The Most Dangerous Game Analysis - by Muhammad Raza

 What “The Most Dangerous Game” tells us about ourselves

by Muhammad Raza

“The Most Dangerous Game”, a short story about a Russian General who hunts humans for sport, is one of the most thrilling and suspenseful works of literature I have ever read. I could feel my heart thumping as Zaroff walked under the tree Rainsford was hiding in (making me feel like I was the one being hunted), and I remember feeling this huge wave of relief when we find out that he actually survives at the end of the story. However, this otherwise gruesome and morbid story has caught my attention by making me realize one fact that rarely occurred to me prior. It is one that has somewhat changed my outlook and nature and history, and has given me confidence in my own abilities. That realization being that humans truly are the most dangerous and unpredictable creatures on this earth. 

One of the pivotal themes behind “The Most Dangerous Game” is that General Zarrof has grown tired of hunting traditional sport, like deer, wolves and even leopards. As a result, he turns towards hunting stranded humans as means of satisfying his lust for game. However, the fact that they needed to turn to hunting humans instead of, say, elephants, hippos, tigers, and rhinos, suggests something about the danger of man. We have General Zarrof as an example of a human who can take down all kinds of species, and then we also get Rainsford who is the first being to ever evade Zarrof for 3 days straight. Furthermore, thinking logically allows one to understand the sheer strength that even an average human or group of humans could present in the wild or in the case of the hunt. While we are not incredibly strong nor incredibly fast, we are the smartest creatures in the world. In the hunt, a human can craft tools, use their intelligence to find the best hiding places, and be able to rationalize through which confrontations they can and cannot handle. As hunters, humans are even more scary: equipped with tools and intelligence to track most prey, humans should be able to defeat any other animals that dare challenge them on their home turf. While animals are driven by their raw instinct, humans are powered by intelligence, logic, emotion, and the desire to not only survive but to dominate. It’s no coincidence that humans are the top of the food chain today, and “The Most Dangerous Game” beautifully highlights why that is the case.