The Value of Life in The Most Dangerous Game - 1700 Words Essay © Copyright 2021 Wakelet Limited. Character Analysis: “The Most Dangerous Game” The main reason I chose the antagonist in “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell is that there is a lot of bad features about General Zaroff, which I want to figure out. I‘m studying three traits about General Zaroff,the three traits I picked are Heartless, Smart, and unfair. “The Most Dangerous Game” is about a Russian hunter, who got bored with hunting animals. One trait is heartless because General Zaroff didn’t care for Ivan, and he treated Ivan like he was an object to be used. General Zaroff still didn’t care for Ivan, after he took his life to save General Zaroff. Another example is he enjoyed hunting humans because he said himself, he had to find a challenge, or he would fall “to Zaroff is the villain and main antagonist in Richard Connell’s short story The Most Dangerous Game. Zaroff enjoys sadistically hunting and killing people that wash up on his island’s shores, and if the people refuse to be hunted by Zaroff; they are tortured by Ivan, his faithful lackey. Zaroff is not a saint by any standard but he would be found not guilty in a modern day court and the best option would be to tell sailors to stay away from the island. Zaroff is not a threat to society at large as he only hunts the people that are unfortunate enough to get stranded on his island. Admittedly, he does capsize ships but his methods are not hurting society at large and his island is his own society. Zaroff’s island is his own society because it
General Zaroff Count Zaroff
Russian Cossack Big game hunter
Rifle Hunting dogs
Hunting humans for sport. Playing piano.
Hunt everyone on his island before they can escape. (succeeded until his downfall)
Serial homicide Animal crueltyTortureRapeBlackmailKidnappingPoaching Imprisoning people against their will
General Zaroff, also simply known as Zaroff, is the main antagonist in the 1924 short story The Most Dangerous Game by the late Richard Connell, and the 1932 live-action film adaptation of the same name. He is a former Russian Cossack who has grown tired of hunting animals and now experiments on hunting humans for his own satisfaction. In the 1932 film adaptation, he was portrayed by the late Leslie Banks. BiographyWhen Sanger Rainsford falls off his boat, he ends up at Ship-Trap Island. There, he meets General Zaroff, an older man. Zaroff was a Cossack who served in a war under Czar Nicholas II of Russia until his downfall, and the subsequent rise of the Soviet Union. As a young boy, Zaroff's father gave him a little gun which was specially made to hunt sparrows. His father complimented his marksmanship on turkeys. He killed his first bear in the Caucasus. However, he later grew bored with hunting, due to the animals that he was hunting were not as cunning. So eventually, he started to hunt human beings. He fed them well and made sure that they had lots of exercises. It is made clear that he uses the channel's sharp rocks to lure in ships and trap most of his victims. He also had a training room in his cellar. He offered to have Rainsford accompany him on the hunt, but Rainsford refused. Zaroff then declared that he would be the next to be hunted. If he refused, he would be tortured by Ivan until he agreed - in the 1932 film adaptation, he threatened to make Eve Trowbridge (a character not in the original novel) his sex slave if Rainsford wins. The hunt begins, with Rainsford getting a head start. Zaroff, Ivan, and his dogs follow close behind. Zaroff taunts Rainsford many times. He comes close to finding his prey hiding in a tree, right above his head. Over the next two days, Rainsford is able to build traps that give him the advantage. One of them cripples Zaroff's arms, and the other kills Ivan and one of the dogs. Zaroff corners Rainsford at a cliff edge, but Rainsford jumps off before the general can shoot him. Zaroff returns home, but he cannot enjoy dinner because he is worried about replacing Ivan and Rainsford's fate. He goes up to his bedroom and finds Rainsford there. Zaroff is surprised and says that the hunt is over, but Rainsford says that he is now a beast. Zaroff zealously prepares for a man-on-man fight with Rainsford. In the end, it is implied that Zaroff was killed by Rainsford. PersonalityZaroff is a psychopathic man with a thirst to hunt human beings. Despite his sociopathic and dishonorable state, he acts like a kind and chivalrous gentleman and is extremely friendly and hospitable to Rainsford when he is washed up on the shore. He considers "human hunting" to merely be a game for his own amusement, and he sets up the island as an arena for the unlucky soul who crosses his path. GalleryExternal Links
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Zaroff is our basic refined but amoral Cossack. He is a great antagonist to Rainsford because he makes Rainsford question everything he believed in (as expressed to Whitney on the boat before he fell off). It’s too bad Rainsford doesn’t really pick up on the lessons or really reflect on them. Zaroff is unapologetically savage, but hides that brutality with his whole song and dance about civilization and champagne. |