Mood Of The Most Dangerous Game
Timothee Cazares
February marks the beginning of when I usually experience my most difficult months with bipolar. Often, it is cold and rainy in Mississippi during this month, and that signals a change in my moods that is hard to explain.
I try to structure my springtime days so that I have certain times designated for activity, for rest, for productivity in my writing, and for domestic chores. These particular activities are connected to my energy levels throughout the day:
Each of those occasions has the potential to spark stress and mood changes. I must be very careful with my attitude during this time, so I plan to focus on the good in each situation, rather than allowing myself to drown in self-pity or adopt a controlling attitude. To go with the flow of activity rather than believe that I have to be any other person than just myself. To let go of irritants and not let my moods get the best of me.
Thank you for the article. I find that the time change; either Fall Back or Spring Forward are huge triggers for me. Plus for those of us so inclined to believe, when Mercury goes into Retrograde my moods become pronounced in either direction.
I was diagnosed with bpd in 1999, been on so many med combos after many hospitalizations.
I have never tracked my triggers for mania and depression before. I know journaling is good which I have tried so many times and given up when nothing interesting is going on in my life. How do you suggest writing on those days? The boring, numbing days?
Julie A. Fast uses her extensive research and personal experience to offer strategies for managing bipolar disorder. Read more in this Q&A about how her insights can guide confident management and deepen our understanding of this brain-based illness. Julie A. Fast is a recognized authority in the mental health field. She is known for her...
The setting of "The Most Dangerous Game," a remote and treacherous island,creates a mood of suspense and danger. The isolation and wilderness contributeto the tone of fear and survival, emphasizing the perilous situation faced bythe protagonist and the sinister nature of the antagonist.
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Richard Conell begins "The Most Dangerous Game" with direct dialogue toinvolve readers immediately in the story. He uses the character's dialogue toestablish setting - the tropical Caribbean. It is "like moist dark velvet," andall is surrounded in "thick warm blackness" due to the moonless night. Thesetting and lush descriptions instantly create a creepy, ominousmood.
As the story continues, the superstitious talk of tangible evil raisestension. The events of the story - Rainsford falling off the yacht, swimming tothe brink of exhaustion, finally being rescued by General Zaroff - are pointsof building and falling tension. The realisation that General Zaroff hunts menis a turning point in the story, for the mood is solidified and the reader iscertain that something terrible will happen.
As for organisation, the hunt occurs over three days. Each day is detailed,and each day holds new challenges and new terrors for Rainsford. Each plan (thecomplicated trail, the man-catching trap, the tiger trap, the knife) brings newhope, but each one fails. The mood is still ominous, but the story isconstantly exciting and new. Rainsford's final plan, to swim to the chateau andwin the hunt, succeeds! The suspense in the final line, "He had never sleptbetter in a bed, Rainsford decided," allows the suspense to linger until thepenultimate word of the story. Story organisation and even sentencestructure contribute to the ominous yet exciting mood of the tale.
Richard Connell's word choice in describing Shiptrap Island to the readerassist in creating the mood in the story, namely a mysterious, ominous mood.Through WHitney's character, the author calls the island "a mystery" and tellsus, "Sailors have a curious dread of the place. I don't know why. Some superstition--...". He goes on with his description duringWHitney's conversation with Rainsford, stating "The place has a reputation -- abad one.... Even cannibals wouldn't live in such a God-forsaken place....Didn't you notice that the crew's nerves seemed a bit jumpy today?" His talk ofthe island gives the reader the sense of ominous foreboding that surrounds thestory.
Sanger Rainsford, the protagonist, is discussing hunting and life in generalwith Whitney on a yacht traveling through the Caribbean. He is told aboutthe island they are passing, which superstitious sailors avoid. It is avery dark night.
Dense jungle came down to the very edge of the cliffs. What perils thattangle of trees and underbrush might hold for him did not concern Rainsfordjust then. All he knew was that he was safe from his enemy, the sea, and thatutter weariness was on him.
Connell uses a lot of imagery (mostly in the use of similes) to describe hissetting and how lush and overgrown this jungle-like island is complete withquicksand, swampy areas, beaches, cliffs, and a mansion with only the finestcreature comforts around.
When Sanger Rainsford falls off the yacht, he swims toward a screaming soundthat he has heard in the darkness. For "an endless time he fought the sea," buthe finally hears the water hitting a rocky shore. Rainsford pulls himself upthe jagged rocks, and then he reaches a "flat place at the top." Touching theedge of the cliffs, he sees a dense jungle filled with a tangle of trees andunderbrush.
Rainsford walks along the shoreline rather than struggle through the "web ofweeds and trees." He follows this shore around a cliff until he sees lights ona high bluff where a palatial chteau rests. Around it on three sides aresheer cliffs that extend to the sea. Later, Rainsford learns that he is onShip-Trap Island.
Mood is a literary strategy that is created through diction, syntax,figurative language, and so much more. It's the way a reader feels whilereading based on the way an author constructs their narrative. It's sometimesknown as the atmosphere of a moment or scene. The author creates mood throughtheir characters and scenes, shifting the feeling as the events bring thereader through the overall plot.
In "The Most Dangerous Game," Connell creates a suspenseful mood throughouthis narrative, bringing the reader through the ups and downs of Rainsford'sadventure. At various points in the story, the mood could be described as oneof mystery, relief, fear, panic, or calm.
At the beginning of the story, we find Rainsford and Whitney sailing on ayacht to an unknown location to hunt big game, but there is an air of mysteryas they discuss the concept of a hunter and a huntee. The same air of mysteryreturns when Rainsford is listening to Zaroff slowly reveal his newly created"game."
The reader feels relief after Rainsford successfully swims to the islandafter falling off the yacht. Once he reaches land, the tension is released, andthe reader and Rainsford feel at ease. The text mirrors this feeling once againwhen Rainsford successfully wins the "game" at the end of the story.
At the dinner table with Zaroff, Rainsford learns what the most dangerousgame is, and it shakes him to his core. He feels this same terror again in thejungle when he almost gets caught in the Death Swamp's quicksand.
Even though Rainsford is put in a precarious situation, he constantlyreminds himself to keep his head on straight. Within the moments of panic andterror, Rainsford is able to bring a sense of peace to the mood by focusing onhow to logically get himself out of the difficulty he is facing. His calmdemeanor helps him create traps and various plans to outwit Zaroff.
I am currently an adjunct professor at Community College of Beaver County, which is located just outside of Pittsburgh, where I teach introductory early childhood education classes several evenings a week.
The mood of a story is the atmosphere created by the author that evokescertain emotions and feelings in the reader. In Richard Connell's classic shortstory "The Most Dangerous Game," the mood changes as the story progresses.Initially, Connell creates an ominous,foreboding mood as Rainsford and Whitney talk about Ship-TrapIsland while sitting on the deck of the yacht. The extremely dark environmentcreates an eerie atmosphere as the two men discuss theisland's negative reputation. When Rainsford accidentally falls off the boat,the mood of the story becomes suspenseful as the readerwonders if he will survive in the rough waters. The mood of the story thenbecomes unsettling and tense duringRainsford's initial dinner with General Zaroff. When the general explains thathe hunts humans on Ship-Trap Island, the mood of the story becomesterrifying as Rainsford begins to fear for his life. Duringthe hunt, Connell creates a suspenseful,tense mood as Rainsford desperately attempts to outwit andavoid the general. During various scenes, the intensityheightens as the general nearly dies in Rainsford's deadly traps. The readersympathizes with Rainsford's difficult circumstance and can feel the pressureof trying to avoid the maniacal general. Overall, the mood of the short storychanges as Rainford encounters various obstacles and fights for his survival onShip-Trap Island.
"The first thing Rainsford's eyes discerned was the largest man Rainsfordhad ever seen--a gigantic creature, solidly made and black bearded to thewaist. In his hand the man held a long-barreled revolver, and he was pointingit straight at Rainsford's heart."
The mood is suspenseful, foreboding, and frightening. Rainsford has comeupon an island that according to his companion Whitney, "has an evil name amongsea-faring men". Rainsford has a brazen attitude of disbelief, but as he findshimself a pawn in General Zaroff's game, hunted like a wild animal, the senseof fear and suspense is heightened at every turn. Zaroff's island and estateturns out to be the location of a terror-filled game, Zaroff created for hisamusement, where he hunts the most dangerous and intelligent game anyone couldhunt: humans, sea-faring men who are shipwrecked there, with no way out. AsRainsford struggles to outsmart Zaroff and live another day, the suspense iscontinually rising and falling until the very end.