Question

In about one hundred words, discuss the use of point of view in "The Most Dangerous Game."

Answer 1

Answer:

'The Most Dangerous Game'' by Richard Connell, the main character, Sanger Rainsford, swims to an island after falling off his boat. The island, inhabited by General Zaroff, seems welcoming enough until Rainsford realizes that Zaroff intends on hunting him as his prey.

In a story such as this one, the perspective of the narrator, or point of view, is essential to understanding the story. The point of view can essentially be understood as the person or entity telling the story. Point of view can be first-person if the narrator is showing the reader his personal thoughts, third-person limited if the narrator is outside of the story but shows us the thoughts of one character, or third-person omniscient if the narrator is outside of the story and shows us the thoughts of most of the characters.

Let's examine the choice of point of view in ''The Most Dangerous Game.''

A Narrator of One

Connell chooses to tell the story from a third-person limited point of view. For the majority of the story, the reader is inside the head of Rainsford, so the point of view is limited to him.

For example, examine this passage from the story:

''Rainsford remembered the shots. They had come from the right, and doggedly he swam in that direction, swimming with slow, deliberate strokes, conserving his strength. For a seemingly endless time he fought the sea. He began to count his strokes; he could do possibly a hundred more and then--''

The reader gets information on what Rainsford remembers, how he conserves his strength, and how he counts his strokes. While he is making choices in the story, the reader sees the trains of thought that lead him to make these choices. It's as if we are a part of Rainsford's mind.