Literary Fiction and Hunters in the Snow by Tobias Wolff Have you ever been plunged into a book, where your emotions are being drug around into real world problems, enabling you to understand life’s difficulties and empathize with others? According to “Perrine’s Literature Structure, Sound & Sense” by Greg Johnson, Thomas Arp, and Laurence Perrine, this is exactly what literary fiction does. “Literary fiction, however, is written by someone with serious artistic intentions who hopes to broaden, deepen and sharpen the reader’s awareness of life (Johnson).” Literary fiction can be observed through the story “Hunters in the Snow” by Tobias Wolff, as the text is throwing your emotions around through suspense, revealing new information that …show more content…
The book starts with a scene of Kenny and Frank picking up Tub, after Tub had waited almost an hour, and Kenny nearly ran Tub over. This is the first example we see of Kenny being irresponsible and possibly our antagonist of the story. The three men gain permission to hunt on a farmer’s property. The hunt was unsuccessful, as the men come back towards the farm house, Kenny declared he did not like a farm post, and shot it, as well as a tree he didn’t like. Kenny then said he didn’t like the farm dog, so he shot the dog. Kenny also said he didn’t like Tub, Tub fearing shot Kenny in the stomach. Once they got to the farm house to ask for help, the older farm man said he asked Kenny to shoot the dog as the dog had been sick. From this point, the book is about the journey these men take getting Kenny to the hospital, making several stops as Tub and Frank needed to warm up, ending the story with not going to the …show more content…
In “The Hunters in the Snow” by Tobias Wolff, three men go hunting, and as all three men are going through their own personal troubles, the reader’s emotions are drug around, making this story the perfect example of literary fiction. In this story, Tub is the protagonist, and deals with many weight problems throughout the story and Kenny is the antagonist, instigating problems between himself and Tub, and ends up getting shot in the stomach. This story displays much suspense, making the story an interesting literary fiction short
“Fiction is the truth inside the lie” (Stephen King). Figment of imagination helps improve brain connectivity and responsibilities which enables the brain to escape to a world of illusion. In a world of imagination students explore conflicts within the book. Anecdotes play a significant role in building the strategies used to deal with real world events. Ink and Ashes by Valynne E. Maetani, discusses how mistakes from the past has an impact on your life and may alter your future. Books intended to be read so that we as people can have a different mindset and perspective on things rather than just our own.
The Hunting Ground is a documentary written and directed by Kirby Dick. The film follows the journey of two sexual assault survivors, Andrea Pino and Annie Clark, as they file a Title IX lawsuit against University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for not properly supporting them. Although released in March of 2015, the documentary features cases and personal narratives from survivors dating back to 2011. Pino and Clark also provide testimonials from other real survivors, both college-aged men and women, in order to depict the prevalence of sexual assault on college campuses. The film also provides insight and statistics from various educated professionals, such as university deans, researchers, and writers. The demographics of the sexual assault
Selfishness is a common trait in the world, it’s not a hidden factor, but very well-known as being one’s self-interest. The story “Hunters in the Snow” by Tobias Wolff, discusses how each character in the story deals with different kinds of selfish ways. One character, Tub, deals with eating problems and lies about it. Frank deals with a secret life that he is hiding from his wife. Kenny is always comparing something to his liking and if he does not like it then he will complain. Self-absorption is when someone is focused on their self and only themselves. It is known to be a regular’s human’s condition, it’s something majority of human beings have. Selfishness may also kick in during survival incidents. For example, a boy and his friends
Throughout the Romanticism period, human’s connection with nature was explored as writers strove to find the benefits that humans receive through such interactions. Without such relationships, these authors found that certain aspects of life were missing or completely different. For example, certain authors found death a very frightening idea, but through the incorporation of man’s relationship with the natural world, readers find the immense utility that nature can potentially provide. Whether it’d be as solace, in the case of death, or as a place where one can find oneself in their own truest form, nature will nevertheless be a place where they themselves were derived from. Nature is where all humans originated,
Why would you want to hunt something? Because you want to hunt prey. What if you were the one being hunted? Richard Connell’s short story “The Most Dangerous Game” was published on January 19, 1924, and does exactly that. Telling the story of a man falling off a ship and washing up on an island. Not just any island Ship Trap Island, what does this man discover? That he is the prey being hunted. Goes through the dramatic trials of trying to escape the hunt ultimately getting away to safety. Hunter verses the hunted is the theme that most obviously sticks out to me. Richard Connell’s uses the color red, darkness, and the jungle to support the theme of the hunter verses the hunted in his short story The Most Dangerous Game.
In “Hunters in the Snow," Tobias Wolff demonstrates that a hostile environment, created by nature and human relations, can lead the weakest member of the pack to assert his dominance over the others in order to survive.
Tobias Wolff is framing his story Hunters in the Snow, in the countryside near Spokane, Washington, where three friends with three different personalities, decide to take a trip to the woods for hunting in cold, snowy weather. The whole story follows the hunting trip of these three friends. The reader can easily observe that the cold, hostile environment is an outward expression of how the men behave towards one another. Kenny, with a heart made of ice, is rather hostile to Tub, while Frank is cold and indifferent to Tub and his pleas for help. The environment is matching the characters themselves, being cold and uncaring as the author described the two from the truck when they laughed at the look of Tub: “You ought to see yourself,” the driver said.
James Joyce is praised for his distinct stylistic purpose and furthermore for his writings in the art of free direct discourse. Though at times his language may seem muddled and incoherent, Joyce adds a single fixture to his narratives that conveys unity and creates meaning in the otherwise arbitrary dialogue. Within the story “The Dead”, the final and most recognizable piece in the collection Dubliners, the symbol of snow expresses a correlation with the central character and shows the drastic transformation of such a dynamic character in Gabriel Conroy. The symbol of snow serves as the catalyst that unifies mankind through the flawed essence of human nature, and shows progression in the narrow mind of Gabriel. Snow conveys the emission of the otherwise superficial thoughts of Gabriel and furthermore allows for the realization of the imperfections encompassed by mankind. Riquelme’s deconstruction of the text allows for the understanding that the story cannot be read in any specific way, but the variance in meaning, as well as understanding depends solely upon the readers’ perspective. Following a personal deconstruction of the text, it is reasonable to agree with Riquelme’s notions, while correspondingly proposing that the symbol of snow represents the flaws, and strengths of Gabriel, as well as the other characters as it effects all equally.
The story is told by a third person narrator, who is following Myrna. We only hear Myrna’s thoughts and we only see what she sees. This makes the story very one sided. This means that we don’t know how Kenny feels or how he thinks. We are only able to deduct how he appears, from what we hear from his mother’s thoughts. She might be right about him not caring. What we have no chance of knowing is if he actually cares. We never get his opinion. As previously already stated, this makes the story very one sided and not very objective.
Everyday we observe people’s contrasting opinions. Whether it be in politics, school, or in one’s personal life, emotions are often a major factor when it comes to expressing one’s ideas. In writing, an audience must be aware this, and decide for themselves if an author is being bias or equally representing all sides to a situation. In both Into the Wild and In Cold Blood, the authors form distinct opinions about their main characters and believe family structure heavily influenced their future.
Literature is an outlet for imagination without restrictions, a platform for expression, and a form of art that outlives its author. Most importantly, it can be a way to help one truly discover themselves. As audiences are exposed to more literature throughout their lives, they not only learn about their true potential, but are also made aware of their flaws and faults in character. Atticus Finch in To Kill a Mockingbird and Alexander Hamilton in Hamilton are both remarkable characters, but from various events that reveal their shortcomings, the audience receives the opportunity to learn from their mistakes. By appreciating literature, one not only receives a wonderful story, but is also given the chance to grow with the characters and learn lessons from the character’s experiences.
... got to the woods where Kenny wanted to hunt. Tub was trying for somewhere different; two years in a row they'd been up and down this land and hadn't seen a thing. Frank didn't care one way or another, he just wanted to get out of the goddamned truck" (Wolff 76). Kenny is in charge. He gives only one reason why they have to hunt at that place and the other two give up. Tub wants to make a change. He puts himself out there by making a suggestion to Kenny and is immediately shot down. Frank is indifferent. He is a product of his surroundings. He is cruel to Tub when he is with Kenny. When he is with Tub he is himself. The unspoken bond between the two men spurs the realization not to take Kenny to the hospital. The both make the decision that Kenny was asking to be shot the whole day. Kenny's treatment of Tub and Frank justify his murder in their eyes.
Wolff, Tobias. "Hunters in the Snow." Perrine's Literature: Structure, Sound,_and Sense. Ed. Thomas R. Arp and Greg Johnson. New York: Heinle and Heinle, 2005.
Immediately, as my dad and I was walking to the deer stand, my thoughts were that this hunt already felt like any other night hunt I had ever been on. My dad and I together chose which stand we would hunt from the choices on the board. We arrived at the box stand, which was fifteen feet tall, then we climbed in and got comfortable. In the meantime, we were looking around to find any sign of a deer. Meanwhile, as we were sitting quietly in the stand, we suddenly heard something. We could tell that the noise was something running through the trees extremely fast! Suddenly, there she was, a doe, creeping out from the bushes. At that moment, I was only able to see her head. I was getting so nervous, and I didn 't know what to do; however, my dad told me to stay calm and breathe. As she was walking into the field, stopping along the way to eat, I prepared my gun in order to shoot. My dad told me to take the shot whenever I was ready, so within the next couple of seconds I pulled the trigger. BOOM! She’s down! I had shot her; however, I knew I hit her, but she ran
Literature is an essential part of society in the present day and enables the communication between multiple parties in a written form. Texts can provide a vast knowledge on subjects dependent on content whereas novels are often seen as being purely for leisure and enjoyment. However it can often be seen that prose