Each character is similar to the others in that they are deliberately manipulating the others to gain either power or leverage. Kenny abuses Tub, but looks to Frank for approval. Frank goes along with Kenny until Kenny is shot, and then shifts his allegiance to Tub. Tub overeats on purpose, knowing that this will give Kenny something specific to insult, rather than focusing on Tub himself.
"Stop bitching, Tub. Get centered."
"I wasn't bitching."
"Centered," Kenny said. "Next thing you'll be wearing a nightgown, Frank. Selling flowers out at the airport."
"Kenny," Frank said, "you talk too much."
"Okay," Kenny said. "I won't say a word. Like I won't say anything about a certain babysitter."
"What babysitter?" Tub asked.
(Wolff, "Hunters in the Snow," classicshorts.com)
None of the men are honest with each other, and so their actions are based in their lies just as strongly as if...
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they are done with purposeful intent. When Tub shoots Kenny, it is a natural extension of Kenny's jokes, except that the joke is nullified by the very real killing of the dog. Tub, accustomed to more harmless insults, panics and believes that Kenny was about to shoot him; this is amplified by Kenny pretending to drive at Tub earlier. Each character relates to the others through deceit, and at the end, shared lies unite Frank and Tub, leaving Kenny alone in the dark.
Are the three main characters in "Hunters in the Snow" consistent in their actions?
They are consistent in their actions because their actions are all based in self-absorbed ego. At the beginning, Kenny pretends to be driving at Tub because he thinks it is funny; Frank goes along with the "joke" because he doesn't want Kenny to see him standing up for Tub. Tub doesn't "get" the joke, and so later when Kenny seems about to shoot him, he doesn't see that as a joke either; Kenny's killing the dog removes the humor in the joke and turns it into a scary possibility:
They all looked at the dog lying there.
"What did he ever do to you?" Tub asked. "He was just barking."
Kenny turned to Tub. "I hate you."
Tub shot from the waist. Kenny jerked backward against the fence and buckled to his knees.
(Wolff, "Hunters in the Snow," classicshorts.com)
For his part, Frank remains the second-banana, now taking orders from Tub instead of Kenny. As they connect on the basis of their mutual faults, they begin to ignore Kenny's suffering, showing that they both resented him far more than they let on. Tub and Frank's callous attitude towards Kenny shows that their believe their own problems to be all-important, even when compared to Kenny's bullet wound.