General Zaroff's Narrative

General Zaroff’s attractive and handsome presence hides his evilness from Rainsford as he enjoys the general’s assistance and attention. The general makes

General Zaroff challenged Rainsford by saying, “I’ll cheerfully acknowledge myself defeated if I do not find you by the third day.” So, Rainsford accepted the challenge, and on the third day, he fooled the General by swimming back to the house and hiding behind the bed curtain. When General Zaroff went to his room, to sleep, Rainsford surprised him and

Sanger Rainsford was a very smart, successful man. In the short story, “The Most Dangerous Game” by Richard Connell, Rainsford had outsmarted General Zaroff many times but only three are: making different paths to confuse Zaroff, hiding in the tree from Zaroff when he was hunting him, and hiding in Zaroff’s bedroom curtains to kill him when he came into his room. Rainsford said to himself “I’ll give him a trail to follow” (Richard Connell) page 24, so he made many different loops and paths for him to follow. He made it confusing for Zaroff and he seemed to fall for it.

In the text read in class, “The Most Dangerous Game”, Rainsford displayed many instances where he persevered. Not only does General Zaroff respect Rainsford as a hunter, but his intentions are to now make this hunter his prey. The reader does not expect Rainsford to make it out alive but he now conquers the game General Zaroff has worked so hard on to master, hunting humans. Leading up to Rainsford killing General Zaroff, Rainsford showed his many different acquired hunting skills when fighting on the island. He made several different traps in attempt to kill Zaroff that ended in failure, but when Rainsford jumped into the ocean and swam to the house of General Zaroff, he showed signs of perseverance.

Zaroff was a tough man but not tough enough to beat Rainsford. Rainsford was mad fun of by Zaroff and had always wanted to prove him wrong and that night of the battle he did prove him wrong. Rainsford knew there was going to be traps so he prepared himself for the obstacles. Rainsford knew there was going to be traps. There were three taps.

Zaroff reveals that he intends to hunt Rainsford, since he finds hunting

The Most Dangerous Game is a story that discusses the inner capability to humans to perform acts of extreme violence. It observes two different, yet similar characters in General Zaroff and Rainsford. They both have very similar views on hunting, as they both consider the feelings of the prey to be meaningless. However, the stark difference between the two characters is the General Zaroff hunts humans and Rainsford hunts big game. Connell made sure to write this similarity into the story for the sake of foreshadowing.

Rainsford knew that he was unable to retreat and forced to face danger. Rainsford realized that animals felt and how they had to face the danger just like how he did.

You are proving interesting, Mr. Rainsford. I am going now to have my wound dressed; it’s only a slight one. But I shall be back. I shall be back.” Even when General Zaroff has just been injured and slightly outsmarted by someone, he still has a condesceding tone towards others.

1. Recall what does the general describe about his hunting background. While General Zaroff is describing himself, he brags that he is an excellent hunter. “God makes some men poets. Some He makes kings, some beggars. Me He made a hunter” (Connell 6).

Rainsford hesitated. He heard the hounds. Then he leapt far out into the sea. Once his body smacked the ocean, the waves rumbled as they viciously crashed against the rocks. Thunder crackled violently in the air.

Rainsford is Alert. He demonstrated this in the beginning of the game when he first went into the forest, he tried to put as much distance between himself and the general as possible so it would be harder for Zaroff to find and kill him. “His first whole idea was to put as much distance between himself and General Zaroff (p.26)” Secondly Rainsford is intelligent because he had made various footprints going in multiple different directions,

thrill left in tigers, no real danger,I live for danger. ”(223)This shows that Zaroff thinks he is too good to be

Also, General Zaroff is an extreme hunter and doesn’t find pleasure in hunting regular animals. Zaroff says the most dangerous game is humans because they have the ability to reason. Rainsford is going to be hunted and is given a certain amount of time to survive. Moreover, while Rainsford is being hunted Zaroff

In the jungle, Rainsford knows that he must think outside the box. General Zaroff has already read all of Rainsford’s books