Literary Techniques In The Killers By Ernest Hemingway

The short story of “The Killers” written by Ernest Hemingway in 1927, and published in Scribner’s Magazine the same year is just one piece out of many of the author’s most famous works. Other famous work’s that Hemingway has written include, “Hills Like White Elephants,” “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” and “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” According to critics, Hemingway has an affinity for writing about characters that are often, “tough, experienced, and intensive. They are usually defeated men. But from this toughness, insensitivity, and defeat, the characters salvage something” (Werlock). Hemingway further has a fondness in writing about stories with massive amounts of dialogue, which convey social issues and insecurities beneath the surfaces of dense dialogue. In “The Killers,” the literary devices of characterization, symbolism, and author’s style are all prevalent throughout, and many meanings of …show more content…
Hemingway described Nick as “a young man, still quite naïve and still given to romanticizing events in his life” (Mazzeno). The author suggests that Nick still has a lot more to learn in the world because evidently, he hasn’t experienced the hazards and terrible things that are in it. For example, when Nick was gagged and put in the back room by Al he had described the incident as “He had never had a towel in his mouth before” (Hemingway). And, the incident when Nick learns that Ole is not going to do anything about his impending death, he states that, “I’m going to get out of this town, I can’t stand to think about him waiting in the room and knowing he’s going to get it. It’s too damned awful” (Hemingway). These examples show how youthful Nick really is and how much Nick needs to learn to become a man. The author seems to be exploring the idea that Nick Adams is still very inexperienced in world ideals and still has much to learn in the