Irony & Foreshadowing in “The Most Dangerous Game” Plot Summary & Cliff Notes Substitute

Rainsford and Whitney are shipmates on their way to the Amazon for a hunting expedition. Their yacht is near “Ship-Trap Island”, a mysterious place that sailors dread. It’s too foggy for them to see it.

They talk about hunting. Whitney thinks it’s a great sport, but believes it’s not so great for the animals—they understand the fear of pain and death. Rainsford loves hunting and believes animals have no understanding or feelings about it.

Whitney brings up the island again, hoping they’ve passed it. The crew, including the captain, was on edge today because of it.

Whitney goes to bed. Rainsford goes up to the afterdeck to smoke a pipe. In the darkness and silence, he hears three gunshots. He goes to the railing, straining to see anything. His pipe falls. He reaches for it, loses his balance and falls overboard. He desperately swims after the yacht and cries out. It disappears into the mist.

Rainsford orients himself in the direction of the shots and steadily swims in that direction. He hears the scream of an animal in distress, and another gunshot soon after. He continues swimming toward the sounds.

After ten minutes of swimming, he reaches the shore. He drags himself out of the water. Exhausted, he collapses into a deep sleep.

When he wakes up, it’s late afternoon. His energy is renewed but he’s hungry. There’s jungle all around with no path. He walks along the shore. He finds an empty cartridge. The underbrush is disturbed, like an animal thrashed about in it. He sees human footprints and follows them.

It’s getting dark. He sees lights from a palatial mansion. He enters the gate and goes up to the door. He uses the knocker. A huge man with a long beard opens the door. He points a gun at Rainsford.

Rainsford identifies himself and explains his situation. The huge man doesn’t react. He stands at attention as a man in formal clothing approaches. The man greets Rainsford. He recognizes his name, having read one of Rainsford’s hunting books.

The man, General Zaroff, is past middle age and has an aristocratic bearing. The large man, Ivan, puts away his pistol and leaves. He can’t hear or speak. They’re both Cossacks.

Ivan returns. He leads Rainsford to a bedroom where he changes into some of Zaroff’s clothes. Then Rainsford is brought to a dining room with a large table. The room is adorned with the heads of various animals.

The table is arranged elegantly. They eat rich food and have fine drinks. Zaroff watches Rainsford closely. Zaroff reads every hunting book he can find. Hunting is his one passion.

Rainsford remarks on the head of the Cape buffalo. It charged Zaroff and fractured his skull before he succeeded in killing it. Rainsford thinks the Cape buffalo is the most dangerous animal to hunt. Zaroff disagrees. He has stocked his island with an even more dangerous game.

Rainsford wants to know what it is. Zaroff talks about his childhood as a hunter, his time in the army, and his time hunting after leaving Russia. He became such an expert hunter that it started to bore him. This was a major blow to him, but he figured out how to fix it. He invented a new animal, one that could reason.

Rainsford is bewildered. Eventually, he realizes what Zaroff is talking about. He’s shocked. He tells Zaroff this is murder. Zaroff explains the propriety of hunting humans. He wants Rainsford to join him in one of these hunts.

The island stays stocked with game because storms often cause shipwrecks nearby. Zaroff also has lights set up to direct unsuspecting boats into the rocks. He has about a dozen men in his cellar right now.

For the hunt, Zaroff gives his prey some food, a hunting knife and a three-hour head start. He then pursues, armed only with a small pistol. If the prey can elude him for three days, they’re free to go. If they refuse to participate, they’re turned over to Ivan. No one refuses.

Zaroff has never lost. Only once did he even have to use his dogs. They patrol the grounds at night for security.

Zaroff wants to show his new collection of heads. Rainsford excuses himself for the night. He rushes to bed, but can’t fall asleep. As he starts to doze off close to morning, he hears a faint gunshot.

Zaroff and Rainsford meet at luncheon. Zaroff’s hunt was boring. Rainsford wants to leave immediately. Zaroff gives him the choice: hunt with him or be turned over to Ivan.

Zaroff looks forward to the competition. He warns about the quicksand on the southeast corner of the island. Zaroff retires for a nap. He’ll pursue at dusk. Ivan provides Rainsford with the supplies.

He plunges through the jungle for two hours just to gain some distance. He then leaves an intricate trail for Zaroff. Night falls. He climbs a tree to rest and hide. Toward morning, Zaroff approaches his position, winding through the bush. He stops near the tree and smokes. He looks up at the tree but stops before reaching Rainsford’s position. He smiles and walks off.

Rainsford realizes Zaroff is saving him for another day of hunting. He’s terrified but steels himself for a new day. He finds a fallen tree in the woods. He takes out his knife and works on it. When he finishes, he hides nearby.

Zaroff returns later, tracking the trail through the jungle. His foot touches a branch that triggers the dead tree. It falls toward him. He leaps out of the way. It doesn’t crush him, but it does glance off his shoulder, injuring it. Zaroff laughs, congratulates Rainsford on his trap, and says he’ll be back when his wound is attended to.

Rainsford flees until after dark. The ground becomes soft; he realizes he’s reached the quicksand. In front of it, he digs a deep hole. He sharpens some hard saplings into stakes and puts them in the hole, points up. He covers it with weeds and branches. He hides behind a nearby tree.

Zaroff approaches the position quickly. Rainsford hears the cover breaking and a cry of pain. He looks out, but Zaroff still stands by the hole. His dog fell into the trap. Zaroff commends Rainsford. He goes home for a rest.

At daybreak, Rainsford wakes to the sound of a pack of hounds. He climbs a tree. He sees Ivan with the dogs, and Zaroff close behind. Rainsford ties his knife to a springy sapling and ties that down with a vine. He takes off through the jungle.

The baying of the hounds stops suddenly. Rainsford climbs a tree. The knife has snapped into Ivan.

He dashes through the trees again and comes to the shore. There’s a twenty-foot drop. Across the cove, he can see the mansion. He jumps in the water.

Zaroff reaches the shore with the dogs. He sits down and has a drink and a cigarette.

Back home, Zaroff has his dinner. He’s annoyed with two things—having to replace Ivan, and that he didn’t kill his prey. He reads and then goes to his bedroom. When he turns on the light, he sees Rainsford standing there. He swam across the cove.

Zaroff congratulates him on winning the game. Rainsford warns Zaroff that the contest isn’t over for him. Zaroff bows. He says the loser will be fed to the dogs, while the winner will sleep in his bed.

It’s the best bed Rainsford has ever slept in.

I hope this plot summary and look at irony & foreshadowing in “The Most Dangerous Game” was helpful.