Perrine's "Literature: Structure, Sound, and Sense" is full of good short stories and different types of literary forms. "The Most Dangerous Game," by Richard Connell is one of the short stories. One of the most recognized literary forms is irony and this story is filled with them. The three types of irony in this short story are; verbal, dramatic, and irony of a situation. These three types of irony add to this short story and keeps readers on the edge of their seats.
One type of irony displayed in this short story is verbal irony. Verbal irony is when a statement is made, but it means the opposite of what was actually stated. There are a few examples of verbal irony in this story. For instance, verbal irony occurs when General Zaroff says, "We'll visit my training school,' smiled the general. "It's in the cellar. I have about a dozen pupils down there now" (Connell 71). This example is verbally ironic because the people in the cellar are General Zaroff's captives in his own personal prison, not his actual pupil's. Another example of verbal irony is after Rainsford chooses not to go with General Zaroff to see his trophy case because he claims that he is not feeling very well. Then General Zaroff says, "You need a good, restful night's sleep. Tomorrow you'll feel like a new man, I'll wager. Then we'll hunt, eh? I've one rather promising prospect" (Connell 72). This is verbal irony because Zaroff mentions that Rainsford will feel like a new man in the morning. Rainsford probably doesn't recognize that when he says new man, Zaroff is referring to Rainsford being a hunted man. It is also verbally ironic because General Zaroff is talking to Rainsford as if he has already picked out someone to hunt for the next day and Rainsford doesn't realize that Zaroff is talking about him.
In addition to verbal irony, there are also a few examples of dramatic irony in this story. Dramatic irony is when a character in the book thinks or says so...