The Most Dangerous Game

First, I will show some examples of similies used in The Most Dangerous Game.

A simile is a figure of speech in which two different things are compared using the words "like" or "as."

"The sea was as flat as a plateglass window." This simile is comparing the sea to a plateglass window, which are two different things. The sea is usually always moving around, and it rarely ever stays flat. However, at that time it appeared to be flat, just like a plateglass window is. In the story, the flat sea added to the feeling of dread that Whitney was telling Rainsford about.

"An apprehensive night crawled slowly by like a wounded snake." This simile is comparing an apprehensive, or cautious, night to a wounded snake. It is saying that the night went by slowly, just like a snake with a wound would go.

This similie helped tell about how Rainsford felt during that night. He couldn't sleep and it went by slowly for him.

Another type of figurative language used in The Most Dangerous Game is a metaphor, or a figure of speech in which a word or a phrase that originally designates one thing is used to designate another.

"The Cossack was the cat; he was the mouse." This is a comparsion to the way a cat would hunt a mouse. Cats silently stalk their victims and then attack them. Mice do not suspect the attack. The Cossack is very secretive in hunting Rainsford, and Rainsford didn't suspect anything.

Another type of figurative language used in The Most Dangerous Game is personification. Personification is the representation of a thing or idea as a person or by the human form.

"...it was set on a high bluff, and on three sides of it cliffs dived down to where the sea licked greedy lips in the shadows."

This is an example of personification because in real life, the sea doesn't have lips. The author gave the sea a trait of a person. This example of personification helped the story be more interesting to the people reading it. This relates to the story because it helps people picture what is happening better when Rainsford finds a palatial chateau set on a high bluff over the sea.

The last type of figurative language used in The Most Dangerous Game was foreshadowing, which is a warning or an indication of an event happening in the future.

The name of the island in the story was "Ship-Trap Island." This is an example of foreshadowing because Rainsford becomes trapped on the island. The name of the island lets us get a good idea of what is going to happen to Rainsford and his ship.

Thanks for watching!

The Most Dangerous Game is a short story that has many uses of figurative language. Many examples of similies, metaphors, personfication, and foreshadowing appear throughout the story.

The Most Dangerous Game

Uses of Figurative Language

By Casey Culligan