In Richard O'Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game," the
philosophy presented is that animals (all kinds of animals) have feelings. When Whitney
first presents the idea, Rainsford scoffs.
"Great sport,
hunting."
"The best sport in the world," agreed
Rainsford.
"For the hunter," amended Whitney. "Not for the
jaguar."
"Don't talk rot, Whitney," said Rainsford. "You're
a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares about how a jaguar
feels?"
"Perhaps the jaguar does," observed
Whitney.
"Bah! They've no
understanding."
"Even so, I think they understand one
thing—fear. The fear of pain and the fear of
death."
Rainsford, a very
famous big-game hunter does not understand that an animal could feel fear or anything
else. In his mind, an animals has no understanding of the more sophisticated feelings of
human beings.
However, when Rainsford meets General Zaroff,
and the other man tries to get him to participate in hunting human beings, Rainsford is
appalled by General Zaroff's disturbing idea that less intelligent humans, or those of
poor circumstances, are not the equal to other human beings, and are, therefore,
disposable. It is not until Zaroff decides to hunt Rainsford that Rainsford himself
understands the concept of the "fear of pain and the fear of
death."
Very quickly, Rainsford is thrown into a situation
where he must kill or be killed. Only from the very real threat of being killed by
Zaroff can Rainsford understand the inherent desire in all creatures to live, as well as
what an "animal" (of any kind) will do in order to preserve its (his)
life.
It would have been interesting to learn if Rainsford
ever chose to hunt again after this experience. Would he be better able to understand
the common response of all creatures to violence and cruelty after leaving the
island?
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