Compare and Contrast Montressor and Zaroff

Mary Hopkins
January, 20, 2011 Compare and contrast essay Tales of two very different men, from different times in the past. Both men intrigued with human sacrifice. Even though they are from two different centuries, they share the same interest, although they have different personalities. One, a man from the eighteenth century, lives above the family catacombs, which vowed revenge upon a poor unsuspecting soul, lured him to his death. This man is known as Montresor.
The other man, a man of the nineteenth century, killed humans for the thrill on an island where their screams could not be heard. This is the one known as Zaroff
Even though their differences are plenty, they are a lot alike. Montresor much like Zaroff enjoys watching their victim’s demise. Both Montresor and Zaroff relish the anxiety of the victim before they take their final breath. Zaroff likes to watch the panic on his victims face when they know they are about to die as does Montresor. Both men enjoy messing with their victim’s state of mind, Zaroff in the fact that he sends his victims into the jungle not knowing where they are going, or what is in store for them. Montresor enjoys messing with his victims mind by using reverse phycology on him to lure his victim to his death. These dark devious men are much alike but they also vary in many ways. Montresor kills for revenge. As he put it, “A thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as best I could, but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge. You, who so well know the nature of my soul, will not suppose however, that I gave utterance to a threat. At length I would be avenged; this was a point definitely settled-but by the definitiveness with which it was resolved precluded the idea of risk.” (87) While on the other hand Zaroff kills for the thrill of a challenge, or as he stated, “Oh, it supplies me with the most exciting hunting in the world. No other hunting compares with it for an instant. Every day I hunt, and I never grow bored now, for I have a quarry with which I can match my wits“(74) Zaroff wants things random. He does not want to know exactly what is going to happen next. Zaroff wants a challenge, unlike Montresor who wants everything to go exactly as planned. This deranged man spent years planning and perfecting this disturbing scheme. This proves that Montresor is unstable, unlike Zaroff who is all around malicious. Zaroff gets his victims from the “sea god”. He then trains his future victims and prepares them for their trek into the jungle. There they will have to fight Zaroff, who tracks them down in the jungle, for their right to live, while Montresor uses reverse phycology to lure his victim into the catacombs where he buries him alive.
These men Montresor and Zaroff are in a way one in the same, because they chose to murder, yet at the same time they are different in the way they chose to murder. Zaroff sent his victims into the jungle, hunted them down, and killed them for the thrill of a challenge. While Montresor spent years planning the murder of a single man, and executed said plan with precision. One man is unstable, while the other is malicious. Both men enjoy their victim’s last breath.