Similarities Between Montresor And Zaroff

Antisocial personality disorder is a mental illness in which a person has a continuous eagerness to manipulate, abuse, or violate the rights and freedom of others (Merrill). Sociopaths generally believe their own behaviours are normal and show no guilt when hurting others. However they are able to act witty and charming at the same time which help to hide their mental issuesfrom victims (“Personality Disorder”). For instance, Kenneth Lee Lay (April 15, 1942 – July 5, 2006), the CEO of Enron Corporation, who involved in a corruption scandal and caused the downfall of the company. Lay used his charm and intelligence to convey his employees and investors to continue investing in his tanking company. He showed no empathy and responsibility

They first appear as gentlemen in order to lure the potential victims into their trap, then when the victims believe their lies they reveal their cruelty and violence through a series of events. First, in “The Cask of Amontillado” Montresor shows up as a caring friend to approach and beguile Fortunato, when Fortunato has built trust Montresor eliminates him brutally. For example, in the beginning of the story Montresor claims Fortunato’s “‘health is precious’” because he is “‘rich, respected, admired, [and] beloved’”. He wants Fortunato to “‘go back’” (Poe 3) and claims he will find Luchresi for help. Poe uses the interactions between Montresor and Fortunato in the early stage to create dramatic irony as well as an uncertain relationship to attract readers to continue the story. The masterminded Montresor pretends he actually cares about Fortunato’s health to gain trust and keeps on asking if Fortunato would like return, but indeed the caring and questioning are the use of reverse psychology that encourages Fortunato to be more determined to continue the journey. General Zaroff in “The Most Dangerous Game” has similarly shown civilized behaviour and brutality but to an even greater degree. In the story, General Zaroff is a well-educated man, who lives in a luxurious mansion with the finest lifestyle, but he has no ethics and morals. He hunts humans because they are “courage[ous], cunning,” (Connell

In the former, Montresor has a specific goal and target, while in the latter General Zaroff kills for entertainment. Firstly, Montresor has a clear objective – to revenge and a targeted victim – Fortunato. In the beginning of the story, Montresor has stated that he “vow[s] revenge” to make Fortunato pays for the “wrong[s]” has done to him that Fortunato never “redress[es]” (Poe 1). An obvious foreshadowing that shows the fate of Fortunato helps readers focus on the process of the revenge. Generally when a person does something wrong, that person will receive punishment through legal process. However, Montresor has enough hatreds and damages from Fortunato that he decides to become the judge, jury and executioner of his case. Thus, the “revenge” may not be fair and justified because it contains personal feelings. In contrast, General Zaroff entertains himself through murdering, there is no specific targets which makes General Zaroff even more barbaric. General Zaroff loves hunting but hunting animals “has no longer fascinated me [him]” because they all have “mathematical certainty”. He then decides to hunt humans because he wants the excitements and he believes “[l]ife is for the strong, to be lived by the strong… If I [he] wish[es] to hunt, why should I [he] not?” (Connell 6). Ergo, General Zaroff does not have any personal feelings when murdering humans as he believes “[l]ife is for the