The Basic Human Need

Every human is alive because they survive. Survival is a basic thing every human

need. The sniper by Liam OFlaherty is about a sniper in an Irish civil war fighting

against another sniper for their survival. The most dangerous game by Richard Connell

is about a man who gets to an island and is being hunted by a man for his survival. The

two stories both show survival. It is a basic thing that all humans need. Survival also

changes the view of a story or has a plot twist that we didnt expect. In conclusion, these

two authors show us that survival is something that we totally need.

Survival is a pretty basic theme in these two stories that I am reviewing. But it is

quite crazy on how it changes the whole entire story. The sniper shows survival by

thinking of an idea to trick his enemy into thinking he is dead and then shooting him with

his revolver in order to survive and defend what he is fighting for. For example, The

sniper slanted the rifle forward. The cap clipped down into the street. Then catching the

rifle in the middle, the sniper dropped his left hand over the roof and let it hang,

lifelessly. (Sniper, P.5). This sentence from the story shows his ways of survival to stay

alive and win the war for his side and how he was smart by thinking on how to survive.

Then when the smoke cleared, he peered across and uttered a cry of joy. His enemy

had been hit. (Sniper, P. 5). This sentence changes the story and also shows his

hunger for survival. These two sentences from The Sniper show how it changes the

story and how it relates to survival. It changes the story because the sniper was hit

before he laid over the edge to pretend like he was dead. Then when his enemy wasnt

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looking he shot him and killed him. It really changes the story because we thought that

the sniper was not going to survive after he had been shot. It also shows survival

because he never gave up on his fight and won the battle without dying.

Another short story that includes survival is the most dangerous game. In this

story survival is the main theme and it plays all throughout the story. Rainsford fell off a

yacht and came to an island. He spent time there and after some time General Zaroff

challenged him to a game that required Rainsford to survive. For example, Rainsford

knew he could do one of two things. He could stay where he was and wait. That was

suicide. He could flee. That was postponing the inevitable. (MDG, P.22). This quote

shows Rainsford planning his way for survival to prove to General Zaroff that he is a

smarter hunter and a better hunter. Twenty feet below him the sea rumbled and hissed.

Rainsford hesitated. He heard the hounds. Then he leaped far out into the sea. This

quote shows that Rainsford really did have the survival skills to escape General Zaroff

and his hounds and being the first to win the game. These two quotes show Rainsford

ways of survival and thinking about the scenario he was in choosing to do something

that would trick the hounds for not capturing him and trick General Zaroff do finally beat

his game. It also changes the story. It has a little twist. We thought Rainsford was going

to make a run for it instead he was able to think through it a swam to his safety and

lasted all three days.

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 Therefore, survival is a basic need for every human which is why these authors

both show it in their story and change the way us readers thought about both of the

stories. It also made the story a bit more interesting and had a bit of a twist. The sniper

by Liam OFlaherty shows survival because the setting takes place in a war in their

situation a sniper vs another sniper. The most dangerous game by Richard Connell

shows survival because the main character is being hunted by a twisted man for three

days. The theme of survival in the sniper and the most dangerous game reminds us that

survival is a basic need for every human in the world even when it comes to books and

stories.

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