"The Most Dangerous Game" opens with a conversation between two
men, Whitney and Rainsford. The pair are on a yacht headed to Rio. At the
time of the story, they find themselves somewhere in the Caribbean. Both men
are aficionados of big-game hunting. As such, they converse about the ability
of an animal to understand the hunt. Rainsford is of the opinion that animals
are incapable of feeling or understanding any human emotion.
Shortly after their discussion, Whitney retires
for the evening. Rainsford decides to stay on deck to smoke his pipe. He
suddenly hears the sound of gunshots and in his attempts to get a better
glimpse in the direction of the sound, he falls into the water. After a brief
moment of panic, Rainsford rallies and decides to swim toward the source of the
gunshots. When he finally makes it ashore, he falls asleep.
The next morning he decides to investigate his
surroundings. He finds a pool of blood and surmises that it is from the prey
that was shot the night before. Near the blood he sees the footprints of
hunting boots. He elects to follow them. After a long hike Rainsford arrives at
a palatial estate. He is greeted at the door by a large man wielding a gun. A
second man enters and explains that his assistant, Ivan, is deaf and dumb. The man is dressed elegantly and has an air of
sophistication about him. He introduces himself as General Zaroff.
Zaroff is familiar with Rainsford's book on
hunting snow leopards. After getting settled, Rainsford and Zaroff dine
together and discuss the merits of hunting. It is during this conversation that
Rainsford learns that Zaroff hunts men on the island. As a result of becoming
bored with the available game in the world, Zaroff has turned to hunting those
that can reason and present a greater challenge. Rainsford is mortified by
Zaroff's revelation. Zaroff invites Rainsford to hunt with him but Rainsford
declines citing exhaustion.
That night Rainsford is unable to sleep. The
next day he learns that he is either to serve as Zaroff's newest prey or fall
into the burly, violent hands of Ivan. He elects the former and immediately
sets off into the jungle. After a few hours of zigzagging through the dense
jungle, he climbs a tree to hide from his adversary. Incredibly, despite the
elusive trail, Zaroff is able to easily find Rainsford. However, in order to
prolong the fun of the game, Zaroff leaves Rainsford without harming him.
Rainsford panics and is subject to a few other
encounters with Zaroff. Each time he gets closer and closer to defeating his
foe through the use of primitive traps. Unfortunately, he is unable to trap his
pursuer. He does manage to kill one of Zaroff's prized dogs and Ivan. In the
final chase, Rainsford dives off the edge of the cliff into the ocean. Zaroff
is disappointed to have lost his worthy adversary and returns to his house
crestfallen.
After a hearty meal and much reminiscing of the
day's events, Zaroff decides to retire for the evening. Upon entering his
bedroom, he is confronted by Rainsford who has been hiding behind the bed
curtains. Zaroff is delighted that he has been defeated. However, Rainsford is
not willing to let the game end there. He challenges Zaroff to one final duel.
Zaroff accepts and says that whoever loses shall be fed to the dogs, the winner
is to sleep in Zaroff's bed. The story ends with an indirect ending-- Rainsford
cites that he had never slept in a better bed.
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