Question

Why does the author, Richard Connell, spend so much time describing Zaroff's chateau? What effect does it have on the story?

Answer 1

The image of the majestic chateau mounted upon formidable cliffs seems a mirage to Rainsford after his desperate swim to shore. For, here on an island of the Caribbean is a castle from the other side of the world. But, yet, there is something sinister in it which foreshadows dangers ahead for Sanger Rainsford because of the highs cliff upon which it is placed, the "medieval magnificence" of it that suggests the base, cruel image of General Zaroff, whose many animals that he has shot are stuffed and mounted on the walls as "At the great table the general was sitting alone."