What is the theme?

The Most Dangerous game is considered escape fiction. This means that it was written for entertainment rather than a serious discussion about theme. Still there is one as superficial as it is. The morality of hunting animals for sport is first put to the question by Whitney at the beginning of the story. Rainsford, who initially refuted that animals have feelings, becomes the hunted on the island. So, the theme is touched on but not, in my opinion, very substantially.