The Killers (short Story)

The Killers (short Story)

'"The Killers"' is a short story by Ernest Hemingway. It first appeared to the public in 1927 in Scribner's Magazine. How much Hemingway received for the literary piece is unknown, but some sources state it was $200. Historians have some documents showing that the working title of the piece was "The Matadors". After its appearance in Scribner's, the story was published in Men Without Women, Snows of Kilimanjaro and The Nick Adams Stories. The writer's depiction of the human experience, his use of satire, and the everlasting themes of death, friendship, and the purpose of life have contributed to make "The Killers" one of Hemingway's most famous and frequently anthologized short stories.

The story features Nick Adams, a famous Hemingway character from his short stories. In this story, Hemingway shows Adams crossing over from teenager to adult. The basic plot of the story involves a pair of criminals that enter a restaurant seeking to kill a boxer, a Swede named Ole Andreson, who is hiding out for reasons unknown (probably for not cooperating with the proposed rigging of a fight).

In 1984, the anthology Hemingway at Oak Park High was published by Oak Park and River Forest High School, and included short works that Hemingway had written for his school newspaper and literary magazine. One of the stories, "A Matter of Colour", involves the plot of a boxing manager to have a man named Swede hide behind a curtain and hit an opponent during a bout. Swede somehow fails, and in retaliation, the boxing manager puts out a contract on his life.