on a hunt:
I give him his option, of course. He need not play that game if he doesn't wish to. If he does not wish to hunt, I turn him over to Ivan. Ivan once had the honor of serving as official knouter to the Great White Czar, and he has his own ideas of sport. Invariably, Mr. Rainsford, invariably they choose the hunt.
Of course, when reading into Zaroff's actual meaning, his choice does not constitute, in any respect, an authentic one: his victims can die either at his hands, or they can die at Ivan's. Furthermore, note the brutal euphemism he employs, when referring to Ivan's "own ideas of sport." I'd suggest that this passage would constitute one example of verbal irony.
Verbal irony occurs when someone says one thing but means another, or the intention behind what is said is different from reality. For example, when General Zaroff mentions a new animal to hunt, he refers to it in the following way:
"I needed a new animal. I found one . . . it supplies me with the most exciting hunting in the world. Every day I hunt, and I never grow bored now, for I have a quarry with which I can match my wits."
The above passage demonstrates verbal irony when Zaroff refers to the men that he hunts as animals or quarry. He also does not refer to his quarry as a "who," "him," or "them," but as an "it."
One example of situational irony is when Sanger Rainsford finds himself being hunted like an animal rather than hunting like the expert hunter he is. As an expert hunter himself, Rainsford never would have thought of being the one hunted. Furthermore, he discovers what it feels like to be "a beast at bay" when he suffers through three exhausting days and nights of being hunted.
Another example:
After dinner, when Rainsford declines General Zaroff's invitation to visit the trophy room by stating that he is not feeling well. Zaroff comments, "You need a good, restful night's sleep. Tomorrow you'll feel like a new man...we'll hunt, eh? I've one rather promising prospect--"
Of course, later the reader realizes that Rainsford is the "prospect." But the verbal irony is that at the time Rainsford has no idea that he is going to be the "prospect," and, he will, indeed, "feel like a new man"--a hunted man.
Verbal irony occurs when a character says one thing but means the opposite. It is sometimes joined with an ironic tone of voice and expressions. One example of verbal irony is when the antagonist in “The Most Dangerous Game” kidnaps and then hunts people. When he says, “We’ll visit my training school… It’s in the cellar. I have about a dozen pupils down there now,” he is not referring to pupils and a school, but to captives and a prison.
What is the verbal irony in the title of "The Most Dangerous Game"?
Richard Connel's short story "The Most Dangerous Game" is about a deadly hunt on a remote island between two men. Sanger Rainsford, a big game hunter from America, is the protagonist and General Zaroff, a Cossack military officer, the antagonist. Rainsford meets Zaroff when he accidentally falls off his yacht while passing Zaroff's island.
The title uses verbal irony to describe what happens in the story. Verbal irony is when a writer says one thing, but really means something different. Initially, the reader may think Connel's title refers to a real game that for some reason has become perilous.
In fact, the title has a double meaning. On one hand, it does portray a game (defined as something played) which has turned deadly. Zaroff reveals to Rainsford that, because he's grown bored with hunting animals, he now hunts men on his remote island and suggests Rainsford join him. When Rainsford refuses, the General sets his guest loose on the island and proceeds to hunt him down. Zaroff describes the "game":
"You'll find this game worth playing," the general said enthusiastically. "Your brain against mine. Your woodcraft against mine. Your strength and stamina against mine. Outdoor chess! And the stake is not without value, eh?"
On the other hand, game can also be defined as an animal that is being hunted. In this case, Rainsford becomes the game. He is ultimately dangerous because he not only kills Zaroff's servant, his best dog, but in the end, the general himself when they duel in Zaroff's bedroom in the finale of the story.
Is the title of "The Most Dangerous Game" ironic?
In a most skillfully contrived plot, Richard Connell presents antagonists and protagonists who, ironically, switch roles under a title that is both double entendre and ironic. In oneinstnace of irony, as they dine in his chateau, General Zaroff and Sanger Rainsford discuss hunting and big game. Rainsford tells the general that he has always felt that the Cape buffalo is "the most dangerous of big game," but the general counters with the remark,
"Here in my preserve on this island,....I hunt more dangerous game....[T]he biggest."
Thus, there is much irony in General Zaroff's remark. The "game" of which he speaks is the human being, who, while by no means is the biggest in size, is certainly the most clever and intelligent, and, therefore, dangerous.
Zaroff considers man as the most dangerous of game since man can use his intellectual capabilities and devise clever schemes for the defeat of his foe. His term is ironic because he says something and means more than what he says in his response to Rainsford's comment about the Cape buffalo. Furthermore, Zaroff's remark is also an example of dramatic irony as he does not realize that it is he who is to become, not the hunter, but himself the "most dangerous game."
In "The Most Dangerous Game," how does the title's figurative language contribute to the plot?
Figurative language refers to the use of figures of speech such as metaphors, similes, personification, etc. If Richard Connell's title "The Most Dangerous Game" is a metaphor, then one must ask what it represents or to what it is referring.
First of all, games shouldn't be dangerous; they should be fun. If the plot encompasses a dangerous game, then one might predict that the characters play a game that is not fun. Then, the superlative "most" suggests finality, which is exactly the point of Zaroff's game because it is played to the death.
On the other hand, there is another use of the word "game," and that has to do with hunting animals. Hunting as a sport changes the meaning of "game" in the title to something more serious--a quarry. In fact, the plot revolves around the fact that Rainsford becomes Zaroff's game (or quarry) to hunt. Zaroff explains to Rainsford why he had become bored hunting dumb animals as follows:
"I wanted the ideal animal to hunt . . . So I said: 'What are the attributes of an ideal quarry?' And the answer was, of course: 'It must have courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason.'"
Based on Zaroff's definition of his ideal quarry, the title directly points to the plot because the act of hunting men for fun can claim both literal and figurative references to Zaroff and Rainsford engaging in a "most dangerous game."