*How do we see that desire + danger = drama?  Discuss how this is true or not in BOTH the Odyssey and MDG

- This is true in both the Odyssey and Most Dangerous Game – in the Odyssey, there is a strong desire to get home. Ulysses reaches many dangers on the way home and even when he is home. There is much drama in the Odyssey. In MDG, there is a desire from the hunter to hunt – and it is so strong, he even plays with the idea of murder. He seems a crazy man because of this desire. The danger is obvious – the general has the life and death of Rainsford in his hands.

*Compare and contrast the following elements from MDG to these elements in The Odyssey:

1.  Exposition: background information required for seeing the characters in context
There is no comparison in the Odyssey to MDG in this context. The Odyssey had many many many backstories, while in MDG we know almost nothing about either Rainsford or the General. Did we need these backstories? The Odyssey might not have needed all it’s backstories, but it definitely needed some of them – while we can make do with knowing almost nothing in MDG.

2.  Conflict: is it a character versus the internal self or an external something or someone?
In the Odyssey, it’s character against external conflict. Ulysses wants to get home, and gods and people keep getting in his way. In MDG, it’s the same. Rainsford wants to survive, and he fights against the general’s forces.

3.  The complication: one or more problems that keep a character from his or her intended goal
There are many in both stories. In the Odyssey, the main complications are Neptune keeps stalling and hurting Ulysses, hindering him from getting home. And the suitors in the home are ruining Ulysses’ house; forcing Ulysses to fight a bunch of brave men almost by himself. In MDG, it’s the General and his dogs, the bugs of the forest, Ivan, and the quicksand.

4.  Flashback: remembering something that happened before the short story takes place
Not much of this is seen in MDG. Because it is a short story, there was only room for the action. In the Odyssey, however, there were several books dedicated to flashback – such as the books Ulysses told his story of his troubles at sea.

5.  Resolution: when the internal or external conflict is resolved.

In this matter, the two books are similar. Both have a conflict, and that conflict is resolved. Rainsford won his game, and Ulysses beat Neptune and killed all the suitors. For both stories, there are more problems yet to come. In MDG, Rainsford has to go home still; in the Odyssey, Ulysses has to deal with the people accusing him of murder. But besides those little conflicts, the main conflicts are ok and resolved.

Final Thoughts on the Odyssey

    I really enjoyed reading the Odyssey. It had many advantages and disadvantages. I think the one fatal flaw of the story is it just drags itself out. Every character and even object has to have a backstory, and not just a simple think such as “These arrows were from a god” but it would drag the story of how that god gave the arrows to whoever had them on and on for some two pages.  In the end, the many backstories like that did not help the story at all; it only made the whole thing drag along. Besides this, however, the rest of the story was good. It was for sure a very interesting book. The storyline was great, and it was interesting how the timeline was set out. I always laughed at how fancy they talked, but I guess it was a different culture back then.  Ulysses was very smart, and wise; but he seemed a little full of himself for a lot of the story. That may have been his downfall. The gods were very interesting too, they were almost like a higher class of humans. They fought over each other and were wrong just as many humans do. They controlled humans almost like pets, only very smart pets. If they were angry with a pet, they’d punish it. Just like in real life. Overall, I think it was a very interesting story, but could have been much better if it hadn’t dragged out so long.