The Most Dangerous Game
By:Richard Connell
Jacquie Jones
Period 3

HOW CAN FEAR BE BENEFICIAL?

In the article “The positive side of fear” by Duncan Muguku, points out the benefits of fear and how we can see fear through a different perspective. This article is found on a website called thriveyard.com. The author; Muguku made this website to debate about the positive sides of fear in people’s lives and how fear is beneficial in many ways, and how it keeps people safe and alive.

Psychological : When you think of fear what suddenly pops up in your head? A fear that you may have such as a fear of spiders or a fear of the dark, a fear of failure, or whatever fear you may have. Often people think of fear as something that should only be scary or worrisome. People look at fear with fright when it should be acknowledged as a potential help in your day to day life. Although you may be afraid of something, your fear will make you aware and it can actually benefit you. Fear will prompt you to identify choices and options, analyze them and evaluate your best course of action.

In my book “the most dangerous game” a guy named rainsford has a fear of death and never leaving the island, so he has no choice but to acknowledge his fear and play the game by Zaroff’s rules, so he can leave the island and not die.

Physical: a lot of times people act on fear, for example, if your watching a scary movie you might jump out of your seat, or if your scared of getting injured while riding a bike or a scooter you’ll wear safety protection. The author Muguku states that “ At the basic level, fear guides our fight or flight responses and helps to keep us safe and alive. Fear heightens your senses and awareness; it keeps you alert and helps in better preparation (Muguku).” Fear helps you to make beneficial and safe decisions in life and it should be seen as a positive more than a negative, your fears may be scary but it makes us aware of what to do when we need take action. And it keeps us cautious and out of danger.

In the most dangerous game, rainsford hid in the forest from Zaroff and kept quiet so he wouldn’t be heard or seen. He acted on his fear which helped him stay hidden and safe.

Emotional: Like any other emotion wether that be happy, sad, or angry, fear also falls into the emotion category. When people have fear they are most likely scared of the unknown. We fear what we we don’t know and fear what we can imagine. Muguku states that “Fear provides an opportunity to dissect the most extreme, worst case, risky and dangerous outcomes and identify a course of action that is most palatable under the current circumstances (Muguku).” This means that diagnosing your feeling of fear and sensing why your afraid will help you in deciding what to do when you feel afraid.

In my book, the most dangerous game, the character Rainsford experienced fear during the unpleasant hunting game, and he decided to make a plan and identify his circumstances in which he made the choice to win the game by realizing he was never going to escape Zaroff he then proceeded to take justice into his own hands and kill off Zaroff, so he could leave the island.

Conclusion/ relation to the novel
In comparison to the novel “The Most Dangerous Game” fear is shown and used by the main character Rainsford. And uses his fear to his benefit to stay safe and alive. Fear should be seen as a benefit in our life and we should acknowledge that fear can actually help us in different situations. Instead of worrying about something we need to take a course of action, instead of being scared we can understand why we’re scared and use that knowledge to act on what we know and by this way of thinking, fear can be beneficial in our daily lives.