René Descartes once said: “The greatest minds are capable of the greatest vices as well as the greatest virtues. » This idea rings true in “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. First published in 1924, this short story follows Sanger Rainsford, a hunter from New York, on a ship from America to Rio de Janeiro. In the middle of the Caribbean Sea, Rainsford falls overboard and swims hurriedly to a nearby island. He stumbles upon another hunter's mansion on the island and soon discovers that this hunter is more dangerous than he ever imagined. Rainsford sees his life in great danger and must outwit the hunter, General Zaroff, to survive. Using hunting techniques he has learned, Rainsford escapes Zaroff and his tormentor is fed to the dogs. Rainsford returns to the mansion, rid of Zaroff. This essay will demonstrate that Rainsford does not stay on Ship Trap Island and that the events that occurred there persuade him to abandon the hunt. Throughout the story, it becomes painfully obvious that Rainsford has no respect for the animals he hunts. In the opening of “The Most Dangerous Game,” Sanger Rainsford stands on the deck of a ship, philosophizing with another hunter named Whitney. Whitney says, “I kind of think [jaguars] understand one thing: fear. The fear of pain and the fear of death” (1). Rainsford responds: “The world is made up of two classes: hunters and hunters. Fortunately, you and I are hunters” (1). Sanger Rainsford thus proves that he does not understand the fear of being chased. This belief leads him to believe that hunting is a beautiful sport and that he does not need to consider the sensations of the game he hunts. Later in the story, however, Rainsford's feelings contradict this idea. As Sanger Rainsford is chased by General Zaroff, he begins to feel the terror of being chased. Connell writes: The general was playing with him! The general was saving him for another day of sports! The Cossack was the cat; it was the mouse. It was then that Rainsford understood the full meaning of terror. (14) Now that he sees that his life is in danger, he begins using traps to outwit General Zaroff. Beginning to feel like a game himself, Rainsford believes his mind is his only escape. He must then realize that the animals he hunts do not have this defense, which makes hunting as a sport far more inhumane than he ever thought possible...