The Most Dangerous Game: Zaroff Essay Example
The Most Dangerous Game: Zaroff Essay Example

The Most Dangerous Game: Zaroff Essay Example

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  • Pages: 4 (904 words)
  • Published: February 16, 2017
  • Type: Article
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In the short story “The Most Dangerous Game” the author, Richard Connell, does an outstanding job of portraying the bizarre adventure of an insane, however experienced hunter, General Zaroff. The protagonist, Rainsford, another experienced hunter from New York City, appears on General Zaroff’s island, explores, and eventually encounters with Zaroff. They introduce themselves, settle down, and begin to talk. During the talk with the general, Rainsford soon learns that the General was not only a hunter; but a murderer as well.

Zaroff has lured and ceased many sailors to his island to play a game. Although, they did not hunt with the General, the General hunted them! Zaroff claimed that hunting “had become too easy”, therefore, hunting began to bore him (Connell 21). The General began

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to murder every single one of his victims as if he were actually hunting an animal. General Zaroff did not have any form of regretfulness or discomfort which clearly shows insanity. General Zaroff’s character is clearly sadistic and manipulative and makes the hunting of animals into a thrilling, immoral game of hunting of human life.

Zaroff is well kept and handsome; it appears as if he takes care of himself vigorously. He may seem noble but he is actually two-faced, arrogant, deceiving, and fearless. He lives life to please himself and he is able to do so because of his wealth. In his own conniving way, he is intelligent as he speaks in a sarcastic and almost innocent way, as if he really is. General Zaroff thinks, “The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure,” (Connell). Zaroff believes that h

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as power over everybody and that he is the “strong”; so why shouldn’t he “use his gift”. Connell 21)

He pursues excitement in hunting, to do so he chooses to hunt a new animal which no animal could compare with it for an instant (Connell 21). Zaroff wants more then just a “hunt”; he wants a competition or an adventure of some sort. He wants the amusement of watching all living creatures suffer and die. He is a ruthless murderer that has no regard for human life. With the island that Zaroff owns, it is almost impossible for a mere sailor with no experience to win the “game”. Zaroff makes sure that he can play the game with an opponent but he also makes sure that the opponent does not win.

He thinks he is playing fair but the truth is, he does not play by the rules, as players of a game should. Zaroff uses his wealth to get whatever he wants to please himself. He has a butler named Ivan, who is a Cossack, which are strong yet deaf and dumb Ukrainians. He also knows his way around the island so he will know which direction to go and he has his home as a safe house. He has about a dozen dogs for even more protection and a gun. As a result, if anything might happen to Zaroff while playing the game, he will result in receiving help from his advantage.

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 essentially forced him to play the game.

Rainsford thinks the crazed man’s “proposal” is obscured. Rainsford thinks of Zaroff as murderer and he has no right to murder or harm any other of his kind. He personifies a cold-blooded killer by killing people in the demented way of hunting them. General Zaroff actions are immoral; although there are many killers in the world, but to hunt human beings as animals is not how life is suppose to be.

In addition, to do such gruesome acts and have no pain or sorrow upon what you have done. Hunting would begin to be less looked upon if someone like the General were to exist. Hunting is supposed to be man vs. nature, not man vs. man. According to Zaroff, they are the same. General Zaroff believes that his hobby of hunting other humans is rather entertaining. Anyone else could say that it is not moral or human-like. Zaroff insisted that he was no murderer and thought it was just a simple game.

However, despite how skilled the beast was, his experience was to

be doubted eventually. The General became a little bit too conceited unaware of his upcoming death performed by the “animal” he had hunted, Rainsford. The loose cannon held little value for human life. When reading the story, you could analyze that it is likely to become what you fear. In this case, Rainsford became “the beast at bay” and finally knew how it felt to be hunted by a miraculous hunter such as General Zaroff. Human life is valuable and should not be consumed with such violence, cruelty, immorality.

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