"Every man's life ends the same way. It is only the details of how he lived and how he died that distinguish one man from another."
-Ernest Hemingway
Is it possible to be both a realist and an optimist, or must one choose? Furthermore, if a person is at full capacity for understanding life and the troubles it accompanies, it is even possible to be optimistic? In contrast, if one is optimistic, must that always mean that they do not have a firm understanding of reality? These are the kinds of questions that may jumble your mind as you read this Ernest Hemingway masterpiece. “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” has marked itself as one of the greatest short stories ever written.
The story is based around two main characters, Harry and his wife Helen. While in Africa on safari, Harry scratches his leg. What should have been a minor injury transforms into gangrene after he fails to properly clean the wound. This is the first time that the reader is introduced to the contrasting personalities of the married couple. Harry views life as a realist, expecting the worst in situations and never truly feeling happiness and content. His wife, on the other hand, looks at the world with optimism and joy. As his wounds begin to worsen, the couple’s outlook on life begins to clash. “Helen attempts to reassure him by telling him that the plane for which they have sent will arrive at any moment, but Harry knows that it is too late. He does not fear death, but he is filled with a sense of unfulfilled ambition.” (Evans). As we learned in our class lesson on Hemingway, he is a man who categorizes people into two different types: insiders and outsiders. According to Hemingway, an insider is one who sees the world as toxic and full of despair. These feelings are often triggered by events in one’s life, such as personal failures or the loss of someone close. In this story, Harry would be titled as the insider. Next, you have the outsider. This is the person who looks at live like it is a blessing. In modern society, we would say this is the type of person who sees the glass as “half full”. The insider looks for the good in everyone and every situation. Often times, these are the people who believe in God and other higher powers. They see a purpose in every event. In contrast, the insider often blames the universe on their problems.
As the story progresses, we learn more about the couple’s past and the two different worlds which they came from. It is evident through the story that Helen truly loves and cares for her husband, however, his feelings for her are quite a bit more complex. “We learn that Helen is the last of several women in his life; and that, though she loves him, he has never really loved her but married her for her money, whereupon he ceased to write and squandered his energies among the very rich, the people of his wife's set.” (Evans).
To conclude the events of the story, Harry continues to battle his physical illness whilst attempting to give himself some mental stability of the event that is sure to transpire; death. He flips through a series of flashbacks in his mind, all while struggling with the current demons he faces. His journey ultimately ends on the mountain, where is finally succumbs to his wounds.
I feel that not only does Hemingway do a great job in showing the reader the different types of people he viewed in real life, but he also offers a substantial amount of symbolism and irony in this story. Harry is not only suffering from a physical setback, but a mental one as well. He discusses that when he first met his wife he was out of capacity for love in his heart, and yet he still married her. Harry, being the non-religious man that he was, may have not believed in life-after-death, but does he succeed in achieving death in his life? “Life without love is death-in-life: this is the real moral of the story. When he lost his ability to love, he lost his curiosity about life as well as his capacity for it.” (Evans). This story is filled with so much more emotion than just a man on a mountain. It contemplates the views of religion, realism and doing what is right.
SOURCES
Evans, Oliver. "'The Snows of Kilimanjaro': A Revaluation." PMLA: Publications of the Modern Language Association 76.4 (Dec. 1961): 601-607. Rpt. in Short Story Criticism. Ed. Lawrence J. Trudeau. Vol. 25. Detroit: Gale Research, 1997. Literature Resource Center. Web. 20 Nov. 2011.
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