Tobias Wolff's Hunters In The Snow

“Hunters in the Snow’s” irreverent and cynical tone was developed by the elements that Tobias Wolff used in this story. These elements include symbolism, point of view, characterization, plot, and theme. The story is based around a hunting trip of three men: Tub, Kenny, and Frank. In the beginning the narrator describes a moment when Tub was about to get ran over by his “friends.” Tub gets in the truck and they head to the woods. They are hunting for deer, but eventually it begins a hunt for something else. Throughout the story a flaw is mentioned in every man and the reader realizes after all that Tub, Frank, and Kenny are not truly friends. As Kenny is bleeding out in the bed of his own truck Frank and Tub do not pay any attention to him and get lost on their way to the hospital.
Theme is one of the most important elements that helped to develop tone in Wolff’s story. While reading the story Wolff makes it know that all the men have flaws and imperfections are the basis of what makes us human. Normally society claims that having flaws …show more content…
From the title “Hunters in the Snow” readers can assume that the story will take place in a cold and snowy area; maybe in the woods because they are hunters. When it is cold and snowy in most places it means that it is winter. Winter has a meaning deeper than just being a season. It stands for death and resentment which plays a great role in this short story. Death is prevalent in this story; Kenny kills a dog then threatens to kill Tub. Tub, then in fear, and also with his bottled up resentment toward his “friends” shoots Kenny and injures him enough that he has to be checked into the hospital. The last sentence of the story mentions that Tub and Frank became lost, making it obvious that Kenny is going to die. Death is a serious subject, especially when it is a friend dying, but due to Frank and Tub’s lack of seriousness about Kenny’s injury Wolff is able to create the irreverent