Hunters In The Snow Symbolism Essay
The Path to Self Destruction
In the short story “Hunters in the Snow” Tobias Wolff uses symbols to convey that some people’s selfishness can lead to their own self destruction.
The first example of symbolism that Tobias Wolff gives us is the setting of the story. Implied by the stories title the setting is a snowy forest. The snow, being so cold, is symbolic of the cold relationship that the three hunters; Tub, Frank and Kenny all share with each other. Frank and Tub, once used to be very close, but Frank now has a more close relationship with Kenny but even that friendship is not without its taunting and antagonizing. This is made clear when after Frank tells Kenny that he talks to much, Kenny Says “I won't say a word. Like I won't say …show more content…
anything about a certain babysitter.” (Wolff 140) Kenny says this because, deep down he really does not care about Frank or his affair with the babysitter that he has confided in him with because Kenny is a cold hearted person who is a glutton for power and dominance regardless of how much, how little or how important it really is. Another example of the cold relationship these men have is Tub being the subject of much of Kenny’s ridicule. This is illustrated when Kenny says to Tub “All I can say is, it's the first diet I ever heard of where you gained weight from it.” (141) Throughout the course of the story Kenny makes numerous remarks about Tub’s weight. Kenny does this because he views Tub as weak and insignificant compared to him. Kenny verbally abusing Tub and treating him so “coldly” is all about making himself feel better for being a miserable and horrible human being.
Wolff also gives us another example of symbolism in his story, in the form of a gold ring that Frank wears. “He wore a heavy wedding band and on his right pinky another gold ring with a flat face and an ‘F’ in what looked like diamonds.” (141) Rings have always been known as a symbol of unity, trust and loyalty. The ring that Frank wears has the first letter of his name on it, an “F” made out of diamonds. The only thing that (Frank wearing that ring) is symbolic of, is Frank’s own selfishness and loyalty to himself and nobody else. Another example of franks selfishness is symbolized through Frank’s affair with a fifteen year old girl. He tells Tub “this so-called fifteen-year-old has more in her little finger than most of us have in our entire bodies. I can tell you this little lady is something special.” (150) Frank says this as if he’s trying to convince Tub that his affair is meaningful and really something special. In actuality the only person that he is really trying to convince is himself. He’s trying to convince himself that his affair is not a product of his own lust and selfishness when really, that is all that it is.
Finally the last example of symbolism from the story I will discuss is the multiple orders of pancakes in the restaurant.
The orders of pancakes are symbolic of Tub’s gluttonous nature, which in this part of the story is being enabled and encouraged by Frank. “When the dishes came Frank carved out slabs of butter and just laid them on the pancakes. Then he emptied the bottle of syrup, moving it back and forth over the plates. He leaned forward on his elbows and rested his chin in one hand. ‘Go on, Tub’” (152) Frank is well aware that Tub’s biggest weakness is food. Tub, having just confessed that he secretly indulges himself in junk food when nobody else is around, in response to Frank’s confession about his affair; Frank decides that he is going order Tub four orders of pancakes with extra butter and syrup. “’Clean you plate,’ Frank said when the pancakes were gone, and Tub lifted each of the four plates and licked it clean. He sat back, trying to catch his breath.” (152) The reason that Frank is encouraging this horrible behavior is because if Tub feels he can eat like a gluttonous slob without being judged by his “friend” then he will keep quiet in regards to his “friend’s” affair. It all comes back to selfishness and
gluttony.
“Wolff views all three of his characters as hopelessly ‘lost’ in both the geographical and moral sense of the word.” (161) “The World contains many people who are essentially predatory, the story seems to say, entirely self interested ‘hunters’ in a cold universe; even when two individuals form temporary alliances, these are symbiotic relationships in which each other person is simply trying to fulfill a selfish need through the other.” (161)
In the short story “Hunters in the Snow” Tobias Wolff uses symbols to convey that some people’s selfishness can lead to their own self destruction.
The first example of symbolism that Tobias Wolff gives us is the setting of the story. Implied by the stories title the setting is a snowy forest. The snow, being so cold, is symbolic of the cold relationship that the three hunters; Tub, Frank and Kenny all share with each other. Frank and Tub, once used to be very close, but Frank now has a more close relationship with Kenny but even that friendship is not without its taunting and antagonizing. This is made clear when after Frank tells Kenny that he talks to much, Kenny Says “I won't say a word. Like I won't say …show more content…
anything about a certain babysitter.” (Wolff 140) Kenny says this because, deep down he really does not care about Frank or his affair with the babysitter that he has confided in him with because Kenny is a cold hearted person who is a glutton for power and dominance regardless of how much, how little or how important it really is. Another example of the cold relationship these men have is Tub being the subject of much of Kenny’s ridicule. This is illustrated when Kenny says to Tub “All I can say is, it's the first diet I ever heard of where you gained weight from it.” (141) Throughout the course of the story Kenny makes numerous remarks about Tub’s weight. Kenny does this because he views Tub as weak and insignificant compared to him. Kenny verbally abusing Tub and treating him so “coldly” is all about making himself feel better for being a miserable and horrible human being.
Wolff also gives us another example of symbolism in his story, in the form of a gold ring that Frank wears. “He wore a heavy wedding band and on his right pinky another gold ring with a flat face and an ‘F’ in what looked like diamonds.” (141) Rings have always been known as a symbol of unity, trust and loyalty. The ring that Frank wears has the first letter of his name on it, an “F” made out of diamonds. The only thing that (Frank wearing that ring) is symbolic of, is Frank’s own selfishness and loyalty to himself and nobody else. Another example of franks selfishness is symbolized through Frank’s affair with a fifteen year old girl. He tells Tub “this so-called fifteen-year-old has more in her little finger than most of us have in our entire bodies. I can tell you this little lady is something special.” (150) Frank says this as if he’s trying to convince Tub that his affair is meaningful and really something special. In actuality the only person that he is really trying to convince is himself. He’s trying to convince himself that his affair is not a product of his own lust and selfishness when really, that is all that it is.
Finally the last example of symbolism from the story I will discuss is the multiple orders of pancakes in the restaurant.
The orders of pancakes are symbolic of Tub’s gluttonous nature, which in this part of the story is being enabled and encouraged by Frank. “When the dishes came Frank carved out slabs of butter and just laid them on the pancakes. Then he emptied the bottle of syrup, moving it back and forth over the plates. He leaned forward on his elbows and rested his chin in one hand. ‘Go on, Tub’” (152) Frank is well aware that Tub’s biggest weakness is food. Tub, having just confessed that he secretly indulges himself in junk food when nobody else is around, in response to Frank’s confession about his affair; Frank decides that he is going order Tub four orders of pancakes with extra butter and syrup. “’Clean you plate,’ Frank said when the pancakes were gone, and Tub lifted each of the four plates and licked it clean. He sat back, trying to catch his breath.” (152) The reason that Frank is encouraging this horrible behavior is because if Tub feels he can eat like a gluttonous slob without being judged by his “friend” then he will keep quiet in regards to his “friend’s” affair. It all comes back to selfishness and
gluttony.
“Wolff views all three of his characters as hopelessly ‘lost’ in both the geographical and moral sense of the word.” (161) “The World contains many people who are essentially predatory, the story seems to say, entirely self interested ‘hunters’ in a cold universe; even when two individuals form temporary alliances, these are symbiotic relationships in which each other person is simply trying to fulfill a selfish need through the other.” (161)