"Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and if need be, taken by the strong. The weak of the world were put here to give the strong pleasure"(Connell 11). So states General Zaroff as he is explaining to Rainsford why he hunts men on his island. General Zaroff is one of the main characters in Richard Connell's short story "The Most Dangerous Game". Rainsford answers hotly that they are men and should not to be murdered, and the General replies, "That is why I use them. It gives me pleasure. They can reason. So they are dangerous"(Connell 11). General Zaroff, the antagonist in this story, is manipulative, sadistic, and arrogant, and his arrogance eventually led to his death.
             General Zaroff is extremely manipulative. In other words, this means he can get people to do whatever he wants them to do without the person realizing that he is being manipulated. He can convince anyone who comes on his island into thinking he is civil, generous, and a cosmopolite. He treats them well and keeps them well fed, but as soon as they feel comfortable around him he gives them the choice of playing "the game" or being beaten by Ivan, the giant Cossack who is Zaroff's assistant. He has to be manipulative or else the captives wouldn't play the game, and he wouldn't be able to relieve his boredom by hunting and killing men who had the bad fortune to be shipwrecked near his island. As a result of being manipulated by the General and being forced to play his game many of his "guests" are killed. He would not need his manipulative nature if he were not a sadist.
             Zaroff's sadism, for example, is expressed when he says, "I hunt the scum of the earth - sailors from tramp ships - lascars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels - a thoroughbred horse or hound is worth more than a score of them"(Connell 11). His demented mind forces him to believe that it is moral to hunt all living creatures, including humans, when in fact he is actually commi...