The Killers (Hemingway short story)

"The Killers" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It first appeared to the public in 1927 in Scribner's Magazine. How much Hemingway received for the literary piece is unknown, but some sources state it was $200.^[1] Historians have some documents showing that the working title of the piece was "The Matadors".^[2] After its appearance in Scribner's, the story was published in Men Without Women, Snows of Kilimanjaro, and The Nick Adams Stories. The writer's depiction of the human experience, his use of satire, and the everlasting themes of death, friendship, and the purpose of life have contributed to make "The Killers" one of Hemingway's most famous and frequently anthologized short stories.

The story features Nick Adams, a famous Hemingway character from his short stories. In this story, Hemingway shows Adams crossing over from teenager to adult. The basic plot of the story involves a pair of criminals who enter a restaurant seeking to kill a boxer, a Swede named Ole Andreson, who is hiding out for reasons unknown, possibly for winning a fight.

Summary

The story takes place in Summit, Illinois during the 1920s, during Prohibition. Two hit men, Max and Al, walk into Henry's lunchroom, which is run by George. They order something off the menu that is not available and have to settle for pork and eggs. Al goes into the kitchen and ties up Nick Adams, a recurring character in Hemingway's stories, and Sam the black cook. Max and George soon have a conversation, which reveals that the two men are there to kill Ole Andreson, a Swedish boxer, for a "friend." Andreson never shows, so the two men leave. George sends Nick to Hirsch's boarding house, run by Mrs. Bell, to warn Andreson about the two men. Nick finds Andreson lying in his bed with all of his clothes on. He tells Andreson what has happened. Andreson does not react, except to tell Nick not to do anything, as there is nothing that can be done. Nick leaves, goes back to the lunchroom, and informs George about Ole Andreson's reaction. When George no longer seems concerned, Nick decides to leave town.^[3]

Historical context

"The Killers" was written in the 1920s, when organized crime was at its peak during Prohibition. Chicago was the home of Al Capone, and Hemingway himself spent time in Chicago as a young man. When things became too dangerous for the mob, they retreated to the suburb of Summit, where "The Killers" takes place. Not long before the story was written, the Chicago mob had killed a popular boxer of the time, Andre Anderson, who'd once knocked Jack Dempsey off his feet, likely Hemingway's source for the Swede.^[4]

Despite Hemingway's knowledge of organized crime, he omitted much of that background from the story. Hemingway himself said, "That story probably had more left out of it than anything I ever wrote. I left out all Chicago, which is hard to do in 2951 words."^[5]

Previous work

In 1984, Oak Park and River Forest High School published the anthology Hemingway at Oak Park High and included short works that Hemingway had written for his school newspaper and literary magazine. One of the stories, "A Matter of Colour", involves the plot of a boxing manager's having a man named Swede hide behind a curtain and hit an opponent during a bout. The Swede fails, and the reader is left with an impression that in retaliation, the boxing manager puts out a contract on his life.^[4][6][7]

Minimalist style in "The Killers"

The basic characteristics of minimalism are:^[8]

• ordinary subject matter
• effaced authorial presence
• passive and affectless protagonist
• very little plot (in the traditional sense)
• spare, emotionally restrained writing style

"The Killers" fit within this style in many ways. There is nothing extraordinary about the story. It is, in plain sense, simple. There is hardly any plot, virtually no character development, and very little description of the setting in the story. Hemingway also gives an objective view to the story, an "effaced authorial presence"; his minimalistic approach influenced American writing.

Themes within "The Killers"

One theme deals with the failure of the parents of the Lost Generation to provide their children with the means to handle the cruelty and meaninglessness of 20th-century America.^[5]

Chaos is another theme in "The Killers." The many misrepresentations throughout the story create a plane of chaos for the reader, and dislocation, almost as if it is happening in another world.

Masculinity is another theme. Although Hemingway is known for the "manly men" in his stories, in "The Killers," the two hit men are comical and clownish. Hemingway at one point describes them as the "vaudeville twins."

Adaptations

The short story has been the basis for several movies and a comic book short story:

• The Killers (1946), starring Burt Lancaster and Ava Gardner
• The Killers (1956), a short film directed by Andrei Tarkovsky
• The Killers (1959 television) starring Ingemar Johansson, Dean Stockwell, and Diane Baker on CBS Buick Electra Playhouse televised on November 19, 1959.
• The Killers (1964), starring Lee Marvin, Ronald Reagan, and Angie Dickinson
• The Killers (1998), short film by Todd Huskisson
• The Killers (2001), short film adaptation by American filmmaker Jae Yu
• The Killers (2008), short film by Russell & Murphy produced at the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh Film Society

References

External links

• Ernest Hemingway's "The Killers" A close reading of the classic short story and more
• Hemingway, Ernest (1927). "The Killers". Chicago: Scribner's. 
• Hemingway, Ernest (1916). "A Matter of Colour". Oak Park, IL: The Tabula.