Rainsford's Character In The Most Dangerous Game

On this island, he meets Zaroff, a fellow experienced hunter coincidentally familiar with Rainsford’s books, “I’ve read your book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet, you see.” Although Rainsford had escaped death at sea, he had now run into a more complicated situation. General Zaroff, having his whole life as one prolonged hunt had become obsessed with the hunt, over the years he had completely changed the hunt by making humans his prey. Now, Rainsford happens to be the next prey. Zaroff is very similar to the protagonist of the story, they both lack a form of sympathy for their game, unlike Whitney who has compassion. Then again, through Rainsford’s experience with Zaroff, he learns what it feels like to be hunted and realizes the truth behind Whitney’s point of view. He feels that Zaroff is a murderer. It never occurred to Rainsford that he was also a murderer to the animals he killed, as Richard Connell wrote in his book, now Rainsford knew how an animal at bay

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

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 similar to Rainsford because they are both Dangerous, and Zaroff shows this in the story because he has hunted a lot. This is seen in the story when it says, “God makes some men poets, Some he makes king, some beggars, Me he made a hunter.” (Page 48). He was born with a gift for hunting. However, Zaroff is different from Rainsford because he is militaristic, which he shows through his past and his looks. An example of this is seen in the story, which states “I went into the military… and for a time commanded a division of Cossack cavalry” (Page 44). He was able to lead a division of the military. Zaroff is also different since he can be described as self-justified, because he is okay with hunting people. In the text, this is shown when it says, “Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if needs be, taken by the strong.” (Page 49). He feels that is someone can’t beat them they don’t need to be living. Zaroff and Rainsford may both be dangerous, but the fact that Zaroff is self-Justified and Militaristic make him a completely different kind of

Now I understand that the General killed for sport, but, Rainford oversteps his bounds as a person to kill. He is forced to play this “game” of hunting. Rainford tries to get out of killing by asking, ‘"Suppose he refuses to be hunted?" "Oh," said the general, "I give him his option, of course. He need not play that game if he doesn't wish to. If he does not wish to hunt, I turn him over to Ivan…”’ (Connell 9) Later on page eleven, he directly tells Zaroff what he is doing is wrong and he will stop it. ‘“Of course you, in turn, must agree to say nothing of your visit here." "I'll agree to nothing of the kind," said Rainsford.’ (Connell 11) Though Rainford is saving innocent lives by killing the General, what Rainford is doing is wrong. The General even said, "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? If I wish to hunt, why should I not? I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships--lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels..." (Connell 8) Is doing something wrong for the right reasons does not mean that it is not wrong? Rainford murders Zaroff without any attack from the general. ‘“The

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 answers, “Yes, that’s so” (85). Rainsford could have taken a stand. Of course, it is not his place, but he was calm and composed to sit back and let Zaroff open up. ‘“Don’t be alarmed, I’m Sanger Rainsford” (47). Rainsford has a pistol pointed at his heart and he is telling this huge creation of a man that he is hungry. As much as he has been through in the past twenty-four hours, this did not alarm Rainsford. He presented himself as lost and from New York.

Survival of the Fittest In “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, Rainsford, a skilled hunter, is struck by misfortune, falling off his yacht and is stranded on the so called “Ship-Trap Island”. He meets a man by the name of Zaroff, who is a hunter, just like Rainsford. Zaroff then asks Rainsford to play a “game” with him, and has to survive until the third day has ended. Rainsford managed to survive the game with the skills he learned during his hunting expeditions.

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

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

He not only hunts humans and kills them for sport, but enjoys doing so. After all, the general only sees humans as beasts to be hunted. Zaroff does not even see his right-hand man, Ivan, as a human being, for he professes here, "Like all his [Ivan's] race, a bit of a savage. He is a Cossack . . . So am I."(Connell 24) This not only displays General Zaroff's opinion of his servant, but his own point of view regarding most human beings. However, General Zaroff does not only exercise every meaning of cruelty in a physical sense, but utilizes it in a psychological sense as well. Because of this psychological warfare that Zaroff wages against Rainsford, he fails to kill Rainsford the first, second, and third night. As an additional note, Zaroff also pushed Rainsford to the point where Rainsford would not give up on taking Zaroff's life, even if it meant that Rainsford would have to stoop to the level of morality known as murder. For an example of this internal game Zaroff plays with Rainsford, Connell wrote, "The general's eyes had left the ground and were traveling inch by inch up the tree. . . the sharp eyes of the hunter stopped before they reached the limb where Rainsford lay; a smile spread over his brown face."(Connell 32) This means that Zaroff knew that Rainsford was there, yet did not kill him for an unspecified reason. Those few actions could be overconfidence, or it could be General

Throughout the story there are instances where Rainsford shows that he is knowledgeable. While General Zaroff was introducing himself to Rainsford, Zaroff states that he read Rainsford’s book about hunting. Zaroff states “I've read your book about hunting snow leopards in Tibet, you see," (6). To write a book you need to be knowledgeable on the topic that you are writing a book about. Rainsford having written a book shows that he is knowledgeable in the field of hunting. Also when being hunted by Zaroff and a pack of dogs Rainsford uses a trick he learned in Uganda to kill or

Nevertheless, their morals are oxymorons that take deviating approaches in regards to humanity. With this intention, “Must’ve been a fairly large animal… hunter had the nerve to tackle it with a light gun”(20). In like manner, “Not many men know how to make a Malay man-catcher”(32). Rainsford's knowledge of hunting proves that he had a passion for learning how to hunt, because when you choose to learn more about something you retain information easier. Likewise, “I have but one passion in my life, Mr. Rainsford, and it is the hunt”(22). In the same fashion, “My hand was made for the trigger … I have hunted every kind of game in the land”(24). Zaroff, in the same way, has his own love for the hunt but Zaroff focused more on his natural talents and his results in hunting. Be that as it may, Zaroff and Rainsford also have their differences; “ Hunting? Good god, General Zaroff what you speak of is murder” (25). Rainsford was repulsed by Zaroff’s morals in regards to humanity illustrating Rainsford's compassion and love towards humanity. On the contrary, “The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure… I hunt the scum of the earth”(25). Zaroff Believes that Rainsford’s compassion towards humanity is his weakness. Zaroff’s maverick originates from his moral viewpoints on humanity and that he is performing his civil duty when hunting. Consequently, the exploited differences in Rainsford’s and Zaroff's morals outweigh their mutual love for

In the short story ”The Most Dangerous Game”, Rainsford was justified in killing General Zaroff. General Zaroff was a hunter who lived on an isolated island where he hunted stranded humans. Rainsford was also a hunter, who had been stranded on the island. General Zaroff intended to hunt Rainsford, which lead to Rainsford effort to survive. The only way for Rainsford to survive was to kill General Zaroff.