Comparison Essay
Horror is a theme portrayed in many films and stories. According to H.P. Lovecraft the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. Horror films and stories deal with fear of the unknown, revulsion and disgust. This is shown in the short story The Most Dangerous Game and the movie Quarantine. The purpose of this essay is to compare similarities between the two and contrast differences. The three main similarities that can be discussed involve horror/ fear, isolation and survival. The three main differences that can be discussed involve death, humanity and violence.
The first similarity that can be discussed is horror. As implied before according to H.P Lovecraft the oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. Horror can be defined as an emotion that deals with fear of the unknown, revulsion and or disgust. Both The Most Dangerous Game and Quarantine show horror. In The Most Dangerous Game horror is shown when General Zaroff reveals the new animal he began hunting is human, this shows horror because hunting humans is in fact a disgusting act and causes revulsion. This is because hunting humans is not a normal act and cannot be carried out by a sane being; only an insane being is capable of hunting a fellow human being. Insanity also shows horror because horror is defined as fear of the unknown, you are never fully aware of what an insane being will do which therefore shows horror. Fear of the unknown is also shown in Quarantine the virus contracted by the inhabitants of the building and the firefighters is s an unknown disease, not much is known about it so fear is caused by it. This is because its a very mysterious disease that causes humans to become bloodthirsty. The difference between the horror in The Most Dangerous Game and Quarantine is the horror in Quarantine is very fast paced unlike The Most Dangerous Game which is slowly initiated through a thorough story with horror being shown mainly towards the end.
Another similarity between the The Most Dangerous Game and Quarantine is isolation. Isolation can be described as solitary confinement due to medical reasons or social reasons. The definition of Quarantine is enforced isolation of patients suffering from a contagious disease. Although both involve isolation the specific isolation involved is not the same. In The Most Dangerous Game Rainsford is put in solitary confinement only after he falls off a yacht and swims to general Zaroffs Island. In the movie Quarantine the inhabitants of the building where the first woman with the contagious disease and the firefighters are confined to prevent the spread of this horrifying disease. Isolation also ties in with horror, being alone causes fear and it can also lead to insanity.
Survival is also shown in both The Most Dangerous Game and Quarantine. In The Most Dangerous Game Rainsford is challenged by General Zaroff to survive for 3 days to guarantee his freedom from the Island. Though most of the inhabitants of the Island hadnt survived (according to General Zaroff none) Rainsford survived and towards the ending General Zaroff was given a taste of his own medicine when he died. This is very different in Quarantine where no one survives the disease. The zombies didnt live long and the last two survivors the camera man and the reporter were killed in the attic. The survival in The Most Dangerous Game is similar to that of a cat and mouse. General Zaroff being the cat and Rainsford being the mouse. Rainsford had eluded General Zaroff with a Malay man catcher and a Ugandan native trick that ends up killing General Zaroffs servant Ivan. Rainsford then dives off a cliff; General Zaroff is led to believe that Rainsford is indeed dead so he decides to make his way home where Rainsford had already arrived by swimming around the Island. They then agree to a fight where the loser will be fed to the dogs. The fight is not described but Rainsford ends the story by saying he had a magnificent sleep concluding General Zaroff was dead.
The first difference that can be discussed is death. The deaths in The Most Dangerous Game and in Quarantine are very different. In The Most Dangerous Game both General Zaroff are hunters which means they hunt for fun, as a sport / hobby. This is not gruesome unless it involves humans which in this case it does as General Zaroff becomes very bored of hunting animals as they all behave the same way. He moves on to humans because they have emotions and he believes its different from senseless killings. In Quarantine the deaths arent orchestrated unlike The Most Dangerous Game the zombies are given an instinctive trait from the disease which makes them bloodthirsty. The Zombies have no specific way of carrying out their killings. The victims all become zombies and die after a short time because its a very fast paced disease.
Humanity is another theme contrasted in The Most Dangerous Game and Quarantine. Humanity can be defined as compassion and or sympathy towards animals or humans. In Quarantine the victims were confined from humanity and although the killings were inhumane the zombies had no free will so they couldnt make any ethical decisions of right and wrong towards humanity. Contrastively in The Most Dangerous Game General Zaroff was a very inhumane human being, he wasnt insane which gives him no excuse for hunting human beings. He made the ethical decision to hunt humans after he became bored with hunting animals.
The last theme that is contrasted in The Most Dangerous Game and Quarantine is violence. Violence is shown in The Most Dangerous Game between Rainsford and General Zaroff during General Zaroffs hunt. Rainsford eludes General Zaroff twice once where he trapped him in a Malay man trap and when he used a Ugandan hunting trick which ended up killing his mute servant Ivan. The fight between General Zaroff and Rainsford although it wasnt described also shows violence. General Zaroffs dies when he is served to the dogs while Rainsford has the most magnificent sleep on General Zaroffs bed. In Quarantine violence is shown throughout the movie by the bloodthirsty zombies killing and being killed. The deaths involve gore and are very graphic.
All in all similarities and contrastive differences were shown and were gone into depth with. Horror is indeed fear of the unknown and is shown every day. There is only so much humans know and a characteristic of human beings is inquisitiveness. We are always on a search for knowledge, its in our nature. This means horror is very real and fear is experienced by everyone.
Works Cited
The Most Dangerous Game January 19, 1924
Connell, Richard
Quarantine 2008
Dowdle, John Erick
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