In every story there is always a mysterious character that the author does not provide enough information and background to the readers. This adds suspense to the story, adding more surprises and eye-opening astonishments. In the case of this short story The Most Dangerous Game, General Zaroff is that character. He is preceded as the antagonist character that is uncivilized, cruel, and reckless. General Zaroff plays the role of a dynamic and complex character that develops over the course of the story. In the introductory of the character General Zaroff, one would assume that he is a civilized man because of the fact that he is first presented as a well dressed wealthy man who lived on an island which was owned by himself. Within General …show more content…
In his opinion, he believes in "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?" (page 7). This proves that he views the world in a primitive fashion, believing that the weak should suffer beneath the feet of the strong. He believes that the world is split into two. One being greater than the other or one being more superior over the other. Due to the fact that General Zaroff believes he is one of the strong, he assumes that he is obligated to exterminate the weak. General Zaroff is convinced that killing humans is acceptable. He enjoys the thrill of killing humans as he once did for tigers, "hinting tigers ceased to interest me some years ago. I exhausted their possibilities, you see. No thrill left in tigers, no real danger. I live for danger " (page 5). Killing humans instead of animals provides him pleasure and he does it for entertainment purposes because "they can reason, after a fashion" (page 7). This reveals that General Zaroff does not have the same feelings towards the values of life as others would. By that, one could assume that he does not have a clear idea of the difference between right and
If not for these similar hunting experiences then General Zaroff would’ve been killed early on in the hunt.The characters also have some similar beliefs on the classes of the world, initially. The belief that there are two classes, one superior and one inferior, is a belief shared by Rainsford and Zaroff. According to Rainsford Whitney, his hunting partners, should,”Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes--the hunters and the
General Zaroff is a psychotic man. He was hunting with Rainsford and he found him but he decided to wait so he could have a better challenge to kill Rainsford. In the short story, it states, “I refuse to believe that so modern civilized a young man as you seem to be harbors romantic ideas about the value of human life.” This shows that he has no value for anyone else's life except his own life.
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.
General Zaroff is uncivilized because he thinks that it is fair and ordinary to kill other humans for his own pleasure. The text shows that he is uncivilized when he replies to Rainsford’s comment about murder and says, “Life is for the strong, and if needs be, taken by the strong” (Connell 14). When Zaroff says that life is for the strong, it reveals that he is a very selfish person who doesn’t care about others. It reveals his perspective on the world. It also shows that General Zaroff is a very one-sided person. Another example that proves that General Zaroff is uncivilized is when he comments
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
Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous explains multiple theories, such as nature versus nurture, and survival of the fittest. This short story also seems to have an underlying theme of Social Darwinism (Of Two Classes). Throughout the entirety of the short story, Connell shows a character change of a main character, Rainsford, who is at a constant battle with General Zaroff, the antagonist. This character change shows the importance of the mindset of characters, and how it can be applied to everyday life.
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
In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, General Zaroff is shown as insane, cruel, and arrogant.Zaroff is shown to be insane in the story when he says that he kills humans for fun.“...Did not make me a coldone, cold-blooded murderer.” (Connell 70). This quote shows that Zaroff is psycho because during this part, it is showing that he is a murderer. During the story, Zaroff is also cruel.He shows that he is cruel when He says that he almost makes boats crash into rocks.“Where there’s none: giant rocks with razor edges crouch like a sea monster with wide-open jaws. They can crush a ship as easily as I can crush this nut.”(Connell 70). Zaroff shows that he is mean during this scene because he is making people crash, then giving them hope when
Only, this isn’t fantasy. Zaroff is not a character from a book. He is alive and well. This is real life. And the General’s existence is a crime and should have consequences for it’s actions.
In the story Zaroff thinks it's not a problem if he kills the innocent people for fun. This mindset of his is openly showing signs of being a protagonist and going to do evil things throughout the story. In his conversation with Rainsford he clearly states that, "Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong,, andif needs be, taken by the strong.” He states that he should be aloud to kill just because in his mind only the strong people in the world have the will to live. When Zaroff says "Thank you, I'm a hunter, not a murderer." Also states that he thinks that he's not a murderer he's simply a hunter. Which means in his way of thinking or the way he looks at it what he's doing is not wrong he's hunting them, trying to figure out whose strong and who is not. He decides to hunt humans because he says there the only match for him no other animal is enjoyable for him to hunt. He has the sense of superiority that humans were the only thing left. Zaroff then states “The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure.” He thinks his actions are justifiable and that that's what the weak people are here for to give the more stronger and equip people pleasure. Zaroff then says “I am strong. Why should I not use my gift? If I wish to hunt, why should I not?” In his mind since he is a good strong hunter why should not he be able to hunt he calls this a gift and takes a lot of pride in it. This is another statement he says showing he thinks what he is doing is good, eliminating what he says “scum of the earth” so the strong are the ones to live.
General Zaroff states, “ Be a realist. The world is made up of two classes- the hunters and the huntees. Luckily, you and I are hunters.” ( pg 49) In this quote General Zaroff doesn’t think of hunting as a sport but as a correlation straight to real life. The quote shows that General Zaroff has an incredibly disgusting way of looking at life and everybody in it. General Zaroff’s insanity is shown because he think of everything besides himself as huntees and this shows he is a murderer. “ I hunt the scum of the earth- sailors from tramp ships, lascars,blacks, chinese, and mongrels.”( pg 49) This quote is saying that General Zaroff thinks that murder is a game, and he doesn’t feel bad about killing anyone of his hunts. This tells us that hunting/killing humans is a normal hobby for him and he does it often. The quote shows that General Zaroff’s mind is unstable and his thoughts are very distasteful. “ This is why I use them. It gives me pleasure. They can reason, after a fashion.” ( pg 50) General Zaroff is basically saying that he likes using humans for the hunt because it gives him pleasure. He is unbothered at the fact he is taking a human life away for a exhilarating game. When he says killing people because it brings him pleasure since they try to reason with him, but he puts himself in a position where he looks insane and murderous. It shows General Zaroff’s insane way of thinking and his thoughts on
We try to be civilized here’”(Connell 75).He considers electricity a sign of civilization even though he uses it to lure ships to the rocks so he may capture the sailors. His idea of civilization may not match a more normal person’s ideas. When Rainsford objects, Zaroff protests.“ ‘[…]That would be barbarous. I treat these visitors with every consideration. They get plenty of good food and exercise[…]splendid physical condition’” (Connell 76).Zaroff uses a euphemism to describe his prisoners and claims that treating them well is a mark of a civilized man. He treats them well so that they will be healthy, well trained, and more challenging to hunt. Zaroff claims to be civilized, but the reality is quite different from Zaroff’s assertions.
Connell first demonstrates the General’s proud heart on page seventy. There is a conversation between Rainsford and General Zaroff and Rainsford starts with the question, “But the animal, General Zaroff? Oh, it supplies me with the most exciting hunting in the world… But no animal can reason, … there is one that can. But you can’t mean - And why not?” The General is referring that he resulted into hunting humans. Earlier, he expresses how this sport was becoming tedious and needed something that can reason, which no animal can do, except humans; without reluctance, he turns to them to fulfill his personal needs. General Zaroff is a part of World War I before he returns to hunting. Because of his experiences in the war, he believes that it is acceptable to murder human beings out of pleasure, while Rainsford disagrees. Overall, General Zaroff is betraying his egotistic side by being willing to kill humans for his
However, General Zaroff objects to the accusation that he is a murderer. In fact, he insists that he “hunts the scum of the earth” (Connell 31), portraying the General as a man who could care less about the life of another individual. Not only is the General immoral, but he is arrogant and feels that life should be “lived by the strong” (Connell 31). Connell adds more to the Generals character by making him not only corrupt, but arrogant. This is what made the general a dangerous individual because he felt that what is genuinely wrong, was okay for him to do.