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Compare And Contrast Zaroff And Sanger Rainsford

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Within the story The Most Dangerous Game, the thrilling story of the hunt surrounds two primary characters, General Zaroff and Sanger Rainsford. These characters display a striking amount of similarities to one another, while remaining unique in their own regards. General Zaroff and Rainsford can be compared by their common hobby of hunting, experience with war, and skills, while being contrasted by their backgrounds, value on human life, and demeanor. To begin, Zaroff and Rainsford can be compared by their most common interest, hunting. Rainford expresses his genuine enjoyment for hunting early on as he states proudly to Whitney, “The best sport in the world.” (Connell 1) When speaking to General Zaroff for the first time, the general seems to already know who he is, justifying it due to his familiarity with Rainsford’s novel on hunting; “It is a very great pleasure and honor to welcome Mr. Sanger Rainsford, the celebrated hunter, to my home.” (Connell 5) This demonstrates Rainsford notoriety for the hunt, as well as Zaroffs infatuation with it. Furthermore, Zaroff appears to be obsessed with the hunt as he displays countless mounted heads/hunting trophies, and dedicates his entire island and life to the hunt. We see this to be further evident based on the similar skill levels displayed by both characters in the hunt. Both men appear proficient in tracking prey, identifying weaponry, techniques in killing prey, and survivalist methods. Rainsford effectively identifies the technique and weapon used by Zaroff when we awaked on the island to evidence of a hunt; “A twenty-two…The hunter had his nerve with him to tackle it with a light gun.” (Connell 4) Later within the hunt, Rainsford evades Zaroff with crude trails (recalling the lore of the fox hunt), techniques and traps learned from people of his travels, as well as logical level-headed thinking. These efforts are noted as impressive but seemingly ineffective to Zaroff , as he finds Rainsford at every turn; tracking his path in pitch black darkness within the heart of the jungle, a feat doubted by Rainsford. Finally, their common experience of war, a key factor in revealing Zaroff’s perception of human life, allows us to compare these characters. Zaroff

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