"Hunters in the Snow" by: Tobias Wolff

This short story was successful in baffling me over and over again. It first baffled me when Tub shot Kenny and nobody acted like it was that big of a deal. The men decided to drive Kenny to the hospital and they dropped him down the driveway, put him in the trunk of the car, stopped to warm up, stopped a second time to warm up and had a whole meal, took his blanket away from him to keep themselves warm, and turned away from the hospital instead of toward it. All of these odd events led to the characterization of Tub and Frank. It is because of these events that the reader learns that Tub is a habitual eater and Frank is going to leave his wife for a 14 year old. Also, Tub's and Frank's relationship grows because of the events that unfold, but this is at the expense of Kenny's life. I found this all to be very odd, but it was included in the plot to express the character's personalities.

I was also slightly confused by the ending. When Frank and Tub took "a different turn a long way back" were they returning home or did they just accidentally go the wrong way? I also wondered if they had planned to let Kenny die all along because this is definitely how it seemed to me.