Character Analysis - Zaroff

Character Analysis - Zaroff

In the short story, ¨The Most Dangerous Game,¨ written by Richard Connell, Zaroff is a arrogant, cruel, yet refined character. Zaroff was first introduced in the story when Sanger Rainsford finds Zaroff’s home. Zaroff welcomed Rainsford into his home shortly after Rainsford’s encounter with Ivan. In Zaroff’s dining room, Ranger noticed how elegant his home was. ¨...The table appointments were of the finest- the linen, the crystal, the silver, the china.¨(10). Ranger also saw Zaroff as a very good host. ¨ He was finding the general a most thoughtful and affable host, a true cosmopolite.¨(10). So far, Zaroff appears wealthy, refined and very polite. While Zaroff and Rainsford are eating dinner, they start to talk about hunting. ¨’…hunting had ceased to be what you call a ‘sporting proposition.’ It had become too easy. I always got my quarry. Always. There is no greater bore than perfection.¨ (12). This quote shows that Zaroff is arrogant. Looking at the last sentence in the quotation, Zaroff states that no greater bore than perfection. Showing that Zaroff thinks he is perfect. As the conversation progresses, Zaroff shows a different side to him. “ ‘I hunt the scum of the earth- sailors from tramp ships, blacks, chinese, whites, mongrels- a thoroughbred horse or hound is worth more than the score of them.’ ¨(14). Although this quotation shows more arrogance by showing that he thinks he’s better than everyone, it also makes him seem very cruel. When Zaroff said hunt, he really meant hunt. He hunts humans because he’s feels no challenge when hunting animals. This shows that Zaroff is inhuman due to how he hunts humans out of boredom and when done so he feels no remorse or guilt. Looking back to the first quotation Zaroff appears to be a completely different person, resulting in deceit. Zaroff is character who should be feared and cannot be trusted.

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