Comparison of the Destructors and the Most Dangerous Game

¶ … Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell and "The Destructors" by Graham Greene share a similar structure, where each story is organized around the completion of a "game" with artificial rules, which ultimately demonstrates darker truths about human motivation.

Intro Paragraph:

*Structural similarity between Connell story and Greene story

Connell story

*Connell story, title, pun on "Game"

*"Game" as animal that is hunted, "Game" as activity with artificial rules

*Zaroff's game is antisocial / destructive

*Zaroff's world -- separate from real world

Greene story

*Greene story, title, refers to boys' gang (although not what they call it)

*Boys' activity: destroying architecturally significant building

*Building survived bombing miraculously, boys destroy it anyway

*Boys attitude toward Old Misery

Paragraph three: Comparison of two stories

*The structural similarity between the two stories

*Zaroff in Connell and the gang in Greene are both using a lot of effort

*This effort could be put toward something destructive

Conclusion:

*Connell story is a thriller, Greene story makes more serious comment on society

*But both are structured around a central activity like a "game" but antisocial

"The Most Dangerous Game" by Richard Connell and "The Destructors" by Graham Greene share a similar structure, where each story is organized around the completion of a "game" with artificial rules, which ultimately demonstrates darker truths about human motivation. In Connell's story, General Zaroff -- a Cossack aristocrat who lives on a remote island -- is obsessed with hunting, but has become bored with even the most dangerous animals to hunt, like tigers. So he devises a system whereby he kidnaps and hunts human beings, and then hunts them down in a kind of structured contest: "if my quarry eludes me for more than three days, he wins the game" (3). Graham Greene's story, which has a greater element of realism, is about a gang of pre-pubescent boys in post-World-War-Two London, who are looking around for an activity to occupy them. They decide, perversely, to demolish an architecturally-significant house that has somehow survived the German bombing during the war. Greene notes, however, that the boys' gang is engaged in playing a game before deciding to accomplish the destruction of the building, noting that the gang starts by "bouncing balls on the wall" and "sacrificed the whole morning to the game of bouncing that only Mike was young enough to enjoy" (2). I hope to demonstrate that both of these stories use the central structure of establishing and completing a "game" or artificially-structured activity in order to reveal darker truths about human nature.

Obviously Connell's story foregrounds the concept of a "game" in its very title, "The Most Dangerous Game." It is important to note, however, that the word "game" in Connell's title is, in fact, a pun. "Game" has the meaning of a type of animal that is hunted for sport, as in the concept of a "game preserve," which is an area of land set aside for the purpose of stocking it with animals to be hunted. This is exatly how General Zaroff in the story refers to "Ship-Trap Island" when he tells Rainsford: "Here in my preserve on this island ... I hunt more dangerous game." (2). However Zaroff also uses the word "game" in its other more everyday meaning of a kind of contest or artificially-structured activity with rules, the sort of game that people play to win; except the perversity of Zaroff's worldview is that the "game" he is playing is one that, as Rainsford accurately notes, most people would describe as murder:

"It's a game, you see," pursued the general blandly. "I suggest to one of them that we go hunting. I give him a supply of food and an excellent hunting knife. I give him three hours' start. I am to follow, armed only with a pistol of the smallest caliber and range. If my quarry eludes me for three whole days, he wins the game. If I find him" -- the general smiled -- "he loses." (3)

What is made clear by this description is that Zaroff is not just a sadist or a serial killer. He is, instead, a man obsessed with a certain type of leisure activity -- hunting. What he actually craves is the thrill of this pastime, so he essentially contrives to make it as difficult as possible -- by hunting an animal that is more intelligent than any other. But Zaroff's game is conducted according to specific rules: he is conducting his hunt while limiting his own capacity by using a regular handgun with a very short-range. The entire structure of the story is based around Zaroff compelling Rainsford to play this "game" by being hunted down on the island. This is, after all, how the story ultimately concludes: when Zaroff is forced to say to Rainsford "I congratulate you ... you have won the game." (8).

Graham Greene's story by contrast does not use the word "game" very much, except once at the beginning to describe the activity that the boys have become bored with, which is bouncing a ball on the side wall of Old Misery's house. Instead, we are meant to understand that the boys -- led by Blackie -- are always seeking to engage in more complicated types of group activity with rules, such as to "take buses at random and see how many free rides could be snatched" (3). However, Greene's description makes it clear that this is essentially being done as a group game or competition since "the operation was to be carried out in pairs to avoid cheating" (3). However there is an element of social class conflict in the story, because it is the boy called T., whose family is originally of a higher social class, who identifies Old Misery's house as architecturally significant and "beautiful" -- and it is T. who suggests the plan that "tomorrow and Monday we destroy Old Misery's house." (3). The gang confirms that this will be the plan with a vote, and they all adhere to the plan with the organization and the determination of a baseball team. And all throughout the description of the gang's activity in destroying Old Misery's house, Greene is careful to give indications that basically the activity should be understood as a game. For example, when T. explains to Blackie that he didn't devise the plan for the destruction out of hatred for Old Misery, he says "There'd be no fun if I hated him" (5). After this explanation T. volunteers "I'll race you home, Blackie." (5). The idea that the destruction of the house should be "fun" and should be interspersed with game-like activities like a foot-race demonstrates the central paradox of the story: the gang is basically destroying the house as a kind of organized game activity.