In "The Most Dangerous Game," the reader learns that Rainsford loves hunting as he converses with a crewmate about hunting--even life as a hunt. Ironically, Rainsford fails to realize how he who sees the world in "two classes--the hunters and the huntees." is like his adversary, General Zaroff. Later, Zaroff, claims that he has been "made a hunter." As he utters words that match the earlier remark of Rainsford, the reader perceives this situational irony in which he/she draws a conclusion that the characters have not yet done so.
During the dinner conversation, Rainsford becomes "absorbed in what his host was saying." But, he gasps when he hears what the "new animal" to be hunted is. He cannot "condone cold-blooded murder" he tells Zaroff. However, in the climax when the dog is killed, Rainsford surpresses a cry of joy. When Ivan is killed by the knife, Rainsford displays no emotion. Here the reader realizes the transformatin. Without knowing it, Rainsford has lost human emotion and has become as he states "an animal at bay."
Rainsford's final reflection, "He had never slept in a better bed," confirms loss of humanity. Ironically, he who does not condone cold-blooded murder does not regret having gone on with the "game" and kill Zaroff, a human being. Only the reader understands this loss of soul in Rainsford.
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