Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

carefully aimed throw. Zaroff can also obtain adequate rest and medical aid if need be, whereas the victim
cannot. When Rainsford rigs a tree to fall on the general, Zaroff is hit and calls out, “I am going now to
have my wound dressed; it’s only a slight one. But I shall be back. I shall be back” (Connell, 1924, p. 489).
He clearly avoids being bullied by putting himself at the advantage.
Zaroff also makes superficial rationalizations. He believes it is his duty to use his skills in the fashion
that he does when he says, “Life is for the strong, to be lived by the strong, and, if need be, taken by the
strong” (Connell, 1924, p. 484). He believes what he is doing is not only ethical, but expected of him. He
justifies his actions with his twisted view of morality.
People with antisocial personality disorder are known to commit acts of violence. Zaroff’s actions
are the epitome of violence. He hunts men and in a brutal fashion. This sickly truth is revealed to
Rainsford when Zaroff describes the ideal quarry, “It must have courage, cunning, and above all, it must be
able to reason” (Connell, 1924, p. 484). Rainsford quickly guesses the only creature on this earth that has
those attributes. Zaroff is very vicious in his hunting methods as well. As Rainsford reaches the island, he
hears “a high-screaming sound, the sound of an animal in an extremity of anguish and terror” (Connell,
1924, p. 479). The game Zaroff plays is murder, and it is a violent one.
One more symptom that matches Zaroff’s character with antisocial personality disorder is the lack
of empathy. He tracks down human beings in his jungle and kills them. The thought of this does not at all
disturb him. He laughs at Rainsford: “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, 1924, p. 484). Zaroff appears
to have no conscience. No ethics or sense of morality makes him pause before killing each of his victims.
He does not lay awake at night troubled by his actions. No empathy exists within this man.
Not only does General Zaroff exhibit many symptoms by which antisocial personality disorder is
diagnosed, he also has much in common with a man of the same condition. Ted Bundy is a well-known
serial killer. Someone blind to his biography, however, would not be stricken with fear at the sight of his
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