The Most Dangerous Game General Zaroff Character Analysis

The true meaning of fear is being overwhelmingly sure of yourself and the solid ground you stand on, but in an instant it turns to water, and you cannot swim. You begin to drown, because you do not know how to react, and suddenly all of the confidence you once had vanishes. In “The Most Dangerous Game” the setting both forges and develops the characters’ traits and inspires their actions. Rainsford, an elite, skilled hunter finds himself seeking shelter in an island he stumbles upon after his fall into the ocean. To his surprise, the only human inhabitants are General Zaroff and his fellow Cossack bodyguard, Ivan. Rainsford’s first impression of his aristocracy and knowledge quickly changes when he learns of Zaroff’s human hunting game--or …show more content…
“The island is perfect for my purposes-there are jungles with a maze of trails in them, hills, swamps-” (18). Had Connell produced a different makeup of the island, it would not have resulted in his winning streak, for it was essentially an unavoidable obstacle course. Every victim lured into staying at the island by Zaroff’s opulence had an inevitable demise due to the difficulty of survival and escape in the jungle-like venue. The entirety of Zaroff’s game would be impossible, and most importantly, he would not have developed such an overwhelming amount of arrogance as time progressed. “...I hunt the scum of the earth...lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels--a thoroughbred horse or hound is worth more than a score of them" (19). Zaroff’s superiority clouded his judgement, and thus enabled him to go about performing such intricate murder without a twinge of guilt--the emotion that lives within each human. In other words, Connell's methodical structure not only has formed Zaroff’s character and mindset, but it also produces the idea that he is nothing more than a vicious, barbaric predator in the reader’s