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John Smith
Mrs. Fimbinger
Freshman English 1st Hour
16 November 2010
Fear, Suspense, and the Acts of Death in The Most Dangerous Game and The Monkey’s
Paw
Famous movie director Alfred Hitchcock once said, “Always make the audience suffer as
much as possible.” He wanted to make his movie-going audiences experience fear, suspense, and
horror. Just like Hitchcock, Richard Connell and W.W. Jacobs wanted readers of their short
stories to experience these same emotions as the explored what it is like to commit murder after
terrible experiences. Connell‟s The Most Dangerous Game follows Sanger Rainsford after he has
been tossed from his yacht and has landed on a mysterious island. On this island, he meets a
twisted villain that hunts humans for pleasure. The Monkey’s Paw is a much different story. The
Whites, a happy family, come into the possession of a cursed monkey‟s paw; the paw grants
three wishes, but all have dire consequences. While both The Most Dangerous Game and The
Monkey’s Paw explore people’s fear of death and the suspense that leads up to this final
moment, Richard Connell’s short story deals with a man killing his enemy and W.W.
Jacobs’ story deals with a father killing his son.
The fear of death pushes the protagonists of these two short stories to commit the
unthinkable acts of murder. In The Most Dangerous Game, Sanger Rainsford is appalled at the
idea that General Zaroff would be able to kill another human being. When he learns of Zaroff‟s
twisted game, he says that even his experience serving in the war “„did not make me condone
cold-blooded murder‟” (Connell 172). He refuses to participate in Zaroff‟s game because it is
barbarous; clearly, showing he is against the act of murder. However, once he is being hunted
and he realizes he has no other choice but to kill or be killed, he chooses to kill his pursuer
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(Connell 181). The fear of death motivates him to do something he would never have agreed to
have done. Likewise, Mr. White from The Monkey’s Paw is motivated to kill because of his fear
of death. To be sure, he is not afraid of dying, but he is afraid to see what death has done to his
beloved son, Herbert. In fact, even when his wife is begging to bring Herbert back, the gruesome
memory of his deceased son stops him from immediately returning him to life. He says, “„He has
been dead ten days, and besides he – I would not tell you else, but – I could only recognize him
by his clothing. If he was too terrible for you to see then, how now?‟” (Jacobs 158). Once he has
made the wish for his son‟s return, the fear of seeing his son‟s dead body spurs him to commit
murder by wishing his son dead again.
While the fear of death pushes these civilized men to commit murder, W.W. Jacobs and
Richard Connell also make the reader feel fear by using suspense to lead up to these terrible acts.
Both authors want the reader to feel the terror of their protagonists and imagine what it might be
like to have to prepare to do something so terrible. In order to make their reader feel the fear of
being hunted or of having to see a deceased child, they use the plot device of suspense. In The
Monkey’s Paw, the author builds suspense by delaying the son‟s return. After Mr. White wishes
for his son to be alive, there is a long silent pause in the story as the old man and his wife
anticipate the return (Jacobs 159). Likewise, the reader is also anticipating the gory return of the
mangled son. When the son finally walks the two-miles from his grave to his parents‟ home upon
his father‟s second wish, there is a suspenseful struggle that prevents his mother from
immediately opening the door (Jacobs 159-160). This also gives Mr. White time to wish for his
son‟s death. Richard Connell also uses suspense throughout his short story leading up to General
Zaroff‟s death and the climax of the short story. When Rainsford is being hunted by dogs, the
author writes, “The baying of the hounds drew nearer, then still nearer, nearer, ever nearer”
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(Connell 180). The repetition used in this passage creates suspense for the reader as they wonder
if Rainsford will survive yet another attack by the dogs. In the end, Connell also delays the
deadly fight between Zaroff and Rainsford by meticulously detailing Zaroff‟s evening before he
finds Rainsford waiting in his bedroom ready to attack (Connell 181). The suspense in these
scenes and in The Monkey’s Paw make the reader want to read more to know what horrific event
will take place next.
The main difference between these two suspenseful short stories is the acts of murder that
take place. As discussed, both protagonists have a fear of death, which propels them to commit
murder. However, the types of murders committed are vastly different. In The Most Dangerous
Game, Rainsford kills General Zaroff only after being hunted by the man for three days and
realizing that he is in a kill or be killed situation. He says, “„I am still a beast at bay…Get ready,
General Zaroff‟” (Connell 181). He has been forced to revert to animalistic tendencies, and he
has shunned all reason that killing another human being is wrong after the long and dangerous
game. However, he is also killing someone that has been trying to kill him, making the act a
much easier one to commit. Conversely, Mr. White has to kill his son after wishing for his return
from death. Herbert White is not some homicidal maniac, like General Zaroff, but a wonderful
child that had a close relationship with both his mother and father. While Jacobs does not explain
Mr. White‟s remorse after committing this act, he does express the sorrow of the mother when
she wails out in disappointment at the realization that her son is not waiting outside her door
(Jacobs 160). Internally, even though he knew his son had changed, it must have been very
difficult for Mr. White to make the third wish, while it must have been very satisfying for
Rainsford to kill Zaroff.
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While on the surface these two short stories have very different plots and problems, it is
evident that they can easily be compared. The fear of death pushes both protagonists to commit
murder – acts that these two men would never have been capable of doing before. The authors‟
use of suspense in both short stories make them hard to put down, as Jacobs and Connell
consistently make the reader wait for terrible acts to come to fruition. These two short stories end
with a death. However, one is the death of an enemy and the other is the death of a beloved son.
In the end, these two twisted tales did what Alfred Hitchcock set out to do in all of his terrifying
movies – they made the audience suffer with fear and anticipation just as the main characters did
in The Most Dangerous Game and The Monkey’s Paw.
Works Cited
Connell, Richard. “The Most Dangerous Game.” Literature and The Language Arts:
Experiencing Literature. Ed. Eileen Slater and Christine Gemser. St. Paul, MN:
EMC/Paradigm Publishing, 1996. 164-181. Print.
Jacobs, W.W. “The Monkey‟s Paw.” Literature and The Language Arts: Experiencing Literature.
Ed. Eileen Slater and Christine Gemser. St. Paul, MN: EMC/Paradigm Publishing,
1996. 151-160. Print.