General Zaroff Character Analysis

“Whenever it fell upon me, my blood ran cold; and so by degrees — very gradually — I made up my mind to take the life of the old man, and thus rid myself of the eye forever” ( Poe, 1843 ). The Tell Tale Heart by Edgar Allan Poe depicts the sanity of an anonymous person who end the life of an old man to rid to of his “evil eye”. The Most Dangerous Game by Richard Connell also questions the morality and sanity of General Zaroff and Sanger Rainsford as the hunter and the hunted. Rainsford slipped of the ship during the middle of the night in the pitch-black and boundless Caribbean Sea after hearing a gunshot followed by a horrifying and skin crawling shriek of an animal. The next morning, Rainsford walked skeptically deep into the heart of the

However, his facade is flawed and he exhibits maniacal behaviors that the thought of hunting man pleasures him. Hunting animals that are one of the most dangerous species on Earth such as cape buffalos or lions or tigers is no longer an amusement to General Zaroff. Instead, he create a new game for his hunt which proclaims “courage, cunning, and, above all, it must be able to reason” ( Connell, 224 ). General Zaroff can not distinguish between man and animals and think that his new game brings him pleasure and delightment. He is numb to the feeling of pain and sympathy that is locked up with a steel key that is forever lost. General Zaroff maniacal actions is the effect of the time when he first shot his father’s prized turkey at five years old. Surprisingly, his father did not punish him for shooting his prized turkey but instead complemented General Zaroff of his marksmanship and his father was the one who gave him a gun when he was five years old ( Connell, 223 ). Ever since on, General Zaroff have hunted infinite number of animals. The hands of General Zaroff is accounted for boundless innocent lives which he blindly killed for his amusement. General Zaroff’s life was always involving lives of an an animal and person to such lengths that he can’t distinguish between a man and an animal; and his mind and thoughts is filled about hunting which in turn cause him to

General Zaroff pleasure is by inflicting fear and pain and suffering to his “hide and seek” captive. Only a beast with no feelings or not clear state of mind will inflict pain, fear, or suffering to someone of the same species. Rainsford, who is an experienced animal hunter, admitted to General Zaroff at the dinner table that “the Cape buffalo is the most dangerous of all big game” ( Connell, 222 ). And yet, General Zaroff displays the head of a Cape buffalo he had hunted which hurled him against a tree and fractured his skull but he wins the challenge against the “most dangerous of all big game”. General Zaroff is a beast that wins the battle against the most powerful beast and therefore, he now hunt men after battles with tigers and cape buffalo bores him. When he hunted all of his prey; he use a channel—that with a firm touch of a button—the channel opens up and giant rocks with razor sharp edges emerges from the bottom of the ocean to the vast ocean—positioned like a shark with a wide open jaw; ready to devour its prey in any second. Another option of capturing preys is by shooting at it with open fire ( Connell, 226 ). General Zaroff let his prey decides on how they want to meet one’s death. One is an exciting and thrilling death or two, an agonizing and excruciating death. One or the other nonetheless, reveal General Zaroff’s true ferocious and bloodthirsty