Hunters in the Snow Analysis

I found "Hunters in the Snow", by Tobias Wolff, to be a somewhat unsettling story. At the beginning, it had a sort of happy vibe; basically three good friends going out on a fun trip. Though after a bit of character development and certain dialogue, it seems that they are not really friends at all.

Frank is definitely a round character. In the beginning, he seems like a simple guy. He just basically does whatever Kenny demands of him, and seems to be the calm, undemanding one of the trio. He tells Kenny and Tub to stop obsessing over the hunting: "'Relax,' Frank said. 'You can't hurry nature. If we're meant to get that deer, we'll get it. If we're not, we won't.'" (142). However, later in the story, the plot of the story begins to prove that Frank is not so innocent. He follows whoever has the most power at the moment. After the "power shift" from Kenny to Tub, Frank beings to follow Tub's lead. He seems to not even care that his previous best friend is dying in the back of the truck. Instead, Frank buys Tub food at a diner, and takes away Kenny's blankets to use for himself and Tub. I found his personality to be really fascinating. Although Frank definitely does not have traits that I strive for, I was enthralled by his obvious insecurity, which I believe caused him to act the way that he does.

Another story that I really enjoyed was "Miss Brill" by Katherine Mansfield. The first time that I read over the story, I was confused. I did not understand the plot and point, because it wasn't clear to me that Miss Brill was just imagining the whole play, setting, and characters. After I finally understood this, I immediately decided that Miss Brill is an example of indirect presentation. In the beginning, she came across as a happy old lady. She is in a cheery mood, and her thoughts seem simple. She thinks the band "sounded louder and gayer" and states that she is "glad that she had decided on her fur" (134). Even before the end, when she gets upset, I feel bad for Miss Brill. The fact that she's sitting alone on a park bench getting such pleasure out of watching people made me pity her. It seemed to be the highlight of her day, and made me wonder why no one was speaking to her, or if she had friends. I felt like her unhappiness and lonliness was seeping out throughout the whole story, until the very end when it completely