Question

Read this excerpt from "The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell.

Answer 1

The correct answer is 5.) The General had realized that Rainsford would not be easy to catch. This can be explained in the last part where it says "Very deliberately he blew a smoke ring into the air; [...] The swish of the underbrush against his hunting boots grew fainter and fainter."

Answer 2

Answer:

I believe the best answer to be number 3) He figured out that Rainsford was atop the tree.

Explanation:

"The Most Dangerous Game" is a short story by Richard Connell. Rainsford is a famous hunter who accidentally falls from a yatch and swims to General Zaroff's island. Zaroff invites Rainsford to hunt men with him. In the general's opinion, hunting irrational animals is no longer a challenge. Because Rainsford refuses, Zaroff makes him his new prey.

General Zaroff and Rainsford are both very skilled hunters indeed. Zaroff, however, has a gun, dogs, and knowledge of the island while Rainsford has only a hunting knife and his will to live. In the passage we are analyzing here, Zaroff realizes Rainsford is on top of the tree. But he wants to give Rainsford another chance. At first, Rainsford thinks Zaroff has failed to track him. But then he realizes the general did find him and chose to let him live a while longer:

Rainsford's second thought was even more terrible. It sent a shudder of cold horror through his whole being. Why had the general smiled? Why had he turned back?

Rainsford did not want to believe what his reason told him was true, but the truth was as evident as the sun that had by now pushed through the morning mists. The general was playing with him! The general was saving him for another day's sport.

Zaroff does it because he enjoys the challenge of hunting another human being - especially one so intelligent - and because his arrogance leads him to believe he won't possibly lose. So far in the story, Rainsford has been the most challenging prey Zaroff has ever had. This isn't the only moment in the short story when Zaroff can catch Rainsford, but doesn't. More than once, he chooses to delay the pleasure of killing Rainsford. However, Zaroff ends up being outsmarted and killed by his prey.