Most Dangerous Game

Throughout Richard Connell’s gripping short story, “The Most Dangerous Game,” the use of verbal irony temporarily disguises the presence of evil. General Zaroff, a cultured yet savage inhabitant of Ship-Trap Island, encounters Sanger Rainsford, a famous hunter, and invites him into Zaroff’s home after he is shipwrecked. Although Zaroff appears rational at first, he deceives Rainsford through verbal irony and forces Rainsford to become his quarry in the hunt.
As Zaroff converses with Rainsford, he hints at his morbid practices and increases suspense until finally Rainsford realizes that Zaroff...