Juxtapose of Rainford and Blackie, Essay Example

Thesis Statement: Several thematic commonalities occur in the books. They are control, sinful nature of mankind; Relationships and Death are found in “The Destructors” by Graham Greene and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. . The books are the same yet different when juxtaposed. The similarity is in the characters not the settings.

However the central thesis is that the two books express the same themes though they are different in setting and character. Several thematic commonalities are found in “The Destructors” by Graham Greene and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell. “The Destructors” by Graham Greene and “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell both demonstrate the robustness of force and ultimate dominance alongside a sundry divergence of characterizations of those who use power to their own benefit. Though one book features child psychology and the other adults with seemingly malicious intent here we see the relationship between adults and children as being the same and different at the same time.

The fictional short story by Richard Connell, The Most Dangerous Game, analyzes the lives and motifs of both Sanger Rainsford and Russian Cossack General Zaroff. Another notable similarity between the two men of this story is that Rainsford and General Zaroff are hunters who find solitude on a Caribbean Island after falling from a big yacht and swimming to the nearest dry land. Basically this story shows how the big-game hunting in South America and Africa. Both are untamed regions which holds true of the thesis different continents with similar natures wild just like the two main characters. At the same time we witness the need to control by the characters of the books. They are trying to tame the wild both within and without. To further elaborate on character Rainsford of The Most Dangerous Game, he is a gamesman in two senses, making gamesman a pun.

Rainsford is truly a mastermind, He must be the antagonist here, then, right? Not so fast. By the end, the reader realizes that Sanger Rainsford is actually the protagonist, similar to the trickster of many Native American tales. This is where we see the theme of deception occurring. With neither Native American nor any British affiliation whatsoever, Rainsford is the bloody protagonist (the setting of this story is Rio de Janeiro, not England; that’s the other story). “Instinct is no match for reason.” (Stansky, 2007) The weathered, psychologically abused, and now-apathetic Russian Cossack General Zaroff provides the story’s antagonist. Like a wild animal with no other recourse than survival, Zaroff has slipped into the abysmal mindset of inflicting extreme cruelty or brutality for amusement.

Unwillingly, unwittingly, or involuntarily, whichever label a reader would like to tag these features; Zaroff illustrates his firm beliefs that instinct and reason are reciprocal though not collective. This quote, amongst others, better illustrate how his sense of reason slightly misses the mark and is, in turn, quite flawed. “They worked with the seriousness of creators and destruction after all is a form of creation. A kind of imagination had seen this house as it had now become.” (Stansky, 2007) This quote fits the theme with excellent regard. Much like “human nature is not black and white but black and gray,” a certain cliché certainly rings through: call an ace an ace and a spade a spade. In other words, people need to speak honestly and directly about any and every subject matter at hand, particularly the topics that others typically avoid speaking about because of sensitivity or the embarrassing nature of whatever topic dealt with or subject represented in a debate, exposition, or work of art. Honesty grants all reason for human speech; untruths, deceit, and manipulation abuse all reason for human speech, just like “human nature is not black and white but black and gray.” (Stansky, 2007) This quote occurs in the initial conversation, or “on stage” matter, between General Zaroff and Rainsford. Not everything falls into one of two simple color-coded categories; quite a barrage of different shades exists. After all, “A kind of imagination had seen this house as it had now become.” (Stansky, 2007) Indeed, a segment of each of our personalities, or naiveté, ingenuousness, credulity, or so far as labeling it inexperience, must relinquish to an overwhelming part of our creativity. Consider that once over.

Moving on, with character names like Blackie, Old Misery (Mr. Thomas), and the Wormsley Common Gang, that televised series titled The Little Rascals that show based on young children throughout the Great Depression years immediately draws to focus. That was the time (or shortly thereafter) of the most destitute economy within the U.S. The Destructors by Graham Greene makes evident that Hertfordshire, England faced a similar abomination around this time period. “The Blitz (from German, “lightning”) was the sustained strategic bombing of Britain and Northern Ireland by Nazi Germany between 7 September 1940 and 10 May 1941” (Stansky, 2007). This can be seen as a great reference to more fully determine the setting; now it’s understandable why T.‘s father, an architect, is working such a low-paying job. Here’s is where this commonality rests:

Initially, Blackie (with his “free bus rides”) held ground as the leader; then Trevor becomes the principal head of the Wormsley Common gang. Before Trevor came around, Blackie was identified as quite the righteous leader who strove to keep the group unflawed, unenvious (though surely envied by others, in their minds), and most importantly together. Also, he wants the gang to guard one another from the corruption of the elite and dignified, the upper-class. “Why has T. this idea of destruction, how can he do such a thing?” (Stansky, 2007) These two schematics touch. Blackie felt that isolation, that unwarranted aloneness that Rainsford found on that island with Zaroff, a man defunct of any compassion. Several situational differences surely stand between these characters and stories, but the psychological responses are virtually identical. Portrayed insecurity: Blackie displays insecurity when the Wormsley Common Gang instead supports Trevor and favors his methodology of destruction. Feeling the wrath of a similar instance of isolation, Blackie rebounds when “T.” becomes known as Trevor and they make amends from there; Blackie becomes part of the gang before the height of destruction officially begins. For a third character tie-in here, the apathy that Russian Cossack General Zaroff displays (forecasts) the expected characteristic that may very well have come of these two characters, Rainsford and Blackie. On this same note, that barren parking lot in Wormsley Commons is similar to this forecast theory. The bombings during World War II that took place prior to the events in this book are relative to what this feeling of abandonment felt for Blackie. Moreover, the war that Rainsford and General Zaroff have two separate depictions about took place prior to the actions depicted in The Most Dangerous Game.

A commonality with both of these stories, then, is how the separate traumatic aftereffects left from these occurrences restrain Blackie and Rainsford (Rainsford prior-to and Blackie encapsulated-within the story) from clearly seeing the beautiful rainbow after the violent storm. A notable difference rests in the way General Zaroff and Rainsford portray opposite responses, upon finding themselves stranded on the island, whereas the Wormsley Commons gang comes back securely and stronger by the end of the story. The island became a rather character-defining segment of The Most Dangerous Game, whereas the reunion of these children, after a period of separation and disunity, demonstrated the guile of the growing character Blackie.

Bibliography

Stansky, Peter. “The First Day of the Blitz, (2007) Stanford University. Web. 26 March 2012.