Hunters in the Snow and Other Stories Literary Elements

Collection of short stories

The action in each story takes place in a different location, but generally, the action does not take more than a couple of hours. So, for example, the action described in “Next Door” takes place during the duration of an evening in the bedroom of an unnamed couple.

The action in the story “Passengers” is told from the perspective of a third-person objective point of view.

The tone in “Coming Attractions” is a childlike one.

The protagonist in “Our Story Begins” is presented as being ambition while the antagonist is presented as being procrastination.

The major conflict in “Face to Face” is between weakness and resilience.

The story “Hunters in the Snow” reaches its climax when Kenny is killed by Tub.

The fact that Jean in “Coming Attractions” is 30 and still working a job usually done by teenagers foreshadows her immature attitude and behaviors.

At the beginning of the story “Our Story Begins” the narrator claims that Charlie is willing to do everything, it takes to succeed. This is later proven to be an understatement when Charlie is described as being a coward.

One of the main allusions we find in the story “Hunters in the Snow” is the idea that the ruling class will always blame the working class for everything which goes wrong in society.

The most important image in the story “Sister” is that of Mary. Here, Mary is presented as a powerful woman, in charge of her life. She is extremely open about her sexual desires and it is implied that her power comes from this source.

N/A

A parallel is drawn in the story “Face to Face” between Virginia and Robert. This parallelism is used here to show two different ways of dealing with trauma and problems in life.

The car is used in the story “Passengers” to make reference to the power every person possesses.

We have a personification in the story “Next Door” in the sentence “the bed engulfed both of them like a loving mother.”