The Killers

by

Ernest Hemingway

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The Killers Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Just as it’s getting dark, two men enter Henry’s Diner and sit at the counter to peruse the menu. The only other customer is Nick, who was talking to the manager, George, before the men came in. Nick stays at the other end of the counter and watches the two men.
By not immediately naming them, Hemingway indicates that these two men are strangers in town. Nick is evidently suspicious of them, shown by his decision to keep his distance and just stare at them.
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The first man, Max, orders a roast pork dinner and George tells him that this isn’t available. When Max asks him why it’s on the menu if he can’t order it, George explains that the dinner options are not available for another hour, until 6:00. The second man, Al, points out that the clock actually says it’s 5:20, but George says it is 20 minutes fast. “Oh, to hell with the clock,” Max says.
Almost immediately, Hemingway makes it clear that appearances are frequently at odds with reality. What should have been a very simple thing—ordering dinner at a diner—turns out to be complicated, which flusters Max and Al. Their frustration becomes evidence of the potential consequences of putting too much stock in one’s expectations, rather than taking the world on its own terms.
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Quotes
George tells the two men—who are wearing matching derby hats, gloves, and overcoats that are too small—what menu options are available and they order sandwiches. While they wait, they ask George what they can get to drink and George tells them they do not serve alcohol.
Hemingway notes that Henry’s used to be a saloon, but was converted into a diner (possibly due to Prohibition). This creates yet another situation in which appearances are at odds with reality (it appears to be a saloon but actually doesn’t serve alcohol), which creates tension and frustration. Max and Al’s matching clothes indicate that they belong to some kind of organized crime syndicate, but the fact that they’re ridiculous and ill-fitting hints that they might not be as good at criminality as they think.
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Literary Devices
Max makes a snide comment about how “hot” the town is and asks what it’s called. George says the town’s name is Summit, and Max and Al remark that they’ve never heard of it. They joke that all the townspeople do at night is come to the diner to “eat the dinner,” and George says, “that’s right.” Al tells George he’s a “pretty bright boy, aren’t you?” When George says “sure,” Max replies, “well, you’re not.” Al then asks Nick for his name and starts calling him a “bright boy,” too.
Max and Al use sarcasm to express their frustration with the situation: they could not order the food they wanted, they cannot trust the clock, and they cannot order alcohol in what was once clearly a saloon. When George unexpectedly becomes sarcastic towards them in return, they strip him of his masculinity and authority by calling him a “boy,” putting him on the same level as the younger and more naïve Nick.
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George brings Max and Al their meals, but they can’t remember who ordered what. As they eat, they catch George looking at them. Al suggests that “maybe the boy meant it for a joke,” and George laughs. Max tells him not to laugh and George says alright. To Al, Max says “he thinks it’s all right,” and Al replies, “Oh, he’s a thinker.”
Max and Al want to seem like they are in control of the situation and know what they are doing, but their confusion over who ordered what reveals how easy it is to fluster them (and shows them to be either a little stupid or unobservant—an inauspicious beginning for criminals). Frustrated by this confusion, they again emasculate George to put him in his place as their inferior.
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Looking at Nick, Max and Al tell the “bright boy” to go behind the counter with his “boy friend.” Nick asks why, and they dodge the question, repeating their order and asking who is in the kitchen. George says that the cook, Sam, is in the kitchen (he refers to Sam with the n-word). Al orders George to go get Sam. “Where do you think you are?” George asks, and Max replies that he knows “damn well” where he is and asks, “Do we look silly?” Al takes charge, again ordering George to bring Sam out, and he complies. 
Even though Max and Al have upped the ante with their insults by insinuating that Nick and George are gay, neither Nick nor George really stand up for themselves. In fact, they both prove rather easy targets in that Max and Al quickly gain total control over them. This reveals just how much Max and Al— as ridiculous as they may seem to the reader—scare Nick, Sam, and George.
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Quotes
Al looks Sam over and then drags him and Nick to the kitchen. Once they’re gone, George asks Max what is going on. Max calls back to Al that the “bright boy” wants to know why they are there, and Al suggests that Max should tell him, so Max reveals to George that they are there to kill a Swede named Ole Andreson.
Max and Al talk to each other about how to answer George’s question rather than talking to George himself, much as two parents would discuss whether or not to tell their child something. This effectively sends the message that they are the ones in control of the situation and they don’t take George seriously enough to treat him with any respect.
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Literary Devices
Max asks George if Ole Andreson comes in every night at six, and George says that Ole comes in “sometimes.” Max tells George that he and Al “know all that” already. George asks what Ole did and Max says he and Al have never met Ole—they’re killing him “to oblige a friend.” From the kitchen, Al shouts to Max to “shut up” because he “talks too much.”
Max’s questions about Ole’s habits reveal that they are probably not as knowledgeable about the situation as they want to appear. Furthermore, George isn’t encouraging about Ole’s odds of showing up, but Max and Al seem to interpret “sometimes” as confirmation that they are correct that Ole comes in every day. This shows them expecting the world to conform to their expectations (rather than dealing with reality), which will ultimately derail their plan.
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Quotes
Max tells Al that he has “to keep bright boy amused” and Al tells him that Nick and Sam “are amused by themselves” and that he has them “tied up like a couple of girl friends in the convent.” Max asks Al if he was in a convent and Al tell him, “You never know.” Max replies that Al was “in a kosher convent.”
Now that they have the three hostages entirely under their control and unable to fight back, Max and Al emasculate them by openly referring to them as women. Additionally, Max’s gendered and anti-Semitic comments about Al indicate that he is trying to establish control over his partner, as well.
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Max instructs George to tell anyone who comes in to order dinner that the cook is gone and to go back and make some orders himself if the customer insists. George agrees, but asks him what he and Al are going to do with them afterwards. Max tells him he isn’t sure because it’s “one of those things you never know at the time.” George looks up at the clock and notes that it’s 6:15.
George begins keeping tabs on the clock, checking it periodically and noting the time. However, Hemingway never specifies if the time George notes is the time on the clock or the actual time. George may have realized how easy it would be to trick Max and Al into leaving earlier (and keeping him and the other hostages alive) if he can make them think it’s too late for Ole to come in at his usual time.
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A motorman comes in to order dinner, but George tells him that the cook is out and the man leaves. Max tells him “that was nice, bright boy” and Al calls out that George “knew I’d blow his head off.” Max disagrees and says, “Bright boy is nice. He’s a nice boy, I like him.” George looks at the clock again and sees that it is 6:55. He tells Max and Al that Ole is “not coming.”
Max continues to refer to George as a “boy,” now adding that he likes him because George is “nice” for following his instructions like an obedient child would. This implies that if George can continue to be “nice” then he will be safe and allowed to live. 
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Before this, George recalls, another customer came in and insisted on a sandwich, so George went back in the kitchen to make it and noticed that Nick and Sam were tied up and had towels in their mouths. Al was sitting in the back with a sawed-off shotgun. When George came out of the kitchen, Max said that he would “make some girl a nice wife” because he “can cook and everything.”
While most of Max’s insults towards George have seemed designed to persuade him of his inferiority, Max’s comment that George would make someone a “nice wife” seems be an escalation of cruelty (after all, comparing a man to a “wife” is meant to emasculate him). This might indicate that Max is losing patience with the situation, since he has to assert his power more firmly by insulting George.
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Literary Devices
George repeats that Ole Andreson isn’t coming in and Max says they’re going to wait ten more minutes. At 7:05, Max tells Al that they “better go,” but Al says they’ll wait five more minutes. Another customer comes in, but leaves when George tells him that the cook is out. Max tells Al it’s time to go and Al asks what they’re going to do with the hostages. Max says, “They’re all right,” but Al seems doubtful and asks Max if he’s sure. Max says he’s sure and that they’re “through with it,” but Al tells him, “I don’t like it … It’s sloppy. You talk too much.”
The story’s title suggests that someone might be killed in the end, but Ole doesn’t come in and Max decides to let the hostages live. Once again, expectations have been subverted and there is a sense of disappointment that nothing has come to a predictable resolution. Al expresses surprise, disappointment, and even fear that their plan has come to such a “sloppy” ending. Al has always seemed to be the crueler and more powerful of the two men, and here he’s the one advocating for killing the innocent hostages simply so that there aren’t any witnesses.
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As Max and Al leave, they tell George that he’s “got a lot of luck” and “ought to play the races.” George watches them through the window while they walk away and notes that they look “like a vaudeville team.” George goes into the kitchen and unties Sam and Nick. Sam says he doesn’t “want any more of that” and Nick, trying to “swagger it off,” asks, “What the hell?” George tells Nick and Sam that Max and Al were going to shoot Ole Andreson if he came into the diner.
Once Max and Al are gone, the three hostages are left to grapple with what has just happened to them and what is going to happen to Ole Andreson. Sam’s assertion that doesn’t “want any more of that” indicates that he is determined to have no more involvement in this drama. Nick, however, is taken up with the novelty of the experience, although he tries to pretend that he is more experienced with this kind of violence than he actually is.
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Sam tells George that he doesn’t “like any of it at all” and George tells Nick that he better go warn Ole Andreson about Max and Al. Nick agrees, but Sam tells him that he “better not have anything to do with it at all.” George tells Nick he doesn’t have to go if he doesn’t want to and Sam again warns Nick to “stay out of it,” but Nick still says he will go. He asks where Ole lives, and George tells Nick that Ole lives in Hirsch’s boardinghouse. 
George steps back into his position of authority in the diner, assigning Nick the task of warning Ole Andreson. Nick, recognizing an opportunity to win the respect of the older men and to prove his bravery, immediately agrees to be the one to warn Ole. Sam, however, tries to convince Nick that it’s a bad idea, possibly because his own experiences have shown him how dangerous playing the hero can be. The fact that George tells Nick to warn Ole instead of warning Ole himself suggests that George might be somewhat cowardly—clearly he doesn’t think it’s a safe thing to do, even if he thinks it’s important.
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Nick walks to Hirsch’s boardinghouse and asks the landlady if Ole Andreson is in his room. The landlady brings Nick upstairs and knocks on Ole’s door. In the room, Nick sees Ole lying in bed, fully clothed. Ole, who had once been a prizefighter, is too big for the bed. Without even looking at Nick, Ole asks him why he’s there. Nick tells him that two men came into the diner and tied him and Sam up in the kitchen and that the two men planned on killing Ole. At first, Ole doesn’t answer and Nick repeats himself, but then Ole tells him, “There isn’t anything I can do about it.”
Nick innocently believes that Ole Andreson is going to be alarmed to hear about the hostage situation at the diner and anxious to make a quick getaway before Max and Al find him. However, Ole expresses no emotion whatsoever, throwing Nick into a state of confusion. Nick’s confusion is only heightened by Ole’s statement that there “isn’t anything” he can do to stop Max and Al, which insinuates that Ole has already given up out of fear but without any explanation of why.
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Nick offers to tell Ole what Max and Al “were like,” but Ole tells him he doesn’t want to know and thanks him for coming. Then Nick offers to go to the police, but Ole tells him it “wouldn’t do any good.” Nick asks if there’s anything he can do and Ole tells him no, so Nick suggests that it might have been “just a bluff.” Ole tells him it’s not and turns to the wall. He tells Nick, “I just can’t make up my mind to go out. I been in here all day.” Nick suggests that Ole should skip town and Ole tells him he’s “through with all that running around.” Nick again asks if there’s anything he can do and Ole tells him there isn’t and that he’ll go out eventually. Nick tells him he is going back to see George at the diner and Ole thanks him for coming and tells him goodbye.
Nick’s confusion intensifies into horror as he realizes that Ole is actually unwilling rather than unable to do anything to protect or save himself. To Nick’s inexperienced mind, nothing could be worse than death and Ole should fight it. Ole, however, reveals that he has already spent a lot of time trying to evade death (“all that running around”) and it has worn him out. While he doesn’t welcome death, Ole has come to realize that it is unavoidable and that sometimes true bravery is admitting defeat and meeting death head on. Nick, however, has not had a similar realization and he continues to grapple with his own fear and confusion over Ole’s choice not to fight.
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As Nick leaves, the landlady tells him that Ole has been in his room all day and that she had told him to go take a walk, but he declined. Nick tells her that Ole doesn’t want to go out and the landlady says she’s sorry he isn’t feeling well. Nick says, “Good-night, Mrs. Hirsch,” and the landlady tells him that she’s not Mrs. Hirsch—she is actually Mrs. Bell. She just manages the building for Mrs. Hirsch. Nick tells her good night and leaves.
Nick is very vulnerable and impressionable as he leaves Ole’s room. Ole’s acceptance of death and his revelation that he has been running from death for a long time has forced Nick to question everything he thought he knew about life, death, and the people in Summit. Nick’s innocent mistake in calling Mrs. Bell by the wrong name takes on a new significance to him as he finds himself already questioning how well he really knows the people around him.
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Nick walks back to the diner and finds George behind the counter again. Sam is in the kitchen, but he opens the door to tell Nick and George that he “don’t even listen to it” and shuts the door. George asks Nick if he told Ole about the hitmen and Nick tells him that he did, but that Ole “knows what it’s all about” already and is going to do “nothing” about it. George points out that Max and Al will kill him and Nick says, “I guess they will.” George says that Ole must have “got mixed up in something in Chicago” and it’s a “hell of a thing,” and Nick agrees. George stops talking, grabs a towel, and starts cleaning the counter.
Nick returns to the diner disillusioned and frustrated that his bravery in going to warn Ole has not ended positively. George expects Nick to tell him that Ole has left town or gone for help, and he is just as surprised as Nick was to learn that Ole has already accepted death as inevitable. Unlike Nick, however, George is prepared to put it behind him. He picks up a towel and starts cleaning, showing that he’s ready to move on with his day-to-day life and put the horror of the situation out of his mind.
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Nick breaks the silence and asks George what he thinks Ole did. George says he must have double-crossed somebody because it’s “what they kill them for.” Nick declares that he is going to get out of town, which George acknowledges is a good idea. Nick says he “can’t stand to think about [Ole] waiting in the room and knowing he’s going to get it.” George tells him he “better not think about it.”
As Nick finally accepts that Ole is going to be killed, his first reaction is to leave town and put distance between himself and death, just as Ole had done before. George, however, has accepted death as inevitable, but rather than confront this fact bravely, he pushes it out of his mind and tells Nick he should do the same.
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Literary Devices