Throughout Connell’s short story General Zaroff displays his intelligence and experience in hunting. The first thing that shows the reader that he is intelligent is the location of his island;; Zaroff has rightly chosen the island as a trap for the sailors who come to the island after their ship crashes into the rocks and making them his prey. …show more content…
During the conversation between General Zaroff and his guest Sanger Rainsford, General Zaroff states, “I have hunted every kind of game in every land. It would be impossible for me to tell you how many animals I have killed” (6). Analyzing this quote we can see that General Zaroff is very arrogant because he thinks that he is a very good hunter and he is exaggerating by saying that he has been to every land and hunted hundreds of animals. In the same conversation with Rainsford, General Zaroff says, “God makes some men poets some he makes kings, some beggars. Me he made a hunter. My hand was made for the trigger, my father said. When I was only five years old he gave me a little gun, specially made in Moscow for me, to shoot sparrows with. When I shot some of his prize turkeys with it, he did not punish me; he complimented me on my marksmanship” (6). In this quote Zaroff reveals some of the ideological underpinnings that drive his desire to hunt. As is evidenced by the quote, he truly believes that he was made specifically for this single pastime. His passion and exuberance for the sport is all-consuming. Zaroff's identity is hinged on this sole quality, a fact that makes his hunting of men all the more believable. But, this quote also signifies that he is arrogant because he thinks that he was a great shooter since childhood; he