When General Zaroff comes upon the site of Rainsford’s escape (and presumed death) just off he edge of the island, the story makes an allusion as Zaroff hums an excerpt from the opera Madame Butterfly:
For some minutes he stood regarding the blue-green expanse of water. He shrugged his shoulders. Then he sat down, took a drink of brandy from a silver flask, lit a cigarette, and hummed a bit from Madame Butterfly.
By making a direct allusion to Giacomo Puccini’s legendary opera—which is itself based on a short story of the same name by John Luther Long and, in turn, on the novel Madame Chrysanthème by Pierre Loti—the story invites the reader to further consider the tension between General Zaroff’s immaculately constructed façade and his brutal, violent intentions.
Madame Butterfly tells the story of an American naval officer who abandons his young Japanese wife in favor of an American one and, through his neglect, drives his original bride to suicide. In abstract, the plot of the opera is a warning against selfishness, and particularly any sort of self-serving behavior that causes harm to others. Although it is in keeping with General Zaroff’s highly educated demeanor that he would pause to hum an opera while on a hunt, the fact that he hums this opera—which suggests that selfishness can lead to death and destruction—ultimately undermines his posturing as a civilized and educated man.
Zaroff's choice to hum Madame Butterfly is also a good example of dramatic irony, since the allusion to the opera hints at a certain lack of self-awareness on Zaroff's part. After all, Zaroff’s mission on his island could be described as embracing utter self-indulgence to the point of killing people for his own gain. Even in his elite cultural allusions, then, Zaroff displays an inability to understand the reality of his own lifestyle—or a dogged willingness to ignore its consequences.
In the closing moments of "The Most Dangerous Game," Rainsford throws himself into the sea rather than be caught by Zaroff on the hunt. While Zaroff suspects Rainsford to be dead and expresses some annoyance at his "quarry" thus evading him, the reader knows what Zaroff does not: Rainsford, per the opening sequence of the tale, is an excellent swimmer. Thus, as the story draws to a close and the narrative slows to a description of Zaroff's bedtime routine, it is only the reader who can suspect Rainsford's return:
There was a little moonlight, so, before turning on his light, he went to the window and looked down at the courtyard. He could see the great hounds, and he called, "Better luck another time," to them. then he switched on the light. A man, who had been hiding in the curtains of the bed, was standing there.
When the light turns on and a man emerges from the bedroom, the reader knows before Zaroff that Rainsford has come to get his revenge. This moment is an example of dramatic irony, as the reader is positioned to understand more about the situation than Zaroff himself in the story.
