fandomhigh | Fear in Literature, Tuesday 4th period

This week, Jon was looking very put together: he had a decent (and more modern) haircut and neatly ironed (and less stuffy) clothing. It was offset just a bit by the bags under his eyes, but he'd done what he could.

The board read: The Hunt: The fear of being chased or hunted; the primal fear of being prey.

"Welcome back, everybody," Jon said. "I hope you've all had time to recover from this weekend's...unpleasantness. This week's reading treats this particular fear very literally. Man is prey, is hunted, and is made to feel explicitly like the other animals he hunts.

"At the start of the story, Rainsford is dismissive of his companion's assertion that the hunt isn't fun for the animals, that they experience fear and pain. By the end of the story, do you think he's learned any differently? He also states he's not a murderer; since General Zaroff no longer intended to kill him, do you think his killing Zaroff makes him one? If so, is he justified in it?"

At the end of class, he wrote the next week's assignment on the board: Robert Silverberg, "To See the Invisible Man"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Has Rainsford learned anything? Is he a murderer? Do you think he lets the other prey out or has he forgotten them already? Is Zaroff a psychopath, or just really weird?

Real Hot Take incoming from Mr. Totally Read the Assignment and Definitely Paid Attention to the Lecture over here:

"I think," Troy stated, boldly and with confidence, "that hunting people? Is bad. And? You shouldn't do it."

His work here was done! You're welcome!

"...Thank you for that insight, Troy." Jon was unimpressed. "I'm curious what you think of this story in particular and how it gets that across. Or if you think it's even meant to."

Hey, at least it was actually something this week for a change!

"Mmmmmm, I'm thiiiinking...." Troy offered, stalling by looking overly thoughtful about it, "...that...maybe? It gets it across with all the...murder? And it probably does a pretty good job. I mean, it's not something that should be a hard sell," he laughed a little, "know what I mean?"

This is true! He was participating! Jon should encourage that!

He sighed.

"You would think so, yes. And yet General Zaroff and other people choose it regardless. I'm curious what you think they would make of your argument."

“This wasn’t satire right?” Jo wanted to make sure before she attempted to answer the questions.

Jon smiled. "No, this wasn't satire. Perhaps in a sense exaggerated - showing a hunter's mentality toward other humans instead of only animals - but it's standard fiction."

“I think Rainsford would have at least learnt how it felt to be in that position I suppose,” Jo attempted, “after he experiences what it’s like to be hunted himself,”

"You would think so," Jon agreed. "Or at least, I suppose, you would hope so. Unfortunately, we get almost no information about him once the deed is done."

"Rainsford did seem horrified at the idea of hunting his fellow men," Belle said, "but there's nothing in the text to support that he might have freed them after winning out against Zaroff. Of course, there's nothing there to suggest that he didn't either. I would hope he would have put an end to everything."

"You would hope that, yes. I wonder what you think the last line reflects about his state of mind."

Fear in Literature, Tuesday 4th period

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