Snow Symbol Analysis

In “Hunters in the Snow,” the heavy snow creates a hostile, desolate landscape that mirrors the unfeeling and often cruel dynamic of Kenny, Frank, and Tub’s friendship. Before the hunt, Kenny and Frank are late to pick up Tub, forcing him to wait in the “falling snow” for an hour. This immediately suggests that Tub is the odd one out, and it creates a parallel between the uncomfortable and oppressive falling snow and the uncomfortable (and even outright hostile) behavior of Tub’s “friends.” Furthermore, being less nimble than the other two men, Tub struggles to navigate through the snow during the hunt and he quickly falls behind the others, echoing his difficulty in navigating his friendship with Kenny and Frank. While trying to catch up with the other two, Tub “bruise[s] his shins” on the thick, hard crust of snow. These physical bruises from the snow mirror the emotional bruises that Kenny and Frank inflict on Tub.