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George
Ole Andreson is a former prizefighter now living in a boarding house in a small town outside of Chicago. For unexplained reasons, Max and Al are sent to kill Ole. After being held hostage by the hitmen, Nick Adams gets free and finds Ole and warns him that there’s a hit out on him, encouraging him to save himself. However, Ole has already accepted his death as unavoidable and is lying in bed with all of his clothes on preparing to meet death. Ole seems profoundly depressed, and he drives Nick out of his room, telling him that while he hasn’t been able to steel himself to leave his room and meet death yet, he’s working up the courage and he’s going to do it soon. George believes Ole “must have got mixed up in something in Chicago,” implying some kind of involvement with the mob. Ole himself tells Nick that he “got in wrong” and that there “ain’t anything to do” to stop Max and Al (or someone else) from killing him. Ole’s passive acceptance of death is a major contributor to Nick’s ultimate disillusionment.
Ole Andreson Quotes in The Killers
The The Killers quotes below are all either spoken by Ole Andreson or refer to Ole Andreson. 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:
).
The Killers
Quotes
“What are you going to kill Ole Andreson for? What did he ever do to you?”
“He never had a chance to do anything to us. He never even seen us.”
“And he’s only going to see us once,” Al said from the kitchen.
“What are you going to kill him for, then?” George asked.
“We’re killing him for a friend. Just to oblige a friend, bright boy.”
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“Listen,” George said to Nick. “You better go see Ole Andreson.”
“All right.”
“You better not have anything to do with it at all,” Sam, the cook, said. “You stay out of it.”
“Don’t go if you don’t want to,” George said.
“Mixing up in this ain’t going to get you anywhere,” the cook said. “You stay out of it.”
“I’ll go see him,” Nick said to George.
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“They put us out in the kitchen,” Nick went on. “They were going to shoot you when you came in to supper.”
Ole Andreson looked at the wall and did not say anything.
“George thought I better come and tell you about it.”
“There isn’t anything I can do about it,” Ole Andreson said.
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“The only thing is,” he said, talking toward the wall,” I just can’t make up my mind to go out. I been in here all day.”
“Couldn’t you get out of town?”
“No,” Ole Andreson said. “I’m through with all that running around.”
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“I can’t stand to think about him waiting in the room and knowing he’s going to get it. It’s too damned awful.”
“Well,” said George, “you better not think about it.”
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Get the entire The Killers LitChart as a printable PDF.
Ole Andreson Quotes in The Killers
The The Killers quotes below are all either spoken by Ole Andreson or refer to Ole Andreson. 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:
).
The Killers
Quotes
“What are you going to kill Ole Andreson for? What did he ever do to you?”
“He never had a chance to do anything to us. He never even seen us.”
“And he’s only going to see us once,” Al said from the kitchen.
“What are you going to kill him for, then?” George asked.
“We’re killing him for a friend. Just to oblige a friend, bright boy.”
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
“Listen,” George said to Nick. “You better go see Ole Andreson.”
“All right.”
“You better not have anything to do with it at all,” Sam, the cook, said. “You stay out of it.”
“Don’t go if you don’t want to,” George said.
“Mixing up in this ain’t going to get you anywhere,” the cook said. “You stay out of it.”
“I’ll go see him,” Nick said to George.
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“They put us out in the kitchen,” Nick went on. “They were going to shoot you when you came in to supper.”
Ole Andreson looked at the wall and did not say anything.
“George thought I better come and tell you about it.”
“There isn’t anything I can do about it,” Ole Andreson said.
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“The only thing is,” he said, talking toward the wall,” I just can’t make up my mind to go out. I been in here all day.”
“Couldn’t you get out of town?”
“No,” Ole Andreson said. “I’m through with all that running around.”
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Explanation and Analysis:
“I can’t stand to think about him waiting in the room and knowing he’s going to get it. It’s too damned awful.”
“Well,” said George, “you better not think about it.”
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