Killing and Cruelty

Many types of people kill for different reasons and some are crueler than
others. Merriam-Webster.com says the word cruel is used to describe people who
hurt others and do not feel sorry about it. For instance, Rainsford and Whitney
were both Hunters like Zaroff. They all killed for pleasure and sport. Still, one may
argue that Zaroff was crueler because he killed humans, and Whitney was less cruel
because he feels sympathy for the animals he hunts. What do you think?
Below is an alphabetical list of 10 types of people who kill. Work with your
group to decide why each person kills, and then rank them from least to most cruel,
with the least cruel person awarded 1 point and the cruelest person awarded 10
points.

Killer
Points
executioner
exterminator
fisherman
hit man
Rainsford
solider
serial killer
slaughterhouse worker
Whitney
Zaroff

Reason