I am choosing to evaluate the unique characterization of General Zaroff. When Rainsford first approaches General Zaroff, he seems very hospitable, educated, and civilized. He compliments Rainsford on his hunting skills and the literature he has published regarding his experiences. General Zaroff offers to share his amenities and comforts of his impressive mansion with Rainsford upon arrival. He is not hesitant to provide him with a place to sleep and a very elegant meal. It is not long after Rainsford arrives that he determines General Zaroff is a murderous, selfish, and psychotic person. General Zaroff begins to tell him about how he has created the most incredible game to hunt. That is when Rainsford comes to realize the General is hunting
This trait is revealed throughout the middle and towards the ending of the story. The text states, “He had high cheekbones, a sharp-cut nose, a spare, dark face, the face of a man used to giving orders, the face of an aristocrat.”. This explains how Zaroff’s appearance may seem cruel, Usually, a man used to giving orders is used to being boss, so when they bark orders they may be cruel, and harsh in ways. The text also states, “But they are men, says Rainsford. Precisely, said the General… I hunt the scum of the Earth.” General Zaroff is exceedingly cruel by just what he says. The General hunts real men, and even worse than that, he counts them as scum. Clearly, towards the middle and ending of the story,the General truly shows how cruel a person can be. Hunting animals isn’t where Zaroff’s comfort zone is, he prefers real men, because they are a bit more “fun” to play the game
General Zaroff constantly appears all throughout the story, whether it is in what he says, or the activities he depicts, that he has an exceptionally unsteady personality and is to some degree a psycho. For instance, towards the end of the extensive discussion between General Zaroff and Rainsford, General Zaroff says, "I chase the filth of the earth-mariners from tramp ships, lascars, blacks, chinese, and crossbreeds." (pg.
One reason that I think that General Zaroff is a villain is that of his cruel actions against other people. General Zaroff tells Rainsford that he has the best animal to hunt and it “ supplies me with the most exciting hunting in the world” (Connell page 11). When Rainsford hears this, he thinks of an animal that cannot be found anywhere
In the text Zaroff justifies that he started to get bored of hunting animals because they were starting to become too easy to hunt. He says, “No. You are wrong, sir. The Cape buffalo is not the most dangerous big game. Here in my preserve on this island, I hunt more dangerous game.” (Connell 4). Zaroff is talking about humans. He kills humans because he was bored of hunting animals. For me this quote says it all. No sane person would hunt a human as a fun game. This is a clear fact from the text that proves Zaroff is a psychopath. General Zaroff believes that, “Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift?” (Connell 4). This quote is explaining the whole reason why Zaroff thinks it is right to hunt humans. I think that the reason he thinks that's why he should hunt humans is the reason why he’s a psychopath. It makes no sense that a strong person should kill a weak person just because they have more power over them. It’s murder and no one should murder a innocent human just because it's
Zaroff is purely unconscious, and has no compassion or remorse for his actions. His demented mind forces him to believe that it is moral to hunt all living creatures, when in reality he is actually murdering a human soul. The general is sadistic as well as arrogant. He is mentally unstable, insane, and he denies the fact that he is committing something as bad as what he is doing. According to General Zaroff, hunting for him has been consumed by boredom and he no longer sees hunting as a challenge. Consequently, he chooses to hunt a certain “creature” with a higher mental stability of the creatures he has hunted before.(Connell 21) As Zaroff became comfortable with Rainsford, he
Throughout this journal, Zaroff can be characterized as mysterious and evil. First off, Zaroff is mysterious. One way he is mysterious is that he knows Rainsford’s name and he read Rainsford’s hunting book. In the book it says, “I’ve read your book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet…” (Connell 3). This quote shows that Zaroff is interested in hunting dangerous animals and knows that Rainsford is good at hunting
General Zaroff is similar to Rainsford because they are both intelligent, and Zaroff shows this in the story because of his up-bringing and past experiences. This is seen in the story when it says “I, luckily, have invested in American Securities, so I shall never have to open a Tea room in Monte Carlo, or drive a taxi in Paris.” (Connel 48) This proves Zaroff is intelligent because he foresaw the downfall of the Russian economy, and heavily invested in said American Securities. However, Zaroff is different than Rainsford because he is powerful, which he shows when he explains his quarry to Rainsford. An example of this is seen in the story, which states “To date, I have not lost” … “The most elementary sort of problem” (Connel 50.)This proves Zaroff is powerful, because he fears nothing during the hunt. If anything, he thinks it gets quite boring. Zaroff is also different since he can be described as serious, because of his history with the hunt. In the text, this shown when it says “Hunting was beginning to get boring! And hunting, remember had been my life. I have heard that in America, business men often go to pieces…” (Connel ?) This proves Zaroff is about the hunt because it has sparked a new, welcoming,
General Zaroff admits to having read Rainsford's book, and demonstrates great craft in creating the game that he made for this island. He also says directly of himself that he has an "analytical mind ». He claims that « Now, mine is an analytical mind, Mr. Rainsford. Doubtless that is why I enjoy the problems of the chase, (Connell pg. 100 or 10.) » He has also for a time commanded a division of Cossack cavalry. Which requires someone who willingness allows themselves to be influenced by other people and to share their ideas openly to enhances their ability or apitude, while being psychologically closed can cause problems. Leaders who are psychologically open seek diverse opinions, so they can see and hear more and factor a wider range of information into their decisions (like he did with Rainsford, wanting to know his opinions on him "hunting" humans). He has also a lot of tricks up his sleeve as he was capable of dismissing Rainsford trap that he equally knew off … « The Malay man-catcher » He had said «Not many men know how to make a Malay man catcher (Connell pg.19 ou 109) ». Luckily, for me, I too have hunted in Malacca Connell pg.19 ou 109.With his knowledge of hunting he was capable of tracing and finding Rainsford not once but twice, which proves that he’s very good at what he does and has an impeccable eyesight ! He could’ve killed Rainsford right away and could’ve won the game but decided not to because he is "just so much fun" and always plays his little « games ». Zaroff just simply has a vicious, sadistic and ruthless mind of physically and mentally torturing his enemies or
In “The Most Dangerous Game”, Rainsford is terrified to find that General Zaroff is actually a murder. Rainsford is listening intently to the new “species” that General Zaroff is describing as hunt for his game. General Zaroff has a passion and has become obsessed with hunt because it “had been (his) life”, but sadly “hunting was beginning to bore (him)”. He was eager to continue hunting because of how much he enjoyed it. He needed a new way to satisfy himself while still involving himself in hunting. He decided to go to the extremity of killing people to satisfy himself and make him find new excitement in the one hobby that used to be his life and his source of happiness. General Zaroff’s love and passion for hunting cause him to kill and murder because hunting animals was not satisfying him anymore. Rainsford realizes that he is in the presence of a murderer and when General Zaroff is describing how he has found a new hunt for killing Rainsford figures out that “what (General Zaroff) speak of is murder”. While Zaroff is defending himself by saying that he is not murdering, he does not realize that he sounds foolish because he is saying that he has fallen in love with hunting of humans’ The idea that someone is no joke, but General Zaroff thinks “it’s a game”. Consequently, General Zaroff’s dark side comes through because his love for hunting
In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game”, General Zaroff is characterized as a cold blooded, devious, and murderous man. Zaroff shows little remorse for human life as he does not care that he kills hundreds of sailors.When he is talking to Rainsford, he says this, “I hunt the scum of the earth.”(49)Rainsford is horrified by this, as most other humans would be. Zaroff does not seem to bother how he kills his victims, and he does not even give them a fair chance. Zaroff says multiple times throughout the story that he values his dogs more than the humans he kills. He treats them like livestock, training them and feeding them well, until eventually he makes them play his game, which is nothing more than an entertaining way to kill the lowest
In, the short story, “The most Dangerous Game”, Rainsford kills General Zaroff. Some readers believe Rainsford has the right to eliminate Zaroff. Others believe that no human being should be killed under no circumstance but most people believe that Rainsford had a right to kill Zaroff because Zaroff killed many people in the past and tried to kill Rainsford in the process when Rainsford washed up onto shipwreck island and hunted him down for two ish daies which zaroff calls his murder his dangerous game. For instance“That would be barbarous. I treat these visitors with every consideration. They got plenty of good food and exercise. They get into splendid physical condition” (Connell 5). After all, this quotation means That general Zaroff is
Fight to survive with nothing but a small hunting knife and a limited supply of food as you become the desired trophy of a merciless and bloodthirsty hunter. It's only three days, and he has only a .22 pistol; but anything is possible when battling General Zaroff for your life, and yourself for your own
This makes General Zaroff suspicious because Rainsford thought that the “animals” he was talking about was wildlife, but in fact it was humans. This makes General Zaroff evil because he he is very suspicious because he is trying to tell Rainsford about animals but Rainsford figured out it was humans because Rainsford is a hunter too. When General Zaroff talks to Rainsford about the prisoners he says that "Sometimes an angry god of the high seas sends them to me. Sometimes, when Providence is not so kind, I help Providence a bit” (Connell 14). This makes General Zaroff uncivilized because he wants to kill people and that is not what civilized people do.
Zaroff is the antagonist and he believes to always be the best, the predator, and unbeatable until the tables are turned. Zaroff’s view on hunting is the smarter the game the better. By the same token, the text states, “... It must be able to reason.”(pg.25) This shows that Zaroff’s favorite game is humans because he knows that humans are the only animals that can reason. Zaroff’s conflict in the story is external and also man versus man because he has to go against Rainsford and come out on top. Zaroff is fairly confident about himself as a hunter and has no fear. Similarly, the text states, “You’ll find this game worth playing, said the general enthusiastically.”(pg.28) Consequently, this shows that Zaroff has a big ego and thinks it will
Zaroff is a heartless proud man who sticks to his life of a murderer. His arrogance leads him to his lost at his prey. Even after the death of his loyal servant, Ivan, he wonders how he would be able to replace him. The characterization of Zaroff is a cold prideful murderer, that has a disguise of society's own image of what civilized looks like. This shows that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover and everyone has their own deadly