Ambiguous Ending In Aldous Huxley's The Most Dangerous Game

Perhaps one of the reasons that “The Most Dangerous Game” is still read to this day may be because of the ambiguous ending that this short story has. The way the story is left off leads the reader to many different conclusions as to what happened. Perhaps the two most common inferences would be that either Rainsford realizes that he is becoming like Zaroff, or Rainsford realizes that he is nothing like Zaroff and takes comfort in this. There is much evidence that supports both of these theories.
First of all, one of the possible endings is that Rainsford realizes that he is becoming like Zaroff and grows a desire to hunt humans. Right from the start of the story, Rainsford shows in his conversation with Whitney that the quarry is meant to
be hunted regardless of how it feels. When he says “Who cares how a jaguar feels?” he doesn’t bother to sympathize with the metaphorical jaguar as Whitney does. However, later in the story, Rainsford gets a taste of how the jaguar feels when being hunted by Zaroff. Some use this situation as evidence for the inference that Rainsford realizes he is nothing like Zaroff; however, it could easily be switched around. After experiencing what it’s like in the jaguar’s shoes, instead of feeling empathy towards the jaguar being hunted, he could instead develop a cynical mindset and think that even though he has been in both roles, he prefers the role as the hunter as opposed to the hunted; while still not caring at all to how the jaguar feels. That may be a bit of a stretch, but it’s certainly possible. Even better evidence towards this end would be the fact that Rainsford did kill Zaroff at the end. In doing so, he could have easily had a moment of truth where he finally understands why Zaroff hunts humans; Now Rainsford himself has felt the joy of killing a human. He probably felt powerful as he was taking Zaroff’s life from him, and this triggered a realization that maybe Zaroff’s game of hunting humans may not be so bad after all.
However, another one of the possible endings is Rainsford instead realizing that he is nothing like Zaroff.
Concerning his conversation with Whitney at the beginning, his opinion of hunting could have easily changed after being in the position of the jaguar; he understands them now and pities them. He wouldn’t want to hunt humans now that he’s been in their place. Also to note the fact that Rainsford says multiple times things like “...What you speak of is murder.”, “-Did not make me condone cold-blooded murder.”, and “... I’m a hunter, not a murderer.” This shows that in Rainsford’s eyes, he strongly thinks that what Zaroff is doing is morally wrong. If he so strongly feels that hunting humans is murder, then why would he become a murderer himself? Another point, many people see Rainsford as being comfortable in Zaroff’s bed as him taking on Zaroff’s power, but have you ever considered the fact that it could just be Rainsford finally feeling safe? Now that Zaroff is gone, he knows for sure that he can sleep soundly and not be killed.
In conclusion, there is much evidence to support that both endings are likely. The possibility that Rainsford develops Zaroff’s lust for hunting could very much be true; however, the possibility that Rainsford continuing to show distaste for hunting humans is also likely. Confirming the true ending of “The Most Dangerous Game” just cannot be done, as is the entire point of such an ambiguous ending. It is up to the reader to decide how to interpret
the story.