Earnest Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is about a dying man, his relationship to his wife, and his recollections of a troubling existence. Hemingway stated that he used the “iceberg principle” when writing, which says, “There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows”(1686). Hemingway used this principle when writing “Snows of Kilimanjaro”, leaving much up to the reader to interpret for themselves. Looking at the main character(Harry)and his circumstances through a modern scope is helpful in figuring out the “seven-eighths” of meaning Hemingway left for the reader to decipher.

Harry is a classic modern character in many ways. One way Hemingway shows this is in his writing style. Hemingway narrates the story through Harry in first person, but uses modern fragmented style by including flashbacks(in italics)of Harry thinking back over experiences in Europe during and after World War I. These flashbacks incorporate another modernistic theme of losing one’s past into “Snows”.

Through out the story Harry(who is also a writer, and parallel to Hemingway himself) often mentions in his flashbacks that he had �

��never written about” certain places or experiences that he had, and how he never will due to being stricken with gangrene. The flashbacks, the stories he most wanted to write, he fears, will die with him. But what Harry has never been allowed to write (the flashbacks in italics) are in fact written due to Harry thinking them, and grant Harry a chance to reclaim his past.

Harry demonstrates the loss of his zest for life in “Snows” as well. Harry shows that he is bored with everything in general. (“It’s a bore… anything that you do too bloody long”(1701)). This boredom is essentially what kills him in the end. When he scratches his leg, instead of working immediately to cure himself, he adopts an “I don’t care” attitude and becomes careless. He didn’t care, so he didn’t take any precautions to prevent infection. Harry shows that gangrene had started inside of him even before he scratched his leg - he had gangrene of the soul before he even reached Kilimanjaro.

Studying different facets of Harry’s personality and his actions make many aspects of Hemingway’s “submerged” text clearer. By studying the main character through a modern scope, one can understand why a certain style of writing was used and discover many of the hidden meanings in the text. Studying these hidden meanings in depth gives the reader a chance to see why Hemingway included the aspects of the story that he did, and pick up on parallels to the author himself.

Harry also di

Some topics in this essay:
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