Killers of the Dream

In Hemingway’s story “The Killers,” two anonymous gray men walked into a lunchroom and said they were going to murder a prize fighter named Ole Andreson. Just what Andreson had done to deserve his fate was not clear. But he had betrayed someone, most likely someone worth betraying. All of the circumstances were flat and nondescript like those men. Something to do with a racket, and the racket was getting even, and there was nothing to do but watch. “I can’t stand...