Hunters In The Snow Psychology

Kasi Loser

Mr. Pollock

Twentieth Century Literature, Period 4

30 May 2023

Psychoanalytical Analysis of Hunters in the Snow Various elements of the psychoanalytic critical theory are present throughout the short story Hunters in the Snow. The relationship between the three friends, Tub, Frank, and Kenny, induces questions of who plays the role of the id and the superego along with possible core issues for the characters. When the men were hunting and a deer jumped over a fence that said no hunting, Kenny was ready to chase after it, but Frank was unsure about disobeying the sign. Kenny’s desire for instant gratification, even if it was not obtainable in a socially acceptable way, was similar to that of an id. On the other hand, Frank functioned

Considering that Brewer was a minor and Frank was married with children, it was not socially acceptable for the two to be in a relationship. Frank had blocked his id-like desire to be in a public relationship with Brewer because he knew how society would react and that was part of the reason he struggled to confess his relationship to Tub. Both Frank and Tub suffered from the core issue of the fear of betrayal since the two were afraid to trust one another and Kenny with their darkest fears and secrets. As Frank and Tub bonded and learned about the other’s fears on their journey to the hospital, they built the trust that they had lacked before. Toward the end of the story, Frank told Tub, “‘The way I look at it, Tub, no man is an island. You've got to trust someone.’” After Frank told Tub this, Tub was able to open up about his weight issues with Frank. The newfound comfort showed that the two men now relied on each other and trusted one another with the burdens of their psychological

Existentialism states that humans have free will to choose their own actions. On the other hand, determinism claims that human life has a predetermined destiny, so one person does not have control over his or her life. At the beginning of the text, the gods' point of view described Sisyphus’ fate as predetermined because he would pointlessly continue to push the stone up a hill without any success. Camus explained, “They had thought with some reason that there is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labor.” This quotation showed that higher powers had influence over the life of Sisyphus and had predetermined his fate and suffering because he angered the gods. Once the story progressed and the narrator focused on Sisyphus as he descended from the mountain, elements of existentialism began to appear in Sisyphus’ thoughts. The narrator claimed, “All Sisyphus' silent joy is contained therein. His fate belongs to him.” Here, Sisyphus was shown to have internal motivation and was using his choice to continue to push the rock up the mountain instead of giving up. Sisyphus also believed, “If there is a personal fate, there is no higher destiny, or at least there is, but one which he concludes is inevitable and despicable.” This statement further examined Sisyphus’ personal drive to overpower the gods' predetermined fate for him by using