Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Why does Zaroff think Rainsford is "droll" and "naive"?

The word "droll" means amusing. Sanger Rainsford is shocked by General Zaroff's declaration that he imports men to the island so that he can hunt them and kill them. When Rainsford tells Zaroff that the fact that he (Rainsford) had either witnessed or taken part in killing during the war, but that he didn't condone cold-blooded, premeditated murder, Zaroff is, or pretends to be, amused at Rainsford's moral outrage.
The word "naive" means lacking in experience, and Zaroff uses it to insult Rainsford, implying that Rainsford's moral outrage regarding his sport of hunting men is an antiquated notion that has ceased to be relevant. Zaroff tells Rainsford that he, like other Americans, have Puritan-era ethics, and that all he needs to do is experience the thrill of hunting men once before it will hook him, too.


During Rainsford's first meal with General Zaroff, the general informs Rainsford that he hunts humans on the island, and he refers to hunting people as the most dangerous game. After listening to the general explain how he hunts humans, Rainsford is both astonished and appalled. Rainsford challenges General Zaroff's definition of hunting people by telling the general that he is committing murder. After Rainsford tells the general that he does not condone "cold-blooded murder," Zaroff responds by saying,

How extraordinarily droll you are! . . . One does not expect nowadays to find a young man of the educated class, even in America, with such a naive, and, if I may say so, mid-Victorian point of view (Connell, 8).

Essentially, the general finds Rainsford's sentimentality for human life to be humorous and outdated. Zaroff does not agree with Rainsford's perspective regarding the value of human life, and he believes that Rainsford's views are antiquated. Zaroff clearly does not value human life, and he believes that the weak people of the world were born to give stronger humans pleasure.

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