Tanner M. Acquisto
Professor C. Bartlett
ENGL-203-504
12 October 2015
Moral Abandonment in Nature
Tobais Wolff’s “Hunters in the Snow”, is a bleak story of three friends on a routine hunting trip in Spokane, Washington. Richardson and Lock’s ideas on enfreakment as “part of the collective norm" and the medical model of disability play a significant role in how the men treat each other as Wolff characterizes a trio of selfishly driven “friends” who really only care about their own well-being (R&L 58-63). This implicit and explicit characterization, coupled with a backwoods setting away from society and full circle irony, highlights the theme of moral abandonment in a natural hierarchy.
Throughout the novel, implicit characterization is used …show more content…
Throughout the entirety of the story, the effects of the cold on the men is a natural obstacle that they all struggle with and is constantly being used as a means to ridicule one another. Frank tells Tub to “stop bitching” when he complains about the cold, exemplifying the unyielding independence that each of them have. This shows how any sort kindness towards one another would be seen as a weakness and is therefore hardly ever shown. Later in the story, when the tide turns and Kenny is shot, the vast emptiness of the wilderness and the brutal cold continue to play a key role. As Tub and Frank are driving Kenny back to the hospital, they stop multiple times to “get warmed up” so they don’t “freeze solid” (Wolff 88). While this behavior would usually be unexpected, it is no as shocking to the reader as they discover that all three men are severely lacking morals. What makes the situation even worse, is they leave Kenny in the car and proceed to bond as friends indoors over their own indiscretions (Tub his gluttony and Frank his adultery). The story ends as the trio is heading back with the North Star as their guide and it is stated that “they had taken a different turn a long way back” which is a reference to getting lost in the woods. Just as one can lose their way in the woods, these men have lost their morality and respect for one
Professor C. Bartlett
ENGL-203-504
12 October 2015
Moral Abandonment in Nature
Tobais Wolff’s “Hunters in the Snow”, is a bleak story of three friends on a routine hunting trip in Spokane, Washington. Richardson and Lock’s ideas on enfreakment as “part of the collective norm" and the medical model of disability play a significant role in how the men treat each other as Wolff characterizes a trio of selfishly driven “friends” who really only care about their own well-being (R&L 58-63). This implicit and explicit characterization, coupled with a backwoods setting away from society and full circle irony, highlights the theme of moral abandonment in a natural hierarchy.
Throughout the novel, implicit characterization is used …show more content…
Throughout the entirety of the story, the effects of the cold on the men is a natural obstacle that they all struggle with and is constantly being used as a means to ridicule one another. Frank tells Tub to “stop bitching” when he complains about the cold, exemplifying the unyielding independence that each of them have. This shows how any sort kindness towards one another would be seen as a weakness and is therefore hardly ever shown. Later in the story, when the tide turns and Kenny is shot, the vast emptiness of the wilderness and the brutal cold continue to play a key role. As Tub and Frank are driving Kenny back to the hospital, they stop multiple times to “get warmed up” so they don’t “freeze solid” (Wolff 88). While this behavior would usually be unexpected, it is no as shocking to the reader as they discover that all three men are severely lacking morals. What makes the situation even worse, is they leave Kenny in the car and proceed to bond as friends indoors over their own indiscretions (Tub his gluttony and Frank his adultery). The story ends as the trio is heading back with the North Star as their guide and it is stated that “they had taken a different turn a long way back” which is a reference to getting lost in the woods. Just as one can lose their way in the woods, these men have lost their morality and respect for one