56 pages • 1 hour read
Tobias WolffHunters in the Snow
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1981A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
Literary Devices
Point of View
“Hunters in the Snow” is narrated from a third-person limited perspective in the past tense. The first sentence, “Tub had been waiting for an hour in the falling snow” (20), establishes Tub as the main point of view in the story. The reader knows only what Tub knows; for example, the reader finds out about Frank’s affair, the farmer’s request that Kenny shoot the dog, and that no ambulances are available only when Tub is told about it. However, the narrator tells the reader nothing about Tub’s inner life. The reader has no insight into the thoughts or feelings of the characters and can only form an opinion on the characters based on their actions, inactions, and dialogue.
Irony
Irony is a literary device than can show the inconsistencies between what is said and what is done by the characters, or the inconsistencies between what the reader expects the characters to do and say and what they actually do and say. In “Hunters in the Snow,” the hunting trip is ironic because a hunter gets shot rather than a deer. However, irony is seen primarily through Tub and Frank’s treatment of Kenny after he is shot. For example, Frank is afraid Tub will think he is “a complete bastard” when he reveals his affair, but Tub assures him, “When you’ve got a friend it means you’ve always got someone on your side, no matter what” (33). The irony is that Tub says this while Kenny is in the back of the truck wounded and bleeding; neither of them is by his side. When the waitress brings Frank a coffee, he says it’s “just what the doctor ordered” (31). The irony is that Kenny, dying in the cold, needs a doctor. Later, in the roadhouse after stopping for the second time, Frank states that “[n]o man is an island” while Kenny is alone in the back of the truck (34).
Realism
Realism is a literary technique that uses simple language without embellishment and focuses on realistic plots, characters, and settings rather than the more absurd and fantastical elements of other literary techniques. The prose style of narration and linear structure of “Hunters in the Snow” is straightforward and factual. For example, the first sentence of the story, “Tub had been waiting for an hour in the falling snow,” is simple but conveys important information about the characters and setting; Tub’s friends are inconsiderate and the day is cold and snowy (20). The simple narration allows for emphasis to be placed on dialogue, with dialogue being an important source of exposition and characterization. For example, when Frank confesses to Tub about his affair, the exchange supplies information to the reader while also presenting Frank as an unfavorable and unsympathetic character. However, “Hunters in the Snow” can more specifically be referred to as a piece of Dirty Realism, a subcategory of Realism that uses irony to examine the darker side of contemporary life.
Foreshadowing
Foreshadowing is a literary technique that hints at what will occur later in a story. In “Hunters in the Snow” the foreshadowing is subtle. For example, early in the story, Kenny declares, “You ask me how I want to die today, […] I’ll tell you burn me at the stake” (22). Though Kenny doesn’t die at the stake, the statement does foreshadow his severe injuries and the likelihood of death when he is shot later in the story.
Frank’s infidelity and plan to leave his wife are also hinted at early on when the reader is told he was wearing “a heavy wedding band” (22). The fact that it is heavy might suggest that his marriage is weighing him down. Tub lying about his diet and why is overweight is also hinted at when Kenny says, “It’s the first diet I ever heard of where you gained weight from it” (22). The cookies falling out of Tub’s pocket at the beginning of the story also foreshadows the moment he confesses to Frank that he isn’t on a diet.
Related Titles
By Tobias Wolff
