Analysis of Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” Essay Example

enables Ernest Hemingway in ”The Snows of Kilimanjaro” to develop the theme that a person should neither waste the gifts he holds nor lead his life taking advantage of others. Harry, an aspiring writer, came to realize in his dying all that he had not accomplished. He began to blame others for the death that was awaiting him and for all the things, he never wrote. Harry shows his disappointment of not being able to write by stating: He would never write the things that he had saved to write until he knew enough to write them well” At first, Harry thinks that it is his wife Helen who should be blamed for his inability to write. Money and comfort that Helen gave him destroyed his talent. This accusation is clearly seen in Harry’s words: “Your damned money was my armour.

My Swift and my Armour. ” He further separates himself from his wife by implying he did not like doing things with her. Harry established this feeling with the statement: “The only thing I ever really liked to do with you I can’t do now”Later, Harry says that apart from his wife it is the fault of the higher class from which she came: “if you had not left your own people, your goddamned Old Westbury, Saratoga, Palm Beach people to take me on---“ In the end, Harry changes his mind again and admits that it is he who had, in fact caused the downfall of his writing career by: “..

not using it, by betrayals of himself and what he believed in, by drinking so much that he blunted the edge of his

perceptions, by laziness, by sloth, and by snobbery, by pride and prejudice, by hook and crook”He had chosen to make a living other than by the pen, by chasing the money of others. Harry, like many others when faced a problem, was looking for another reason for his destruction and couldn’t face the truth. The truth is that in all his pursuits for money and comfort, he has forgotten his own dream of being a writer. He had chosen an easy way, instead of trying to overcome obstacles and reaching for his dreams.

He forgot how to write ( in fact, he has never written anything at all ), although his memories, written ecollections of the long gone past, of his days back in Europe seem to be something in the shape of the chapters of his next book. Harry feels that death is close and thinks about his earlier life – before he married Helen and gave up writing. He remembers times when he was in Bulgaria, mountains covered with snow and the exchange of populations and people walking in the snow until they died in it. There on a Christmas day the wounded deserter came and said that the police were after him.They fed him, gave him new woollen socks and held the gendarmes talking until the deserter’s tracks have disappeared.

This is the first one of the three important deeds of his life that facilitates his flight over Kilimanjaro at the end of the story – which can be interpreted as his redemption. Here, the narrative is divided into two sections, separated by three asterisks (* * *). The first section of

this narrative resumes the conversation between Harry and his wife, but now it becomes more bitter and hateful.When she reminds him that in Paris he loved a place where they stayed, he angrily responds that “Love is a dunghill,” which debases their love. She asks him if he must destroy everything by killing his horse and wife and burning his saddle and armour.

She alludes to a warrior’s trophies that were set afire after the death of a warrior. Harry blames her “bloody money” for his predicament; then he repents and lies to her about his love for her. Lastly, he admits that his abuse stems from frustration about leaving things behind that he never did.It is here that the reader gets the most vivid glance into Harry’s bitterness, rage, and frustration at himself and at his wife for what she represents in his life.

However, at this point his attitude changes as he realizes that Helen does really love him whether he really loves her or not, and he sees that she is a good, honest woman. He likes her pleasantness and appreciation and admires her shooting. Instead of having an honest conversation about his real feelings for her, he sacrifices himself to her to avoid hurting her, and chooses not to make any deathbed confessions that would cause her emotional pain.Because he doesn’t break with her and stays true to her in the end, he re-establishes his higher self. This is the second one of the three important deeds of his life that facilitates his flight over Kilimanjaro at the end of the story. In another flashback, Harry mentions his stay in Paris

when he led debauched life and where he met Romanian poet Tristan Tzara who founded the Dada movement and whom Harry opposed.

This flashback concentrates on escapism, futility, and what doesn’t come to fruition, particularly in Harry’s relationships with women.The unimportant and short sexual encounters with women, sentimental memories of his past love whom “He had loved too much, demanded too much and he wore it all out”, finally, continuous quarrels with his wife. Later, he reminisces his neighbourhood in Paris, full of the drunkards and the sportifs; he remembers the inexpensive hotel where he rented the top room to live in and write. He could see the rooftops of Paris from his window and observe the various things that were happening in the streets below.

This part of the city was his favourite and it represented his youth, happiness, and potential.Harry was poor when he lived there but he was productive, his life wasn’t meaningless. Harry realizes that he never wrote about many things but the only flashback in this short story which Harry doesn’t mention that he failed to write about is the one concerning the death of a soldier named Williamson. That miserable man had been hit by a bomb and, while he was trying to move, realized that he was snagged and caught in a wire fence with his bowels spilling out onto the wire. He begged Harry to kill him. This particular flashback was one Harry probably didn’t want to write about, as it deals with a man who “couldn’t stand things.

Readers aren’t told whether Williamson could’ve survived. However, the fact that he was brought from the battlefield alive

and conscious for some time even after being given a fatal dose of morphine pills that Harry saved for himself indicated to Harry that Williamson was a very strong man. Despite his strength, he didn’t wait to find out whether the Lord gave him more than he could bear. He simply didn’t try to beat the pain. This is the last of the three deeds in Harry’s life that facilitates his flight to Kilimanjaro.

Harry is a realist.The protagonist in The Snows of Kilimanjaro faces his pending doom with distinct clarity and resignation. In fact, his insistence greatly disturbs his wife (naturally) who tries to cheer him up by telling him that help is only a day away, and all that is needed to make it is a positive attitude. Harry is positive. He is certain that he will die very soon.

He knows the mistake that has sealed his fate. Although he would change the past if he could, he does not seem to lament his end except for the writing he will never do. Harry confronts his death head on.He is looking for death and it appears to him as a presence that occupies space, has horrendous breath, and is somehow associated with a certain hyena that skulks about the camp. The most noteworthy and shocking aspect of The Snows of Kilimanjaro is the appearance of death to Harry.

Harry's death seems realistic and threatening. The first time he senses it, he relates: “It came with a rush; not as a rush of water nor of wind; but a sudden evil-smelling emptiness and the odd thing was that the hyena slipped lightly along

the edge of it. ”In The Snows of Kilimanjaro Harry's perception of death offers a breath-stopping description for the reader. What seems to be a mundane catalogue of a dying man's thoughts is suddenly interrupted by Harry's realization that he is going to die. That single sentence seems to touch a nerve as it is read, almost as if we've been there, too, and death takes on a very palpable form.

This thrill and the later one as death comes to Harry make The Snows of Kilimanjaro an unusual and intriguing story . Harry's fantasy seems to take place as he dies and perhaps following his death.Harry's fantasy seems very realistic but certain clues may show dream-like qualities. When Compton arrives he says he'd like some tea, but almost immediately states he doesn't really want it.

Later, during the flight, Harry "knew the locusts were coming up from the south. " Following a rain storm that seemed "like a waterfall," Compton turned and grinned at him and pointed at their destination. Perhaps death has finally assumed a human form and grins characteristically at him. He tells his wife that “I’ve been writing.

At this point in the story, Harry’s intention is as good as his deed. In his current situation, Harry feels that he has done everything he can (in intention) to redeem himself and be worthy of Heaven before he dies. This is the final of the three deeds that facilitates Harry’s eventual flight over Kilimanjaro. Harry's mind may have retreated from its death at the end.

The rescue plane arrives and it seems Harry is going to make it. From there the flight

devolves into a dream-like state ending on the white mountain peak.Ernest Hemingway had extensive combat experience. He had seen death occur and may have looked over that precipice that most fear and seen the void below.

Death might come to each man differently, or it might be all the same once it has proceeded past a certain point. Perhaps this is an accurate portrayal of the human mind as it nears its end. Perhaps the instinct for life is too strong and we really have no choice but to "rage against the dying of the light. " One thing is certain: We will each find out when we reach the place where "all is white.

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