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The Most Dangerous Game Essay

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Ryan Long English 102-501 Monday Night Essay #2 23 September 2012 Essay #2 Question: Discuss the characterizations of Rainsford and General Zaroff in “The Most Dangerous Game.” Which one is more fully characterized? Are both characters plausible? The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell, the author portrays two distinctly alike men, who yet are very different. The two main characters, Sanger Rainsford and General Zaroff both have a strong passion for hunting. The first is Rainsford and he is, in all extensive purposes, the protagonist. The second, the antagonist, is General Zaroff. There is one other character, Ivan, but he really is simply, just a butler to the antagonist. While, the story does elude that Ivan could be a bigger …show more content…

“He had never slept in a better bed, Rainsford decided” (Connell). Zaroff also shares the love of hunting but he enjoys hunting human beings the most. Zaroff has “fine clothes" (Connell), and the "singularly handsome features of an aristocrat" (Connell). Zaroff speaks very well, showing that he has been educated and refined. General Zaroff, can best be described as sadistic, arrogant, and manipulative, this keeps him at the focus of this story. The worst trait of Zaroff is his arrogance. He claims that he is superior to people of different races and feels it is his job to abolish the weak.. This idea is expressed when Zaroff says “Life is for the strong, and, if need be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasue; I hunt the scum of the earth” (Connell). This shows that Zaroff not only acts arrogantly, but also sadistically. His demented mind forces him to believe that it is moral to hunt all living creatures, when in fact; he’s actually committing murder. General Zaroff considers his hobby of hunting other humans amusing. Another strong trait is his ability to manipulate people, the General pretends to be civilized and generous thus, people start to trust Zaroff, but as soon as his victims feel comfortable around him, he forces them to play his “game”. This usually ends up in the death of his

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