Scruples could be defined as misgivings about something one feels is wrong. When Rainsford calls General Zaroff a murderer, the general counters by saying,
"Dear me," said the general, quite unruffled, "again that unpleasant word. But I think I can show you that your scruples are quite ill founded."
Rainsford, of course, has misgivings over Zaroff's mode of hunting on the island. Instead of hunting animals, the general hunts men and that is precisely what...
Scruples could be defined as misgivings about something one feels is wrong. When Rainsford calls General Zaroff a murderer, the general counters by saying,
"Dear me," said the general, quite unruffled, "again that unpleasant word. But I think I can show you that your scruples are quite ill founded."
Rainsford, of course, has misgivings over Zaroff's mode of hunting on the island. Instead of hunting animals, the general hunts men and that is precisely what Rainsford objects to. He thinks of Zaroff as an unscrupulous murderer and cannot abide the inhumane activity the general is engaged in. The general tries to explain his reasoning for hunting men, which revolves around his immense arrogance and bigotry. He says,
"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. I am strong. Why should I not use my gift? If I wish to hunt, why should I not? I hunt the scum of the earth—sailors from tramp ships—lascars, blacks, Chinese, whites, mongrels—a thoroughbred horse is worth more than the lot of them."
Rainsford sees it as nothing less than barbaric and when the general offers to hunt with Rainsford, the American refuses, showing his scruples. He knows it is wrong to hunt men, regardless of the general's twisted logic. Of course, Rainsford does become involved in the hunt as the general actually hunts him in the second half of the story.
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