“The Most Dangerous Game”
Active Reading Guide Answers
1. It seems that Rainsford can only see the hunter’s viewpoint and has no sympathy for the animals
being hunted. He is a realist who refuses to take superstition seriously. This conversation is
important because it establishes a character trait of Rainsford that will play a crucial part in his
development.
2. Rainsford hears gunshots in the distance which causes him to lose his balance and fall overboard.
The sudden contrast brings in the element of surprise, increasing suspense, and involvement with
the story’s protagonist.
3. The island is “dense,” “snarled,” and “ragged” in “bleak darkness.” The chateau is “enormous,”
“lofty,” and “palatial,” with many lights.
4. Rainsford seems to have some advanced survival skills; he is knowledge about guns, fighting, and
the wilderness. He is a cool headed person who is logical and maintains good reasoning powers.
5. Ivan is presented as a rough, primitive-looking, menacing individual. He is almost monstrous in
appearance. The General, meanwhile, is well-groomed, cultivated, and sophisticated.
6. Zaroff refers to Ivan as a savage, like his entire race. When Rainsford asks if Ivan is a Russian,
Zaroff corrects him and tells Rainsford that he is a Cossack. Zaroff saying “So am I” implies that
Zaroff, being the same race as Ivan, is also a savage.
7. Zaroff’s privileged background and his childhood history of hunting helps explain to the reader
his present lifestyle and his boredom with hunting big game. His hunting background and his
participation in the war hints towards his preoccupation with violence.
8. The reason as to why the General has become bored with hunting is because it has become “too
easy” for him.
9. Rainsford’s shock comes from the realization that the only animal that can reason, Zaroff’s ideal
quarry, is man.
10. Zaroff gets the men he hunts from shipwrecks. While some ships may wreck naturally, Zaroff
causes the others to wreck with a system of lights that lead ships onto dangerous rocks. This
revelation to the reader provides some characterization on the part of Zaroff. He is cruel and
unfeeling toward different ethnic and social classes. Basically, he has no respect for human life.
11. The game goes as follows: the hunted is given supplies and a three hour head start. The General
then tracks him with only a small caliber pistol. If the man is not caught in three days, then he
“wins” the game. If the hunted decides not to participate in the game then he is handed over to
Ivan to be punished.
12. Rainsford realizes that the General knew he was hiding in the tree and that if he wanted to, Zaroff
comes have ended the game right there. Rainsford also realizes that the General is just as skilled
a hunter as he. They are equally matched.
13. At this point in the story, before Rainsford gets to the island and meets Zaroff, he believes that the
worst is behind him. The island would be safe haven from the dangers of the sea. The irony is
that the most dangerous situation comes from being on the island. It is even more ironic that the
sea (which he thought was his enemy) was the one thing that help saved him and beat General
Zaroff.
14. A few examples of suspense in the story: when Rainsford hears the gunshots on the boat, when
Rainsford approaches the chateau in the middle of the jungle, when Ivan has the pistol pointed at
Rainsford, the conversation between Rainsford and General Zaroff about the most dangerous
game to hunt, General Zaroff looking inch by inch up the tree, and Rainsford jumping into the sea
to escape the General. Each of these situations lends suspense to the story because it leaves the
reader wondering what will happen next.
15. The title of the story refers to both the game that General Zaroff makes visitors to the island play
because it eventually ends in the murder of a human, and fact that men are truly the most
dangerous animal to be hunted because they are the only animal that can reason.