International Academic Institute International

for Science and Technology Academic Journal of

Psychology
International Academic Journal of Psychology and and
Educational Studies Educational Studies
Vol. 1, No. 2, 2016, pp. 8-13.

ISSN 0000-0000 www.iaiest.com

Formalistic Analysis of the Most Dangerous Game by

Richard Connel

Mohsen Moqim Hanjani

M.A. Student of English Literature, Department of Humanities, Khatam University, Tehran, Iran

Abstract
This term paper is an attempt to apply a school of literary criticism to a short story. The chosen short story
is the called the most dangerous. The Most Dangerous game is written by Richard Connell. Richard
Connell was an American author who was on October 1893. It was first published in January 19, 1924.
The story is of a big game hunter who hunts men for sports and the pleasure of it. This paper will try to
apply formalist theory of criticism to this short story and analyze different aspects of it such as genre,
characterization, writing style, themes, grammar, and setting regardless of its historiography or other
abstract notions.

Keywords: Formalistic Analysis, Richard Connel, theory of criticism, The Hounds of Zaroff

Introduction:
Richard Edward Connell was born on October 17, 1893 in Poughkeepsie, NY, to Richard Edward
Connell Sr. and Marrie Miller Connell. His father worked as an editor and reporter for the local paper
before beginning his political career. His father’s connections at the paper later proved useful for Connell,
as by the age of 18 he secured a job as an editor. Connell later attended Georgetown and, after the death
of his father, Harvard. He served in World War I, and during his service he wrote and edited the camp
newspaper. Upon his return from the war, he married Louise Herrick Fox in 1919. Connell’s stories were
published in both the Saturday Evening Post and Collier’s Weekly. He died in Beverly Hills, CA at the
age of 56. (http://www.gradesaver.com/author/richard-connell)

8
 International Academic Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies,
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 8-13.

"The Most Dangerous Game", also published as "The Hounds of Zaroff", is a short story by Richard
Connell, first published in Collier's on January 19, 1924. The story features a big-game hunter from New
York who falls off a yacht and swims to an isolated island in the Caribbean, where he is hunted by a
Russian aristocrat. The story is inspired by the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that
were particularly fashionable among wealthy Americans in the 1920s.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Dangerous_Game)

On a yacht bound for Rio de Janeiro, a passenger named Whitney points out Ship-Trap Island in the
distance, a place that sailors dread and avoid. He and his friend Rainsford are big-game hunters bound for
a hunting trip in the Amazon River basin. As the yacht sails through the darkness, the two men discuss
whether their prey actually feels fear. Rainsford believes that the world consists only of predators and
prey, although Whitney is not as certain. Noticing the jitteriness of the crew, Whitney wants to sail past
the mysterious island as soon as possible. He theorizes that sailors can sense danger and that evil
emanates in waves like light and sound.

Whitney then decides to turn in for the night, but Rainsford opts to smoke his pipe on the afterdeck for a
while. Suddenly, he hears three gunshots in the distance and moves toward the railing of the deck to
investigate. Hoisting himself onto the rail to try and get a better look, Rainsford drops his pipe, loses his
balance in an attempt to catch it, and accidentally plunges into the water. His cries for help go
unanswered, and the yacht quickly disappears into the night.

Rainsford decides to swim in the gunshots’ direction. He hears the screeching sound of an animal in
agony and heads straight for it, until the cries end abruptly with a pistol shot. Exhausted, Rainsford
reaches the rocky shore and immediately falls into a deep sleep. He wakes the next afternoon and sets off
in search of food, forced to skirt the thick growth of the jungle and walk along the shore. He soon comes
to a bloody, torn-up patch of vegetation where a large animal had thrashed about. He finds an empty rifle
cartridge nearby.

He follows the hunter’s footprints in the growing darkness and eventually comes upon a palatial chateau
at the edge of a precipice that drops steeply into the rocky ocean below. At first, Rainsford thinks the
chateau is a mirage, until he opens the iron gate and knocks on the door. Ivan, a burly man with a gun,
answers and refuses to help Rainsford until another man, General Zaroff, appears from inside the chateau
and invites Rainsford inside.

Zaroff greets Rainsford warmly and has Ivan show him to a room where he can dress for dinner. The
huge, lavish dining hall features numerous stuffed and mounted heads, trophies that Zaroff has brought
back from his many hunting adventures around the world. As the two men eat borscht, a red Russian soup
made of beets, Rainsford praises his host’s specimens, remarking on how dangerous it can be to hunt
Cape buffalo. Zaroff states that he now hunts far more dangerous game on his island. He recounts past
hunts, from his childhood in the Crimea to hunting big game around the world, but goes on to describe
how the sport eventually became too easy.

9
 International Academic Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies,
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 8-13.

Zaroff hints, however, that he has found a new kind of animal to hunt, one with courage, cunning, and
reason. Rainsford’s initial confusion turns to horror as he slowly realizes that the general now hunts
human beings. Zaroff doesn’t understand Rainsford’s indignation but promises that his outrage will
subside once he’s begun the hunt. Rainsford declines Zaroff’s invitation to join in the hunt that night and
goes to bed. After a fitful night of insomnia and light dozing, the sound of a distant pistol shot awakens
him in the early morning.

General Zaroff reappears at the chateau at lunchtime, sad that hunting humans no longer satisfies him. He
laments that the sailors he lures to the island present less and less of a challenge. Rainsford demands to
leave the island at once, but the general refuses and forces Rainsford to be his new prey in the next hunt,
hoping that Rainsford, as a renowned big-game hunter, will provide the challenge he seeks. Zaroff
promises to set Rainsford free if he lives through the next three days. Rainsford sets off into the jungle
after receiving food, clothes, and a knife from Ivan. He cuts a complicated, twisting path through the
undergrowth to confuse Zaroff and then climbs a tree to wait as darkness approaches.

Zaroff finds Rainsford easily but lets him escape to prolong the pleasure of the hunt. Unsettled that Zaroff
found him so quickly, Rainsford runs to another part of the jungle and makes a booby-trap called a
Malayan mancatcher to kill Zaroff. The trap only wounds Zaroff, who returns to the chateau and promises
to kill Rainsford the following night.

Rainsford runs for hours until he mistakenly steps into a bed of quicksand. He manages to wrest free, then
digs a pit in the soft mud a few feet in front of the quicksand. He lines the bottom of the pit with sharp
wooden stakes, covers it with foliage, and then hides in the brush nearby. One of Zaroff’s hunting hounds
springs the trap and plunges to his death, forcing Zaroff to return to the chateau again. At daybreak,
Rainsford hears the baying of the hounds and spots Zaroff and Ivan with a small pack of hunting dogs in
the distance. Rainsford fashions another trap by tying his knife to a sapling.

The trap kills Ivan, but the hounds push on, cornering Rainsford at the edge of a cliff. Instead of facing
the dogs, Rainsford jumps into the rocky sea below. Stunned and disappointed, Zaroff returns to his
chateau. As he turns on his bedroom light, he is shocked to find Rainsford concealed in the curtains of the
bed. Before they fight, Zaroff states that the dogs will eat one of them that night while the other will sleep
in the comfortable bed. Rainsford later concludes that he has never slept in a more comfortable bed.
(http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-most-dangerous-game/summary.html)

In literary criticism, Formalism refers to a style of inquiry that focuses, almost exclusively, on features of
the literary text itself, to the exclusion of biographical, historical, or intellectual contexts. The name
"Formalism" derives from one of the central tenets of Formalist thought: That the form of a work of
literature is inherently a part of its content, and that the attempt to separate the two is fallacious. By
focusing on literary form and excluding superfluous contexts, Formalists believed that it would be
possible to trace the evolution and development of literary forms, and thus, literature itself. In simple
terms, Formalists believed that the focus of literary studies should be the text itself, and not the author's
life or social class. Art is produced according to certain sets of rules and with its own internal logic. New

10
 International Academic Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies,
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 8-13.

forms of art represent a break with past forms and an introduction of new rules and logic. The goal of the
critic is to examine this feature of art. In the case of literature, the object of reflection is the text's
"literariness," that which makes it a work of art and not a piece of journalism. This attention to the details
of the literary text was an attempt on the part of literature to turn its discipline into a science.
(http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Formalism)
In this term paper, after getting acquainted with both the work and the literary theory that we are to
approach it, As it was said at the beginning of the paper in the abstract, we will try to analyze The Most
Dangerous game simply through formalism disguise and analyze its forms. And as we know the form of a
story can be made up of grammar, syntax, devices employed, genre, style and so forth. So in the coming
section of analysis, we will make an attempt to make a good elaboration of the said things more or less.

Analysis

As the first step of our analysis and as the first category that we will try to run an analysis of the work is
the class of its genre. The most dangerous game is story which is filled with suspense throughout. From
the beginning of the story, which starts from a yacht in sea in the night, we can see the build up of tension
and suspense. This starting process can be seen in some dialogues exchanged between two characters of
Rainsford and Whitney “"What island is it?" Rainsford asked. "The old charts call it `Ship-Trap Island,"'
Whitney replied." A suggestive name, isn't it? Sailors have a curious dread of the place. I don't know
why. Some superstition--" This simple two line dialogue is the starting point of a build up for more
tension and suspense, as there seem to be no explanation for the sailors` fear of the area. This suspense is
intensified with the next line when Rainsford comments “Can`t see it”. We can relay this blindness to the
disregard that they have for the place and its past habbit of sinking ships and losing people. In somehow
the middle of the story there is an indicator of further tension and even more questions and suspense.
When General Zaroff declares "We will have some capital hunting, you and I," said the general. "I shall
be most glad to have your society." As Rainsford has done all the big hunting there is to do, this idea of a
great sensation, this mystery adds up to the suspense. We could go further with this analysis but before
going forward, let us bring it into light. The genre that is being spoken of here is in fact called Adventure
fiction. Adventure fiction is a genre of fiction in which an adventure, an exciting undertaking involving
risk and physical danger, forms the main storyline. Throughout the story we see instances of this genre in
different section of the story from beginning to the end. Adventure fiction in this sense can be said that is
a combination of Gothic, action, and horror.

The second issue at hand that we will bring into attention is the case of characterization. First we need to
know that how many characterization methods we have and what do they entail. To start, there are two
types of characterization, one direct and one indirect. A direct characterization is what the authors
attempts. Meaning the author him/herself enters the story and starts describing the characters to us and
gives us a glimpse of how they are. For example "The first thing Rainsford's eyes discerned was the
largest man Rainsford had ever seen--a gigantic creature, solidly made and black bearded to the
waist." "Ivan is an incredibly strong fellow," remarked the general, "but he has the misfortune to be deaf
and dumb. A simple fellow, but, I'm afraid, like all his race, a bit of a savage." Here the reader will have
no question regarding Ivan. Ivan is distinctly described in this instance and there is no need for the reader

11
 International Academic Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies,
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 8-13.

to make inferences. He is told what it is. This is further emphasized with Zaroff desorbing him as strong,
deaf and dumb.

On the other hand we have the indirect method of characterization. Indirect characterization is opposite of
the direct as it is easily seen. But what it is really? In indirect characterization we don’t have the authors
interference in the story telling how a character looks like or etc. He basically does not describe the
character or explain or elaborate. In this instance it is the reader who should enter the text and make
guesses about the characteristics, make inferences. All of this should be done through characters speech,
actions, private thoughts and more. For instance "Rainsford sprang up and moved quickly to the rail."
"When he opened his eyes he knew from the position of the sun that it was late in the afternoon." "He
examined the ground closely and found what he had hoped to find--the print of hunting boots.". All of
these instances are the author`s attempt at direct characterization of Rainsford. He can be defined as
nimble (quick), intelligent, and knowledgeable. His quick movement to the rail illustrates his nimbleness,
while his knowledge of the position of the sun illustrates his intelligence. His expectations that he will
find boot prints show his knowledge about hunting or tracking.

The final category that the author will bring into his analysis of the story is the issue of writing style of
the writer behind The Most Dangerous game. In every art, its creator has a style. An artist, a musician, a
writer, a painter, a photographer, etc, will try to make his work as unique as possible. He will try to make
it stand apart. This is where the form or better stay style of an artist comes to light. In this sense The most
dangerous Game stands out as a unique work of art as it does not employ only one node story writing but
three. As said in the first point of elaboration, the story is an adventure fiction with elements of Gothic,
action adventure and horror elements. Gothic literature is riddled with threatening settings in order to
evoke a sense of terror in the unsuspecting reader; Connell accomplishes this task quite easily. Even on
the onset of the story, an uncanny spark pervades the story. Take for instance the moment Rainsford falls
off the yacht, where he finds himself in the “blood warm waters of the Caribbean sea,” this not only
unsettles the reader, but foreshadows the horrifying future Rainsford faces. Gothic literature also has its
unique architectural designs; many buildings in gothic literature are described as disorted structures fit for
a chaotic being. This is apparent in the story when Rainsford first spots the mansion and describes it as a
“lofty structure with pointed towers plunging upwards into the gloom” which adds to the horror of the
story which is another form of genre Connell uses in his writings. The action-adventure aspect of the
story is set through the “game” that Connell enacts and defines with dangerous terrains.

Conclusion

"The Most Dangerous Game", also published as "The Hounds of Zaroff", is a short story by Richard
Connell, first published in Collier's on January 19, 1924. The story features a big-game hunter from New
York who falls off a yacht and swims to an isolated island in the Caribbean, where he is hunted by a
Russian aristocrat. The story is inspired by the big-game hunting safaris in Africa and South America that
were particularly fashionable among wealthy Americans in the 1920s. IT is Connel`s most remembered
work of art and for good reason.

12
 International Academic Journal of Psychology and Educational Studies,
Vol. 1, No. 2, pp. 8-13.

Connell in this short story made an attempt to create a masterpiece. And we tried to formalistically
analyze and see, form wise, has made this short story the masterpiece as it is apart from its historical,
religious, or rather empirical context. We elaborated that how Connell, through the use of some
categories, genre, characterization and writing style. We saw that how Connel`s use of adventure fiction
as a genre helped him develop the story to its suspenseful and tense pinnacle throughout his work and
how this choice helped the work to turn out at is intended. Also, we saw that how Conell`s dissatisfaction
with the use only one method of characterization helped to add up to the purpose of the story. That is
through using both direct and indirect characterization we are guided through the story. This method
directly helps and strengthen the story`s atmosphere and evens takes the adventure fiction aspect of the
story further. At the end, we explained that how the skillful integration of three genres into one and using
this style of writing, the combination of gothic, action adventure, and horror, which resulted in the
adventure fiction, which entails use of styles costumed in each of them, and the chosen characterization
and point of view, helped further the story`s cause. All of these comprise and build the story`s form, and
establish it as a paragon that can be surveyed through formalist eyes countless times.

References:
Connel, Richard. The Most Dangerous game, Collier, winter 1924
http://www.gradesaver.com/author/richard-connell
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Most_Dangerous_Game
http://www.sparknotes.com/short-stories/the-most-dangerous-game/summary.html
http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Formalism
https://themostdangerousgame512.wordpress.com/writing-style/
http://www.enotes.com/homework-help/what-characterization-this-story-459906
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_fiction

13