Compare And Contrast Rainsford And General Zaroff

“The Most Dangerous Game” Compare and Contrast Essay Have you ever told someone that you know how they feel or that you feel their pain? Is that really possible? Richard Connell’s “The Most Dangerous Game” introduces many different themes through the characters of General Zaroff and Sanger Rainsford. In “The Most Dangerous Game”, written by Richard Connell, Richard Connell develops the theme that to fully understand another’s plight, man must first experience it himself through Rainsford and Zaroff’s views on hunting at the beginning, middle, and end of the story. General Zaroff and Sanger Rainsford have very similar views on hunting at the beginning of the story. Rainsford tells Whitney that, “The world is made up of two classes - the hunters and the huntees. At this point in the story, Rainsford shows no signs of an issue with hunting. In fact, he says that it is how the world was meant to work. He does not understand nor care how the animals feel because he thinks it is their rightful place. General Zaroff makes two important statements to show that he agrees with
Rainsford finally begins to fully understand how a hunted animal feels when Richard Connell writes, “He (Rainsford) had new things to learn about fear.” Rainsford has now been hunted for more than two days, and Zaroff is now using the dogs to hunt him down. At this point, he is put completely into the shoes of a hunted animal. He only now is able to understand the plight of a hunted animal. The night before this occurs, Zaroff tells Rainsford, “Thank you for a most amusing evening.” Zaroff has no idea what the situation is like for Rainsford. While Rainsford fears for his life, Zaroff is amused. Zaroff continues to treat the hunt as a game. It is clear just how much of a difference in understanding someone can gain through