Rainsford finds his assumptions shattered when his refusal to hunt another man with Zaroff turns him into the hunted. As he fights to stay alive for three days (the span of Zaroff’s challenge), Rainsford feels the unreasoning fear of being trapped, and he saves his life by copying the instinctive behavior of hunted animals. He comes to recognize the inherent unfairness of Zaroff’s game, and indeed, of all hunting; with only a knife and meager provisions, he must fight a man who has guns, trained dogs, knowledge of the island, and a safe place to retreat for rest. Trying to use the island’s geography to his best advantage, Rainsford is ironically forced to return to the sea, his former enemy, in order to delude Zaroff into thinking that he has committed suicide. The final scene takes place in the most civilized setting, the locked bedroom where the general feels most secure.