Hunters in the Snow

American author Tobias Wolff, known for memoirs like In Pharaoh's Army (1994) and short stories like “Bullet in the Brain” (1995), published “Hunters in the Snow” in 1981 in his first collection of short stories, In the Garden of North American Martyrs. The story is believed to be inspired by the painting Hunters in the Snow by Pieter Bruegel. The story, narrated from a third-person limited perspective, focuses on the relationship between three characters: Tub, Frank, and Kenny. This study guide cites the 2009 Bloomsbury Paperback edition of Wolff’s collected stories, Our Story Begins.

“Hunters in the Snow” begins with a man named Tub who “has been waiting for an hour in the falling snow” for his friends Kenny and Frank to arrive (20). When they arrive, Kenny begins to treat Tub cruelly. Kenny, who is driving the truck, deliberately mounts the curb and almost runs Tub over and then mocks Tub for being overweight, saying, “You look just like a beach ball with a hat on” (20). Tub is angry that Kenny and Frank are late, but Frank, who is in the passenger seat, is dismissive of Tub’s feelings, telling him to “be mellow” (20).