In “The Most Dangerous Game” two characters, Rainsford and General Zaroff, experience the duality of civility. Rainsford finds Ship Trap Island after he falls off a yacht and is then forced to play General Zaroff’s evil game of murder. General Zaroff is a wealthy Cossack who lives on Ship Trap Island and hunts humans for sport. In “The Most Dangerous Game”, Richard Connell proves Rainsford and Zaroff have civil and savage traits to prove the duality of civility.
Sanger Rainsford lives a civil life; however, dangerous situations cause him to show his savage side. Rainsford is a sophisticated hunter; he hunts typical game and is skilled and knowledgeable about his work. “‘You've good eyes,’ said Whitney, with a laugh, ‘ and I've seen you pick…show more content… He begins as a well educated civil man. “‘You see, I read all books on hunting published in English, French, and Russian’” General Zaroff is very wealthy. “ The table appointments were of the finest -- the linen, the crystal, the silver, the china”(Connell 6). He shows impeccable hospitality. Zaroff gives all his guests silk clothes, a delicious feast, and a warm bed for the night. “‘ Now you want clothes, food, rest. You shall have them. This is a most-restful spot’” ( Connell 5-6). Although he seems refined, he soon unmasks his true form. He traps innocent men. “Rainsford's eyes saw only blackness, and then, as the general pressed a button, far out to sea Rainsford saw the flash of lights” (Connell 10). Once the ships are blinded, they crash into the jagged rocks of the island. He whips them into submission. “‘We'll visit my training school,’ smiled the general. ‘It's in the cellar. I have about a dozen pupils down there now’” (Connell 11). And he hunts them as sport. “‘I hunt the scum of the earth: sailors from tramp ships--lassars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels’”(Connell 10). Zaroff shows no remorse for the murder he commits. “‘I refuse to believe that so modern and civilized a young man as you seem to be harbors romantic ideas about the value of human life’” (Connell 9). Zaroff believes “ a thoroughbred horse or hound is worth more [than a human’s life]’” (Connell 10). Zaroff uses civil qualities to hide his savage
