With the title "The Killers", Hemingway tells a story of the life and morals of the average mobster in the Prohibition Era of the 1920's. Organized crime ran rampant, and mob bosses ruled all. Anyone who crossed the path of a crime family the wrong way had to pay the ultimate price, no if's, and's, or but's. Hemingway's short story plays out an ordinary scene of this gangster lifestyle.
             The story in a nutshell: Nick was eating his food and talking to one of the waiters when two men "dressed like twins" (Hemingway, 216) entered the small diner in the diminutive, suburban town of Summit. The men carried vicious and fearless attitudes. They did not take any lip service from anyone. Nick and the waiter exchanged a few words with the two men, and somehow managed to tick them off. One of the men ordered the cook, referred to as "the nigger" (Hemingway, 217), out from the kitchen, only to escort him, along with Nick, back to the kitchen where they were tied up and gagged. The men revealed they were waiting for the "Swede" (Hemingway, 218), a regular customer of the diner, to come have dinner. The plan was simple: When the Swede came, they were going to kill him. The "Swede" never showed, and the men left. Nick finds the "Swede", who had been in hiding all day, and warns him about the men. This came as no surprise to the "Swede" and he tells Nick to leave.
             The title of the short story "The Killers" is obviously in reference to Al and Max, the two men who entered the diner that day. The story focuses on these men and how they conducted themselves. The men were plainly from out of town. This showed in way they dressed, the attitudes they carried, way they mocked the town asking "What do you do here nights?" (Hemingway, 216).
             The time period was in the 1920's during prohibition. This was made eviden...