Described as “a thin man with lank hair,” the farmer owns the land on which Kenny, Frank, and Tub want to hunt. Although his dog whom he loves is too old and sick to eat, he is unable to put the dog out of his misery and so he asks Kenny to shoot the dog for him. He blames his inability to shoot his dog on the fact he lacks a gun, but the woman with the sleeping child (presumably his wife) tells him that he is simply spineless. The farmer simply shrugs at this accusation of weakness—as if he is too weak-willed even to defend himself.
Farmer Quotes in Hunters in the Snow
The Hunters in the Snow quotes below are all either spoken by Farmer or refer to Farmer. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the Vintage edition of Hunters in the Snow published in 2008.
Hunters in the Snow
Quotes
“You get anything?” he asked.
“No,” Frank said.
“I knew you wouldn’t. That’s what I told the other fellow.”
“We’ve had an accident.”
[…] “Shot your friend, did you?”
Frank nodded.
“I did,” Tub said.
“I suppose you want to use the phone.”
“If it’s okay.”
“You asked him to?” Tub said. “You asked him to shoot your dog?”
“He was old and sick. Couldn’t chew his food anymore. I would have done it myself but I don’t have a gun.”
Related Characters:
Tub (speaker), Farmer (speaker), Kenny, Farmer’s Dog
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
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Farmer Character Timeline in Hunters in the Snow
The timeline below shows where the character Farmer appears in Hunters in the Snow. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Hunters in the Snow
...hunting sign. Kenny wants to ignore the sign, but Frank insists that they ask the farmer who owns the land for permission to hunt on his land. Kenny isn’t convinced and...
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...the farmhouse with his thumbs up. As they are starting off towards the woods, the farmer’s dog comes out of the barn, barking at them. With each bark, the dog slides...
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...and smiles. Tub hurries to catch up with Frank who is still ahead. Suddenly, the farmer’s dog runs out again. Kenny says, “I hate that dog.” For the second time, Frank...
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...ideas,” Tub and Frank head towards the farmhouse. They have to knock twice before the farmer answers. He asks if they “g[o]t anything,” and Frank says “No.” The farmer says that’s...
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...a sleeping child. While Frank goes away to phone the ambulance, Tub confesses to the farmer that Kenny shot his dog. Much to Tub’s surprise, the farmer replies that he had...
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On the road again, Tub tells Frank what the farmer told him: that he had asked Kenny to shoot the dog. Rather than being horrified...
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