Comparing Rainsford And Zaroff In Richard Connell's The Most Dangerous Game

In my opinion, General Zaroff shows more diligence than Rainsford throughout the story. General Zaroff is one who does not give up, no matter what the situation may be. He mainly does not give up on hunting and this is why he shows more diligence. For example, “Hurled me against a tree,” said the general. “Fractured my skull. But I got the brute.” This direct quote from the general shows how he does not quit hunting for prey until they are dead. Like he had said, he had a fractured skull, but that still did not give him a reason to just give up. Diligence is to show effort into things and that is exactly what General Zaroff did when hunting. He not only showed diligence, but he showed his dedication in hunting.

General Zaroffs sense of cruelty is proven when he explains that he hunts people. In the story, General Zaroff states, “I wanted the ideal animal to hunt,…“So I said, `What are the attributes of an ideal quarry?' And the answer was, of course, `It must have courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason." (pg #7) Rainsford is quick to point out that no animal can reason but Zaroff replies, “My dear fellow," said the general, "there is one that can.” (pg #7) Zaroff is implying that he hunts

"The Most Dangerous Game", written by Richard Connell, is a very riveting story with two main characters Rainsford and General Zaroff. They have many similarities in their character traits. Their traits had a major impact in the story.

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

When Rainsford is put into the game, he thinks of a plan to throw off General Zaroff and says to himself, “‘I'll give him a trail to follow,’ muttered Rainsford, and he struck off from the rude path he had been following into the trackless wilderness. He executed a series of intricate loops” (Connell 34-35). Then Zaroff talks about his life, the war, and brags while saying, “‘I have hunted every kind of game in every land. It would be impossible for me to tell you how many animals I have killed’” (Connell 29). Not only are Rainsford and General Zaroff both hunters, but also they are very good and smart hunters. Rainsford says this during the hunt and it describes him making an intricate trail for Zaroff. He is using all of his skills and being very smart to try to lead Zaroff in the wrong direction. Likewise, General Zaroff says that he has hunted every type of animal. This shows that he is a good hunter and he has hunted so many he couldn’t even tell him how many he’s killed. This displays their similarities as hunters and people because they are very smart. In the very first scene, Rainsford and Whitney discuss hunting in the Amazon and they begin to say, “‘The best sport in the world,’ agreed Rainsford. / ‘For the hunter,’ amended Whitney. ‘Not for the jaguar.’ / ‘Don't talk rot, Whitney,’ said Rainsford. ‘You're a big-game hunter, not a philosopher. Who cares how a jaguar feels?’ / ‘Perhaps the jaguar does,’ observed Whitney. / ‘Bah! They've no understanding’” (Connell 22). Later, Zaroff tries to persuade Rainsford into hunting humans because he thinks, “‘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’” (Connell 30). Another similarity the two hunters have is that they don’t care how others feel. Rainsford doesn’t care

Rainsford knew that Zaroff was an experienced hunter and in order to succeed he would need to utilize all of the skills he has learned over the years hunting. These skills ultimately helped him to succeed in outsmarting his

This quote shows that Rainsford is insane because during this part, he is saying that he wants to hunt something that can reason with him, and only one animal can do that. That animal is a human. During the story, General Zaroff is also competitive. He shows that he is competitive when he fights to win the game over the humans. He always believes he will win. “If my quarry eludes me for three whole days, he wins the game. If I find him”... “he loses.” (Connell

General Zaroff is clearly not under control with his hunting habits. General Zaroff creates for himself, a dangerous hunting game. More dangerous than all the rest, an animal can reason and feel.This animal is a human. The general has gone over the edge. By following his instincts and making his desires reality, general Zaroff now has access to this dangerous game. He hunts and kills them with a pistol, disregards their feelings, and treats them like animals. Some people, such as Rainsford, have decided that obeying the law and sticking to the principles is better than following nature. Rainsford says,“Thank you, I'm a hunter not a murderer.” Rainsford chooses to be civil and lawful. Rainsford quite obviously has more control over his actions than the general. The general gives into his dark side and gives into his guilty desire to hunt animal that has reason, courage, and cunningness. Rainsford chooses not to because he knows wrong from right. But perhaps, when dealing with your human nature you must succumb to your darkest

Rainsford was justified in killing General Zaroff. For instance General Zaroff said “Your brain against mine, Your woodcraft against mine.” (Connell 6). This shows that General Zaroff gives right to rainsford to try and outsmart him and try to win by surviving. If rainsford outsmarts him then he will get the victory or he can do what Zaroff wanted to do to him which was kill him. Also Rainsford disagreed when Zaroff told him about the hunting game. “No,General,”he said “I will not hunt.” Then Zaroff basically said he had to or ivan will kill him.(Connell 9).This quote means that Rainsford did not like the idea that he had to stay in a jungle and

General Zaroff said “I wanted the ideal animal to hunt, it must have courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason" (Connell, page 101 or 11). What general Zaroff said meant that he wanted to hunt humans. The whole reason is because he got "bored" of hunting the same thing. He wants something that can "match his wits". Rainsford told him it was considered murder and that such thing should not be committed. Rainsford respects and values human life. While General Zaroff thinks that they should be hunted and murdered and he compares it with war. General Zaroff asked him to join him to hunt for humans. Rainsford instead said “Thank you, I’m a hunter, not a murderer” (Connell, page 102 or 13). Even though, at the end of the story, he killed General Zaroff. He did this because he thought of the consequences. He knew if Zaroff stayed alive, he would continue playing "the game" and he would harm a bunch of other innocent and desperate humans looking for shelter. Also, at the beginning of the story, Rainsford comments "who cares how a jaguar feels" (Connell, page 2 or 92). At the end of the story, he finally felt what an animal feels when they are being hunted or chased. And I am guessing that after all of that, he has grown to respect what the animal

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

Being lost in an island, hungry, and tired is not an everyday thing. So Rainsford being in that situation, had no other choice than except Zaroff’s generosity. Zaroff gave Rainsford clothes, food and, a place to sleep. Zaroff tells Rainsford to join him for dinner, and Rainsford went to the dinner room as told. Sitting down eating there meal. The two men’s starts a conversation and starts to talk about their lives. Zaroff learns a lot of things about Rainsford and so does Rainsford. Rainsford learns that Zaroff is a smart man and a hunter just like him, but Zaroff him hunting people is part of things that he hunts for. Zaroff on another hand learns that Rainsford is a pretty smart, educated man and lastly a hunter.4

Rainsford values human life, because when the general told Rainford that he hunts humans. Rainsford told the General that what he is doing is not hunting, what he spoke of was murder. He also is very caring. He said that he will not make him into a condone cold blooded murderer. Rainsford is also described as a mouse in the hunting game, “He didn't even have to wait long,the cat was coming to play with the mouse.

He chases them, he kills them that is what he takes pleasure from. The pleasure he receives from killing is only further proved when he offers to show Rainsford his new collection of heads, the heads of his victims, collecting trophies is another trait that is common among serial killers and psychopaths, they often keep pieces of their victims dead body to remind themselves of how they felt during the kill and of the fond memories attached to it. When Zaroff begins his hunt with Rainsford he toys with him, easily he could kill him several times during the confrontations but instead of searching for him when he was smacked with the trap or when one of his dogs was killed by the tiger pit Zaroff speaks to him before leaving for home. This behavior is also one tied to serial killers and psychopaths, they enjoy prolonging the suffering of their victims and prolonging their involvement with them as well, and also they often enjoy manipulating them, not with pain but by psychological means. When Zaroff speaks to him he is hoping that Rainsford will lose his nerve and delve into predictable animal instincts so he can complete the kill and put another head in his library.

Rainsford is a smart guy. He is an extreme hunter so he was used to harsh things and was able to understand himself and his own instincts. Zaroff was just hunting humans and shooting them Rainsford had a lot more experience then Zaroff. And I think that helped Rainsford win the game.Rainsford, as a renowned big-game hunter, will provide the challenge he seeks. Rainsford and his friend Whitney, who are on the ship in the Caribbean night, argue about the prey that they will soon hunt. "Nonsense....This hot weather is making you soft, Whitney. Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters." I think Rainsford will contine hunting but not hunt humans which I think its disgraceful