Most dngerous game summary

Later that night, Rainsford hears gunshots in the distance and falls overboard while trying to investigate. He swims to the mysterious island, and the next morning, he finds blood-stained weeds and signs of a hunter, indicating that the island is inhabited. Rainsford knocks on the front door and meets a huge man armed with a pistol. An older, very elegant man appears and introduces himself as General Zaroff and the large man as Ivan, his servant who is deaf and mute.

Over an elaborate dinner, Rainsford and Zaroff bond over their love of hunting. After Rainsford presses him, Zaroff explains that he prefers to hunt humans, because, unlike animals, humans can reason and are therefore more dangerous and exciting to hunt. Shocked, Rainsford insists that Zaroff is committing murder and refuses his invitation to participate in the manhunt. Still trying to win over Rainsford, Zaroff explains the game. He follows with a small pistol, and if the hunted man eludes the general for three days, he wins.

The man can choose to participate in his game or be handed over to Ivan, a professional torturer. Disgusted, Rainsford excuses himself for the evening, and Zaroff leaves for his nightly hunt. Rainsford and his friend Whitney discuss the effects of man on the animal kingdom and how the animals must feel. They talk about how lucky they are that they are the hunters, not the hunted.

After Whitney turns in, Rainsford hears gunshots on the shore, and as he tries to shift closer to investigate, he falls overboard. When he realizes that he cannot swim back to the boat, he decides to swim toward the island, where he washes up on shore. Zaroff greets Rainsford warmly and has Ivan show him to a room where he can dress for dinner. The huge, lavish dining hall features numerous stuffed and mounted heads, trophies that Zaroff has brought back from his many hunting adventures around the world.

Zaroff states that he now hunts far more dangerous game on his island. He recounts past hunts, from his childhood in the Crimea to hunting big game around the world, but goes on to describe how the sport eventually became too easy. Zaroff hints, however, that he has found a new kind of animal to hunt, one with courage, cunning, and reason.

After a fitful night of insomnia and light dozing, the sound of a distant pistol shot awakens him in the early morning. General Zaroff reappears at the chateau at lunchtime, sad that hunting humans no longer satisfies him.

He laments that the sailors he lures to the island present less and less of a challenge. Rainsford demands to leave the island at once, but the general refuses and forces Rainsford to be his new prey in the next hunt, hoping that Rainsford, as a renowned big-game hunter, will provide the challenge he seeks.

Zaroff promises to set Rainsford free if he lives through the next three days. Rainsford sets off into the jungle after receiving food, clothes, and a knife from Ivan. He cuts a complicated, twisting path through the undergrowth to confuse Zaroff and then climbs a tree to wait as darkness approaches. Zaroff finds Rainsford easily but lets him escape to prolong the pleasure of the hunt. The door opened to reveal a gigantic man with no shirt on pointing a revolver at Rainsford.

Sanger Rainsford told the man his name and explained that he had fallen off his yacht. Suddenly, General Zaroff appeared, called off the man with the rifle, shook Rainsford's hand, and told him he had read his book. He explained that his assistant Ivan was deaf then he invited him in. Ivan helped to show Rainsford to a bedroom where he was able to change his clothes.

He noticed the many mounted animal heads along the walls. When he returned, General Zaroff offered Rainsford a cocktail and some soup. They talk about hunting, and General Zaroff says he likes to hunt the biggest game available: people.

Rainsford protests that what he says refers to murder, but Zaroff insists there's a difference. He treats his "guests" kindly, providing them with food, shelter, and exercise. Of course, he is the one who lures these guests to his house by causing their ships to have accidents, leaving them stranded on his island.

He tells Rainsford he has about a dozen people currently in his training school that he can show him. When it is time to go hunting, he supplies his adversary with food, a knife, and a three-hour head start.