Literary Analysis

One of Ernest Hemingway’s short stories “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is one of his greatest masterpieces. Hemingway wrote it after he had taken a safari to Africa and was so captured by the place he had to start writing based on his experiences there. The main character Harry is the protagonist of the story. Harry is facing death due to an injury he endured on his trip and knows he is going to get gangrene. For most of the story he spends drinking and insulting his wife Helen, whom he married for money and doesn’t love. He is so drunk throughout the story that he goes back and forth saying “I love you” or “I don’t love you” to Helen because self-consciously he doesn’t love her, just her money. Harry has a lot of remorse towards his life and Helen because he feels like he was held back by her from what he really wanted to do which was writing. “But what Harry is never allowed to write, the pieces of "Snows" in italics, is in fact written. How can Harry be viewed as a failure when what he most desires to write is, in the end, readable?” (Gagne para.6). “While he rests, she shoots a ram. Harry reminisces about the people and places in his past. He has multiple flashbacks and contemplates all the writing he had one day hoped to do about the many experiences he has accumulated in his life but realizes nothing more will be accomplished. He senses the heavy presence of death” (“Literature” para. 2). He is about to be rescued by a plane and then comes to realize he is only dreaming of his rescue, and when he realizes this he knows he must be dying. When Harry goes back to dreaming his wife finally realizes that he has died in his sleep, and then the strange sounds of a hyena crying out are heard as if symbolizing his death (“Literature” para. 3). The overall story is about Harry trying to put his life back on track. The safari is the idea of bringing him back down to reality after marrying into riches. Harry represents Hemingway in many ways. Helen is an easy comparison to Hemingway’s second wife Pauline, who also was rich. Throughout the story Hemingway writes in italics to represent flashbacks that Harry is having and hopes of a brighter future within his past flashbacks. Kilimanjaro and the plains he was dying in contrast different ideas. Kilimanjaro represents the promise of future and life, while the plain represents pain, regret, and death. When Harry dies his spirit goes up to the mountains, where he really wanted to be in the first place, where his dreams lived. Kilimanjaro to Hemingway meant, “House of God” and that is exactly where Harry wanted to end up. After some research it is found that no one really knows the true meaning of Kilimanjaro, but the assumptions are all close to Hemingway’s. Harry shows in the story that he knows he is going to die and signifies it in three ways; when he saves his morphine pill for his friend, when he opens up to his wife, and his flashbacks. The leopard Harry sees in his out-of-body flight represents immortality and life symbolism for what Harry really always wanted. “In considering the author's writing style, the piece has a wonderfully poetic and lyrical quality with lots of figurative language and symbolic imagery to bring the story coherence and unity in illuminating the theme of glorious sadness as experienced by sudden, unexpected death. The narrative structural tense shifts back and forth flawlessly from direct conversations in first person, to long winded thoughts of Harry’s recollections in third, then occasionally changing back to second to give the reader an authentic feel of exactly how it might feel to be there in the desert with him” (Paniotte para. 2). Hemingway’s way of writing really captures the audience and only makes you want to read more. His writings are beautiful and beautifully written, the way he uses the mountains and animals to symbolize life in the story is absolutely amazing.

Works cited: 

Paniotte, Magdalene. "'The Snows of Kilimanjaro' by Ernest Hemingway." Examiner.com. Examiner.com, 6 Nov. 2010. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

"Literature, Arts, and Medicine Database." Nyu.edu. Scribner, 12 May 2004. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.

Gagne, David. ""The Snows of Kilimanjaro": A Written Work." The Snows of Kilimanjaro. Eduhi.at, 24 May 2006. Web. 28 Nov. 2012.