Eco—criticism on The Most Dangerous Game

Abstract：The Most Dangerous Game is a classic short story which won the O·Henry Award written by Richard Connell. The main content is just like the word “game” in the title——a hunting game and battle of life and death. Rainsford the hunter talks with his partner in the beginning， by what he says we find he shows contempt for nature. However disastrous accident happens he became prey of another man， Zaroff. This thesis tries to analyze the relationship between literature and nature based on Eco-criticism. The harmonious relationship between human beings and nature must be the highest principle. If human beings take themselves as king of the world， there will come extermination of human nature.

Key words：Eco-criticism； anthropocentrism； relationship； conflict

1. Introduction

As a classic of American short stories， The Most Dangerous game describes a cut-throat competition between two notorious hunters. A big game hunter who is trapped on an island with a fellow hunter， who is uninterested in hunting stereotypical prey， and instead decides that the only prey worthy of his skills is other humans. Rainsford is typically anthropocentric and Zaroff is the faithful supporter of social Darwinism. Although the two hunters have different opinion of hunting， they are all objective existence which show ignorance and ignorance of the nature world. “From the more essential dimension， how people get along with others will be exactly like how they treat with things”（Fehrnstrom， 19）. If this kind of indifference kept existing， not only nature but also beings will finally become preys and destroyed themselves. The work reveals firstly relationship between human beings， the only species with reason， and other animals， and on the other hand relationship between man and man.

2. Conflicts between man and nature

Biocentrism， in a political and ecological sense， is an ethical point of view that extends inherent value to all living things（Derr： 21）. It stands in contrast to anthropocentrism which centers on the value of humans. Biocentric thought is nature based， not human based. Animals， plants and human beings are equals to each other， they all together compose our living environment. Of course human beings have high intelligence quotient so as to acclimatize nature to our needs， but we can do nothing facing with natures revenge. Ecological ethics is the literary criticism， which explores the relationship between literature and nature under the guidance of ecologism especially ecological holism. It is to reveal the ecological thoughts contained in the literary book， reveal the root of ideology and culture of the ecological crisis（Wang Nuo 2011：47）. At the beginning of The Most Dangerous Game Rainsford and his partner talks about hunting. When Wheatly speaks on the side of jaguar， Rainsford laughed at him because he even does not care about what the prey feels， which is typically anthropocentrism. Human beings with high technology， take absolute predominance in combat with animals. They take nature as the opposite side， however the rule of nature world is that living beings and other objects live with ecological law， so as to have persistent existence. Human beings is just one of the species. As it turns out human beings is punished.

The only difference between the two hunters Rainsford and Zaroff is that Zaroff takes people as preys， but Rainsford thinks it is murder. Its no doubt that Zaroff is a voracious person. His desire is endless. We can imagine what would happen if Zaroff was not killed by Rainsford， he will be tired of hunting people and feel no pleasure one day. Then he may commit suicide like before. Beginning in 1887， social scientists were using the term “Social Darwinnism” to apply the survival of the fitted theory to social situations. For many westerners， society is a big hunting ground ruled by law of the jungle. Growing up under the nature of Darwinism Zaroff thinks life as patent and existence of the weak is just to offer entertainment. In his eyes， those people he hunted， no matter white or black， even does not worth to one horse or sleuth. The title “The Most Dangerous Game” is a pun. On one hand it means Rainsford is the most dangerous prey. On the other hand it implies that one who plays the most dangerous game will finally be defeated by his prey. The big animal hunts the small for they want basic survival， but the behavior Rainsford hunts animals and Zaroff hunts people is just for pleasure-seeking. The end of the story alerting that only when people respect others and love nature could they get meaningful life.

3. conclusion

In this fiction， all the people are hunters. There is not definite evil or definite good. Evil and good are even reversed finally. If things continue going like this， what will people be like？ Like brutes or brutes in human beings shape？ If so， isnt it very dangerous to live in this world because no one knows who is human being and who is a brute that may damage others？ Danger exists anywhere at any time. It exists not only in the world where we live but also in the mind where we think just like the “ship-trap island” and the two characters in the story. Only when human respect for natural rules and other species can their society develops harmoniously.

【Work Cited】

[1] Cheryll Glotfelty， Harold Fromm. The Eco-criticism reader Landmarks in literary ecology. Athens The University of Georgia Press， 1996.

[2] Derr， Pathrick George； Edward M. McNamara（2003）. Case studies in environmental ethics. Rowman & Littlefield. P. 21. ISBN 978-0-7425-3137-6.

[3] Wynne Tyson， The Extended Circle[J]. New York Paragon House， 1989.

[4] 費洛姆. 為自己的人[M]. 三聯書店， 1998.

[5] 查理得·康奈爾. 最危險的獵物[M]. 廣州：花城出版社， 2000.

【作者簡介】

劉小爽（1991—），女，漢族，陜西榆林人，西安外國語大學英文學院研究生部2014級英語語言文學專業碩士研究生。主要研究方向：美國文學。