Cause and Effect Essay

Taylor Spady

David Armstrong       

English Cause and Effect essay         

17 September 2010

Have you ever started reading a book that was so fascinating that you couldn’t set it down?  Or, you are so hooked on a book that when you read it, it feels like everything else doesn’t exist?  When an author writes a book, their goal is to make their writing as interesting as possible while staying on topic.  One of the ways the author grabs your attention so you will continue to want to read what they have wrote is by adding suspense in either action, fear, or romance.  In “The Most Dangerous Game,” cause and effect relationships cause suspense.       

            In the story, what made it so interesting was how the suspense kept you curious and wanting more. When it started, it was like any other story until it said “I had to invent a new animal to hunt.”(Connell, 27) At this point, the tension was dramatically building, because General Zaroff mentioned how he had conquered the task of killing numerous terrifying animals such as elephants and water buffalos. Not everyone you see on the street can proudly say that they have hunted these types of creatures.  So when a man claims a “new” creature was created for a more extreme hunt, something couldn’t be right.

            While the General and Rainsford were having an elegant dinner with champagne on his personal island, Rainsford was admiring some of the generals many animal heads mounted on the walls.  There were so many fierce animals, such as lions, tigers, elephants, bears, jaguars, and cape buffalos. The General recalled that one night after hunting, he was laying in the tent with a headache when the thought came into his mind that hunting was starting to bore him! Especially when he mentions “It must have courage, cunning, and above all must be able to reason,” (Connell 27).  There is only one living thing that has all of these qualities.              

            As the story continues to unfold, Rainsford accused the General of murdering, not hunting.  The following day, the General explains the rules for the game so Rainsford has a fair chance. He even informs Rainsford to wear moccasins since they leave less of a trail of footsteps. “I’ll give him a trail to follow muttered Rainsford, and he struck off from the rude path as he had been following into the trackless wilderness.”(Connell ). At this point, the tension is sky rocketing, because if Rainsford doesn’t stay out of the Generals reach, then he is just going to be another trophy under his belt. But if he escapes, or doesn’t get killed, he’d be the only victim the general failed to kill.

          In this story, the author always had different cause and effect relationships that lead to suspense. There were also several quotes that made the suspense breath taking. But in the end, Rainsford survived for the three total days, and the General and his first hunting failure. In the last paragraph of the story, while the General was furnishing a repast for the hounds, Rainsford got to sleep in the comfortable bed.