Close Reading on The Killers
With the title "The Killers", Hemingway tells a story of the life and morals of the average mobster in the Prohibition Era of the 1920's. Organized crime ran rampant, and mob bosses ruled all. Anyone who crossed the path of a crime family the wrong way had to pay the ultimate price, no if's, and's, or but's. Hemingway's short story plays out an ordinary scene of this gangster lifestyle. The story in a nutshell: Nick was eating his food and talking to one of the waiters when two men "dressed like twins" (Hemingway, 216) entered the small diner in the diminutive, suburban town of Summit. The men carried vicious and fearless attitudes. They did not take any lip service from anyone. Nick and the waiter exchanged a few words with the two men, and somehow managed to tick them off. One of the men ordered the cook, referred to as "the nigger" (Hemingway, 217), out from the kitchen, only to escort him, along with Nick, back to the kitchen where they were tied up and gagged. The men revealed they were waiting for the "Swede" (Hemingway, 218), a regular customer of the diner, to come have dinner. The plan was simple: When the Swede came,
Ole was at peace with what was going to happen to him. He knew he had double-crossed the wrong people, and had accepted his inescapable fate. The only debate he had going for him was when he actually decided it was the right time to meet his fate. Hemingway made very clear the influence and power of the mob during that time-period. "What about the two bright boys and the nigger?" The time period was in the 1920's during prohibition. This was made evident when one of the men asked what the diner had to drink. Not satisfied with "Silver beer, bevo, ginger-ale" (Hemingway, 216), the man asked "I mean do you got anything to drink" (Hemingway, 216). The mere fact that "drink" was stressed, the man was asking if the diner had any hard liquor, a substance which was prohibited by the United States government at the time. Another clue of this, which was revealed later in the story, was the fact that these men were hit-men working with the mob. When Nick approached Ole Andreson, the "Swede", about the hit-men looking for him, and Ole was not surprised by the visit. He had secluded himself to his room all day long, in hiding. He was n
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 773
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
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