Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner were two of the most prolific writers of the 20th century. They did not exactly see eye-to-eye. Faulkner criticized Hemingway for his simplistic writing style, and he once told a literature class that Hemingway's writing "lacked courage." Hemmingway thought of Faulkner as a "no good son of a bitch," but he also thought his works on the south and Negroes were good. Faulkner's short story "That Evening Sun" and Hemmingway's short story "The Killers" illustrates the similarities and the differences between the two writers.
             Both stories lack a definite ending. The character of Ole Andreson in "The Killers" and Nancy in "That Evening Sun" are both waiting to die at the end of each story. However, the situations are very different. Ole has been hunted by hit men for something that he done in Chicago. They eventually leave and Ole is at least safe for the moment, although it seems as if he has accepted the fact that his time is coming. "Yet without their even laying eyes on him, let alone confronting and shooting him, Al and Max (because they represent the notion of 'the killers' who have already 'killed' his will to live) have already won the contest" (Monteiro 41). Faulkner's character Nancy, on the other hand, has no proof that Jesus will return to harm her. She has generated this fear of dying within herself, but it becomes real to her. Unlike Ole, Nancy fears Jesus' return and does not want to be harmed, despite an earlier suicide attempt. The reader cannot exactly tell from reading the text what happens to the characters. Do they eventually die?
             In addition to the questions left by the endings in the stories there are several unanswered questions that can be raised in each. What exactly did Ole do? Given that he used to be a boxer, and considering Max's com...