The Dramatic Characteristics of “The Killers”

【Abstract】Ernest Hemingways renowned piece — “The Killers” is undoubtedly touched with his distinct writing style. Through analysis， it can be easily noticed that “The Killers” shared several features with another form of art – the drama. This article will dive into the dramatic characteristics of this short novel and try to explain the reasons.

【Key words】The Killers; dramatic characteristics; Earnest Hemingway

【作者簡介】李璟，华中师范大学。

Ernest Hemingway， the American writer who coined the Iceberg Theory， is a well-known exponent of the minimalistic writing. The majority of his works are implicit in words yet deep in meaning， thus allowing readers to explore those “beneath the water”. However， his theory of omission requires intensive and precise description of the scenes and dialogues， which， consequently， contributes to the dramatic characteristics in his stories. In this article， we will look into the similarities shared between the drama and Hemingways masterpiece “The Killers”.

As a distinctive form of literature， drama is featured in promoting atmospheric effect within finite space and time. Performing on stage， actors are restricted by the physical limitations of the stagecraft. That is the reason why the plots of dramas are rather compact and intense. “The Killers”， similarly， forwards the plot in a compact setting. Analyzed from the angle of time， the whole story happens in a short period of time， from five o clock till the early evening， just a couple of hours. As for the scenes， “The killers” focuses on the following spots——Henrys lunchroom， Hirschs rooming house and Andresons room. Note that Hemingway has adopted the scenic method to present the plot， which is in many aspects similar of the drama. All these lead to the first striking resemblance between dramas and “The Killers”.

Figures have showed that nearly 80% of the story consists of dialogues， which indicates that the “The Killers” is mainly promoted by the conversations between characters. Take the beginning and ending parts as example：

Beginning： The door of Henrys lunchroom opened and two men came in. They sat down at the counter.

“Whats yours？” George asked them.

Ending： “I cant stand to think about him waiting in the room and knowing hes going to get it. Its too damned awful”

“Well，” said George， “you better not think about it.”

Its widely acknowledged that those two parts play a quite significant role in any story. Unlike most of the writers who start with remarkable lines to spice up， “The Killers”， after a concise description of Al and Maxs arrival， started， developed and ended all in dialogues. Apart from that， we can easily notice that the conversations are in brief phrases， instead of heaps of words， which manifests the succinctness of the entire story. Then， how about dramas？ Frankly speaking， the basis of dramas， except mimes and operas， lies in the carefully contrived dialogues， which is the key element that cannot be ignored. The large use of delicately designed dialogues is another similarity between “The Killers” and the drama.

In addition to what has been mentioned above， the one last glaring similar characteristic is the AUDIENCE. On-stage performance， like dramas， is meant to suffice the needs of its audience， which suggests their indispensability. Who is the audience of “The Killers”？ Lets look into the technique applied in the story. Hemingway has chosen to present the story in the third persons point of view， an objective narrator. However， the objectivity here is slightly different from other stories. “Young Goodman Brown”， for example， is also narrated in the third persons point of view. But “Young Goodman Brown” is way explicit than “The Killers”， for its vivid psychological and environmental descriptions. Unlike “Young Goodman Brown”， “The Killers” simply tell us what is happening at the very moment. We readers cannot get any information beyond the scenes， in other word， author is totally invisible in “The Killers”. We can only get those hints by logic thinking. From this aspect， reading “The Killers” is just like watching a drama.

In conclusion， “The Killers” does bear several evident drama-like characteristics -- the restrictions in place and time， the large use of dialogues， and the audiences point of view. In this way， we tend to feel personally on the scene when reading “The Killers”.

References：

[1]朱振武譯.Ernest Hemingway. 杀手：海明威短篇小说集[M].华东理工大学出版社，2010.