Nathaniel Wilson

Hour 7
Mrs. Wasik
10/19/15
Authors give characteristics and items to their characters to overpower their opponents.
The short stories The Sniper by Liam OFlaherty, The Most Dangerous Game by Richard
Connell and Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, make the characters weapons very
obvious.Power is represented in The Sniper, The Most Dangerous Game and Lamb to the
Slaughter through the symbols of a sniper rifle, Rainsfords survival skills and a frozen leg of
lamb.
The symbol in The Sniper, the sniper rifle, allows the protagonist to take out his
enemies swiftly and at a far range, which gives him power over the other characters. The sniper
is laying on a rooftop in Dublin, Ireland during a civil war over having either a republic or British
rule as a government. He is spotted while exchanging fire with another sniper. Using the rifle,
the sniper demonstrated his dominance, The sniper raised his rifle and fired. The head fell
heavily on the turret wall (OFlaherty 2). The sniper notices the informer informing the soldier in
the turret of the armored car of his location. The sniper analyzes the situation and relies on his
rifle to eliminate the threat, raised his rifle and fired. The sniper rifles power, accuracy and
range made the shot possible, and the man on the turrets head fell heavily, symbolizing his
death. The snipers weapon efficiently resolves conflicts, while being concealed similarly to what
Rainsford does in The Most Dangerous Game.
The symbol in The Most Dangerous Game is Rainsfords survival skills, which allow
him to react almost instantaneously and solve his problems. General Zaroff, the antagonist,
forces Rainsford to play his human hunting game. Rainsford has to survive three days to win
the game, otherwise he is killed. Rainsford uses his survival skills to attempt to confuse General
Zaroff, Ill give him a trail to follow muttered Rainsford (Connell 14). Rainsford, knowing the
mistakes of Zaroffs previous victims, uses his prior knowledge to confuse him. Rainsford

decides to give him a trail to follow and creates it relying on his skills. As a hunter he knows
the the tactics hunters use in stalking their prey and uses this against Zaroff. Every action he
takes is a risk as he never really knows what Zaroff will do, like Mary Maloneys actions in
Lamb to the Slaughter.
The symbol in Lamb to the Slaughter is the frozen lamb leg, it gives her the extra
power needed to kill her husband. Mary Maloneys husband tells her something that shocked
her. She is so furious her body acts without hesitation. Mary uses her weapon to quickly kill her
husband, At that point, Mary Maloney simply walks up behind him and without any pause she
swung the big frozen leg of lamb (Dahl 2). Her husband leaves her very angry, so Mary no
longer thinks about her actions, without any pause she swings the lamb leg. Mary relies on
the lamb of leg to kill him, she swung the big frozen leg of lamb, without it she would not have
the force to kill him. Her weapon gives her means to kill him that she would not have been able
to do without it and resolve her conflicts quickly.
The sniper rifle, Rainsfords survival skills, and the frozen lamb leg represent power
given to the characters of all three short stories to resolve their conflicts. The weapons support
or take advantage of a characteristic the character lacks or has. The sniper rifle takes
advantage of the snipers reaction speed. The survival skills support Rainsford lack of
knowledge of the surrounding area and the lack of supplies. Marys weapon supplements her
lack of strength. Power allows people to resolve their conflict with others in get the better result.