General Zaroff's Pride In The Most Dangerous Game

While at first General Zaroff seems to be an elegant, yet vain, aristocrat, he is soon revealed to be a savage murderer. His arrogance is a prevalent aspect of his disposition in Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game,” and is Zaroff’s inevitable downfall. Throughout the story, Zaroff’s excessive pride is depicted in a number of different ways: his belief in being the perfect hunter, his acting as God by killing human beings, and his arrogance in letting Rainsford free after catching him. The general believes that human life is his to take, as is exemplified when he claims that “life is...if needs be, [to be] taken by the strong.” Furthermore, he assumes that if “an angry god of the high seas” does not provide him with quarry, he is still …show more content…
With an aristocratic face and a “cultivated voice,” he wears a mask of sanity that conceals his heinous intentions from Rainsford. However, his true form is nothing like the disguise Zaroff wears; he is barbaric and uncivilized. He has placed “a collection of [human] heads” in his library, and is very proud of them, offering to show Rainsford his assemblage before bed. In addition, Zaroff claims that it “gives [him] pleasure” to hunt humans for the very reason that they are human beings. Scoffing at Rainsford’s bewilderment, he compares people with animals, saying that “a score of them [the men he hunts]” are worth less than a thoroughbred horse. General Zaroff has no concern for his fellow humans, is the embodiment of arrogance, and uses his wealth to pursue killing for sport. Thus, Zaroff is an anomaly who pretends to be a civilized noble, but in reality is a barbaric, arrogant,