Rainsford Vs Zaroff Essay

The Most Dangerous Game In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the protagonist, Sanger Rainsford, and the antagonist, General Zaroff, are similar characters. Both Rainsford and Zaroff share common passions, skills and ideology. Initially, there is admiration between both characters, because Rainsford is Zaroff’s hero and Rainsford is grateful for Zaroff being welcome to him. However. they soon discover how similar they are, and these similarities become the cause of conflict in the story. Both Rainsford and Zaroff share an ideology of the world. Rainsford and Zaroff both believe that there is a upper and a lower class, no inbetween. Although worded differently, Rainsford mentions, “The world is made up of two classes--

Zaroff also identified a second trap Rainsford set, “Your Burmese tiger pit has claimed one of my best dogs,” (14). Another similarity between Rainsford and Zaroff is that they did not value the lives of the wild animals they have previously hunted. Rainsford believes, “Who cares how a jaguar feels,” (1). Rainsford also believes, “Bah! They’ve no understanding,” (1). Rainsford is initially shown to not show any empathy to the wild animals he hunts. Zaroff is no different, with him declaring, “I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships--lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels,” (9). Zaroff hunts humans who have the unfortunate luck to arrive on Ship-Trap Island. Zaroff gives no second thought about hunting humans because he finds them to be the perfect sport to hunt, and finds pleasure in hunting them. In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, the protagonist, Sanger Rainsford, and the antagonist, General Zaroff, are similar characters. Both Rainsford and Zaroff share common passions, skills and ideology. Initially, there is admiration between both characters, but their similarities become the cause of the conflict. Rainsford murders Zaroff and has put an end to the murderous human