General Zaroff In The Most Dangerous Game: Character Analysis

First appearances can be deceptive; blind trusts can be deadly. Trusting a person that might look honest and truthful on the surface doesn’t always turn out the way you expected the person to be. In the story “The Most Dangerous Game”, the character, general Zaroff is a psychopath which hunts people that pass by the island that he lives in, but still knows how to gain people’s trust by being polite to them.

While General Zaroff seems polite, he is really a very dangerous and unpredictable person. For instance, General Zaroff makes Rainsford feel welcome and gains his trust when he greets him to his house, “It is a very great pleasure and honor to welcome Mr. Sanger Rainsford, the celebrated hunter, to my home” (Connell 59). Even though he had tried to kill Rainsford in the boat, Zaroff is still very polite so he can win his trust. The fact that Zaroff kills people for fun shows that he is a psychopath, but being kind to Rainsford and welcoming him to his house shows that he is also trying to act like a normal person. This can also show that Zaroff is a very dangerous person since no one can predict how mad he is by only meeting him for the first time. The author is trying to tell us that Zaroff is also aware of his manners and had not gone completely mad. Furthermore, Even Rainsford’s reaction can give us a clue of how cruel of a person general Zaroff really is for murdering people. When Rainsford discovers that Zaroff is killing people, he says “Hunting, good God, general Zaroff, what you speak of is murder” (Connell 64). Rainsford’s reaction to when he finds out about what the game is can tell us that he was shocked of how crazy and unstable Zaroff really is. This can also add on to the fact that Zaroff is a psychopath even though he sees his actions rather normal than crazy. The author is trying

First appearances can be deceptive; blind trusts can be deadly. Trusting a person that might look honest and truthful on the surface doesn’t always turn out the way you expected the person to be. In the story “The Most Dangerous Game”, the character, general Zaroff is a psychopath which hunts people that pass by the island that he lives in, but still knows how to gain people’s trust by being polite to them.

While General Zaroff seems polite, he is really a very dangerous and unpredictable person. For instance, General Zaroff makes Rainsford feel welcome and gains his trust when he greets him to his house, “It is a very great pleasure and honor to welcome Mr. Sanger Rainsford, the celebrated hunter, to my home” (Connell 59). Even though he had tried to kill Rainsford in the boat, Zaroff is still very polite so he can win his trust. The fact that Zaroff kills people for fun shows that he is a psychopath, but being kind to Rainsford and welcoming him to his house shows that he is also trying to act like a normal person. This can also show that Zaroff is a very dangerous person since no one can predict how mad he is by only meeting him for the first time. The author is trying to tell us that Zaroff is also aware of his manners and had not gone completely mad. Furthermore, Even Rainsford’s reaction can give us a clue of how cruel of a person general Zaroff really is for murdering people. When Rainsford discovers that Zaroff is killing people, he says “Hunting, good God, general Zaroff, what you speak of is murder” (Connell 64). Rainsford’s reaction to when he finds out about what the game is can tell us that he was shocked of how crazy and unstable Zaroff really is. This can also add on to the fact that Zaroff is a psychopath even though he sees his actions rather normal than crazy. The author is trying to show how some psychopathic people can do bad things which they are not aware of how cruel it is as Zaroff talks about murder unruffled but it was really shocking and uncomfortable for Rainsford. In conclusion, this can show that when you don’t know someone and they seem to be polite and show no signs of guilt, it doesn’t mean that they can’t be an unpleasant or in other words a mad person.