Connell makes ample use of foreshadowing in the opening pages of "The Most Dangerous Game," setting in motion the unsettling mystery surrounding Ship-Trap Island. It all begins when Rainsford struggles in the water after falling from his boat:
Rainsford heard a sound. It came out of the darkness, a high screaming sound, the sound of an animal in an extremity of anguish and terror. He did not recognize the animal that made the sound; he did not try to; with fresh vitality he swam toward the sound.
Rainsford is established in the opening pages of the story as an extremely experienced hunter, so it might come as a surprise that he's not able to identify this mysterious animal’s scream. Shortly hereafter, he will learn that there is good reason for this: General Zaroff has “invented” a new kind of prey: human beings. It is therefore a human scream that Rainsford hears in the night, explaining his inability to identify the animal despite his ample experience in the wild. Before Rainsford even knows it, and before his fateful conversation with Zaroff in the mansion, he has heard the sinister nature of Zaroff’s game.
Rainsford will also see the evidence of Zaroff's twisted game: on his way through the jungle, he stumbles on the site of some “large animal” struggling through the forest: “the jungle weeds were crushed down and the moss was lacerated; one patch of weeds was stained crimson.” Rainsford will replay this struggle in short order as Zaroff forces him to become the “huntee.”
Even the language used to describe Rainsford’s discovery of Zaroff’s mansion—with its knife-like “pointed” towers that “plunge” into the night—and the introduction to Zaroff himself betray the horror to come. Before Rainsford learns of the nature of Zaroff’s new sport, he notes the curious smile and pointed teeth of his host: physical manifestations of the man’s hidden brutality.
