What is the theme of The Killers by Ernest Hemingway?

Answer 1

Themes within the "The Killers"

• Failure of the parents of the Lost Generation to provide their children with the means to handle with the cruelness and meaninglessness of twentieth-century America.
• Chaos is another theme in "The Killers." With all of the misrepresentations throughout the story this creates chaos with the reader, almost as if it is happening in another world.
• Masculinity is the next theme. Hemingway is known for his manyly men in his stories, but in "The Killers" the two hit men are comical and clownish men. Hemingway at one point describes them as a vaudeville twins.

Answer 2

The theme of "The Killers" by Ernest Hemingway revolves around existential dread and the acceptance of one's fate. The story explores the idea of powerlessness and the inevitability of death. It delves into the notion of facing one's end with dignity and resignation.