General Zaroff In The Most Dangerous Game By Richard Connell

In “The Most Dangerous Game” the author, Richard Connell, proves to the reader, The Cossack Russian purchaser of Ship-trap Island, General Zaroff, is corrupt. General Zaroff shows his corrupt state by presenting his barbaric, merciless, and uncivilized attributes. General Zaroff shows these traits by pulling Sanger Rainsford into his demented game of hunting and killing humans.

From the exposition to his death, General Zaroff presents his most obvious traits, one being his barbarianism. In the text General Zaroff states “he is Cossack, so am I” (Connell 3). The Cossack were a military organization in Ukraine and Russian. All men were given weapons and had to record twenty years in military service. His military experience possibly helped develop his corrupt mind. General Zaroff previously hunted big-game but now hunts what he believes to be the biggest of all big-game, humans. Another way General Zaroff shows his barbaric quality is by trying to pull Rainsford into his demented game, of hunting the humans after sending them out into the island, Rainsford quickly objects and says “Thank you, I’m a hunter not a murderer” (Connell 5).

This quote shows that Rainsford himself thinks that General Zaroff is one of the most merciless demented creatures to exist. As Rainsford envisions the general as the devil, it helps the reader connect previous events, such as the borscht (which is a cold red soup) to death, but the reader must guess, who’s