"The Killers" by Ernest Hemingway

"The Killers"

Character List

George- "Bright Boy" Waiter.

Max-One of the killers. Goes to Henry's Lunch Room

Al- The other killer

Nick Adams- Young man. Customer

Sam- Chef, referred to as "nigger"

Ole Anderson- used to be a professional heavy weight.

Mrs. Bell-looks after the place

Summary

This story takes place in a town called Summit, probably Illinois. It starts off with two men, Max and Al who go to eat at Henry's lunch room. They go to order some food, but their waiter, George, tells them that what they want is dinner. The two men try to order several times but what they want is dinner. It is five o-clock and dinner is to be served at six. The two men end up ordering lunch. They are waiting to ambush a man named Ole Anderson. Once he doesn't show up Max and Al tie up the chef, Nick, and the waiter. Ole Anderson doesn't show up at all. The two men leave and untie the three men. Nick decides to go and warn Ole Anderson. When he gets there Mrs. Belle answers the door and directs Nick upstairs. Ole Anderson didn't say much, he just stared at the wall and said he didn't feel well. He knew about the killers and was laying low. Nick ended up leaving, went back to the lunch room and said he was going to leave town.

The climax of the story is when Nick, Sam, and George were tied up and the two hit men were deciding what to do with them. This was important because the reader didn't know weather Ole Anderson would come in and be killed or not. Also, the reader did not know what was going to happen to the three men.

Themes and Meaning

COMING OF AGE

I think that there are several reasons. For one coming of age is a theme. Nick starts off as an innocent young man from a small town who doesn't have a lot of experience. He is just someone eating at the restaurant. Then the two hit men come in and show him a whole new realm of evil. They show him that there could be killers, evil. The two hit men don't even know Ole, nor does he know them. After this whole experience, Nick leaves, showing that he is to old to stay in this small town. He wants to go out and explore so he is not sheltered. He leaves, thus showing he is moving on with his life, he is of age to leave.

RACISM

Another theme is racism. Sam, is a black chef and he is reffed to as a horrible name, it shows that because of this, he can be extremely talented and gifted but he can never put any of this to use. It shows how bad racism is, that they are looked down upon.

EFFECTS ON THE MIND

The last theme is running and how it effects you. The running is both physical and mental. Ole has been running from these men for a very long time, he is worn out. His will to live is gone, he has given up. He is plain, just like the wall. Everything is gone, and all there is left is the nothingness, just like the wall. It also shows that you can not run away from life.

Questions

Did the three people who were tied up have to do with anything with numerology?

What did the two hit men passing through the arc-light and cross street represent?

Why did Nick really want to leave, what did that represent?

Game
I put in this game to show that avoiding life IS possible, but it ends up getting hard and harder. The scissorsrepresents the killers and the string represents Ole.

String Avoider

Reader Response


I liked this story, it had a good plot. The beginning was a bit slow and some parts were a little hard to follow. Some of the themes were hard to find but over all it was good. This story was exciting, I liked it.




Note


I did not go full out for this blog, because it is my first blog. I would like to get all of your responses on what you would like to see. Maybe music, videos, more pictures. Also what type of music would you like..if any. "In" music


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