Moral Significance: Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" .
Thomas Wolfe's "The Child by Tiger".
Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" (reprinted in Laurence Perrine and Thomas R. Arp, Story and Structure, 9th ed. [Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1998] 8-23) is quite similar to Thomas Wolfe's "The Child by Tiger" (reprinted in Laurence Perrine and Thomas R. Arp, Story and Structure, 9th ed. [Fort Worth: Harcourt Brace, 1998] 24-40). For instance, both stories look into what happens when a person loses touch with reality. Both stories make light of killing people. Both stories have the element of suspense. However, "The Child by Tiger" is more morally significant than "The Most Dangerous Game" because of the following factors: It deepens the reader's awareness of life, and it explains the behavior of a deranged person and shows how others react to that person.
One reason is that "The Child by Tiger" ends by giving the reader something to ponder on the darkness of man. For example, when the boys find the gun, Dick Prosser's actions reveal a dark side. He makes a secret pact with them, and promises to take them out to shoot it if they do not tell anyone about it. The boys agree and in so doing they form a bond with Prosser (Wolfe 28, 29). This act displays how a man's "darker" side forces him to use his friendships to protect himself. In contrast, Connell does not give insights into life. Instead, "The Most Dangerous Game" leaves the reader with a playful ending that is full of suspense but void of significance. The reader must decide if Rainsford becomes the hunter or if he just leaves (Connell 23). Therefore, Wolfe's story contains a deeper awareness of life than Connell's.
A second reason is that Wolfe's story explains the behavior of a deranged person and shows how others react to that person. For instance, one night, without warning, Dick Prosser begins a killing spree which spans the better part of a day, and spawns a fatal manhunt.
