Hemingway and Death, Parallels and Coincidences

Hemingway Writes "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"




 Why Foreseen Death Was Just Attention To Detail.

by Ronald Borst

Was it just "good writing?" Very good writing indeed. Was it a story about the future? Did Earnest Hemingway write about his death, long before it actually happened?

The words in "Kilimanjaro,", a penchant for deplorable characters, are both accurately ficticious and disturbingly real. The main character in "Kilimanjaro" and the Hemingway character himself, show us a bitter side of human catastrophe, and a view of mankind that is not at all worthy of any acknowledged praise. The character is nauseatingly despicable, and is easily disliked, if not hated.

But the words on paper is what matters, and the banter in this story about dying helplessly alongside a spouse, are cutthroat and eloquent, unforgiving and soul-searching, and ultimately- unnerving.

And beatifully crafted. The tragic beauty of this story, never lets up, and takes the reader from Italy to Paris to Africa and Germany. The scenes are vivid, and the conversations are painfully real.

The fiction short starts out with "The marvelous thing...," and in dramatic fashion ends the reader-gripping opening, "...is that it's painless. That's how you know when it starts."

The tension here grabs the reader, blanketing him with no details and heavy drama. Painless, we are about to see, is far from marvelous. Hemingway wrote this story with inspirations drawn from a safari to Africa in the early 1930s, and the combination of scene and style, Hemingway zeroes in on both the dramatic story and the reader. The peaks(under a Memosa tree) and valleys("the day the truck broke down) sway back and forth with the zest of a storm blown tree, with tension and detail, clarifying the scene and the emotions of the two main characters.

In all of its scenery, some credit is due to the experience of being on safari, as it is doubtful I(or anyone) could write about things I do not know.

Harry, our dying and bed-ridden main character, and his successful actress wife, engage in the dying conversation, on the plains of Africa, after a devastating end to a safari vacation. Her spirit and demeanor is one of optimism, as she never loses faith that help will come. And from her opening statement, "I wish you wouldn't," her character is in constant conflict with our dying victim, the alcoholic and sexist, failed writer, whose brashness clashes with her faithful and naive hope.

The story, told in alternating views, first and third person, with the scene set under the shade of an oasis-like desert tree and in Harry's "writings"(thoughts), calmly progresses through Harry's on-again-off-again cohesiveness, as he struggles against the spread of infection and the realities of death. Delusions of "death" itself are alongside reminiscing memories of Harry's and his wife's history together. Magnificent and tragic stories of war and death are intermingled with reflections of self. Harry analyzes his marriage, his writing and lack thereof, and dreams about his dreams. 
 

Where, if Hemingway committed suicide in the 1960s(30 years after "Kilimanjaro"), is the connection? And is it even possible to assume that the vision was in fact, death. The story itself, is layered with death and scenes of dying. Hemingway tells us of Harry's wandering, deathly thoughts and introduces the reader to "Williamson," a soldier who gets "hit by a stick bomb," and dies in his sleep, but not before begging to be mercifully shot.

The theme is obvious, and the scenes are vivid, with the reader knowing, with crisp clarity, that Harry is for sure going to die, and that at this moment, Harry has regrets.

Hemingway's public history is well documented. His blatant discrimination towards women and his pursuit of extreme adrenaline in personal endeavors, are known best. What isn't so talked about is the Pulitzer(1952) and Nobel(1956) winner's family history, or Hemingway's own experiences in war.

Hemingway entered World War I at an early age, nineteen, after seeing a Red Cross advertisement. Stationed in Italy, he won the Italian Silver Medal of Bravery, for carrying an Italian soldier to safety. Wounded himself by shrapnel, Hemingway was forced to learn the realities of battle, firsthand. He would later report on the Spanish Civil War and World War II.

Hemingway often used his real-life experiences to frame his writing, and "Kilimanjaro" is no different. With his second wife, the writer went to Africa and during that expedition, Hemingway became ill and was evacuated by plane, which served as the inspiration for Kilimanjaro. But in Hemingway, it was more. His personal history tells of multiple "close calls" and a sort of daring and swash-buckling persona. One that survived many trials of adversity. His marriages attest to that, as well as his philandering. To his credit, he did finally end up with one long standing marriage.

In his sometimes apologetic reflections, Harry seems to mimic what would be a natural parallel to the author. Hemingway's treatment of women and maybe his own women as well, show up in Harry's foggy and dying ramblings.

And maybe, given Hemingway's own family history(multiple suicides in immediate family), the story about dying on an African savannah , is in fact a prelude to Hemingway's own death, in Ketchum Idaho, 30 years later.

Throughout the story, the initial tension about "talking," keeps its momentum, with Harry in a constant state of judgement and vile. Early, the reader listens as Harry tell his wife to "shoot off" his gangrene leg, and later, in his rantings, we see Harry's contempt:

"She shot very well this good, this rich bitch, this kindly caretaker, and destroyer of his talent."

When Harry awakes from a nap, and the two have a drink, the banter is much more forgiving, polarizingly nicer. It is this reflection, accompanied by the rage of regret, that we see this story become an intense study of both people, and a life in the balance. The allegorical black and white, is clear, in times of loving conversation as well as times of bickering, and one cannot help but to gravitate towards an actual admiration for the character, and for Hemingway. He is human, and the whole point is that Harry is human, however despicable.

Second chances are indeed real, and much thought(from me), has led to this conclusion: Hemingway did in fact, write about his own "dying," but from a differing perspective than you may think.

It is as much his own past as it is all men's pasts. It is simply a story of regret, and of a last battle with the finalness of death. In our regret, we consider decisions previous, especially the most damaging and consequential ones. We live and die by our regrets, and the worst regrets, make you wish you were not alive.

But the reader also gets to see the wife's regret, "'I wish we'd never come,' the woman said. She was looking at him, holding the glass and biting her lip." And what a line it is. Her nervousness and definite regret, albeit only short-term, are palpable, and I could feel the slinking down in a chair sort of feeling here.

Moments later, the scene is at its peak, when she asks if he loves her, and he replies, "No. I don't think so. I never have."

It is this scene, that the reader feels not so much sympathy for her, but instead contempt for Harry. The tension and conflict is so great, the reader might ask if Harry is even a likable character, or even further, should we hasten his impending death?

The scenes are fluid, and the shade of the Memosa tree with its backdrop of vultures and hyenas, lend a sort of hanging over feel to the story, like a see-through fog that isn't going away. Much like the vultures and hyenas. Death is not going away.

And that brings us to the crucial part, the Hemingway's descriptive portrayals of death, both in human view, and in an imagined grim reaper, which Hemingway described as, "Never believe any of that about a scythe and a skull." What a definitive line, and in my first impression, the line was a metaphor of what men think about as they get old, and especially when facing imminent death. To me, it is saying, "Be careful what you wish for, and what you trust as fact."

The end, according to Harry, and much like his general attitude, also is a “bore,” and the reference from Harry, that all this dead, has made the whole process quite a bore, is a testament to the tiredness of a wildly active mind. It is this allegorical theme repeated, as Hemingway counters every story progression with a sort of tension filled cat and mouse.

And deep in the darkest parts of our thoughts, we know undoubtedly, the cat always gets the mouse.

The beginning of this fiction short contains a foreward about the peak itself, Kilimanjaro, and a reference to a leopard carcass, frozen in the 20,000 foot snow caps, simply states that, "No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude."

And maybe no one of us, can explain death. The theme of suicide is even less explainable. And in Hemingway's family history, almost one-half dozen in the last 70 years has committed suicide. Hemingway's alcoholism and exposure to war, probably helped to facilitate those traits in the finals days of his life, a life of awards, failures, conquests, women, public writer spats, and depression.

In the midst of all the tragedy, Hemingway was often very highbrow and sporting. He traveled the world as a journalist and then again as a writer. Even the rich, it would seem, are haunted by what they lack.

In the end, Hemingway's suicide, his escapades in Cuba(he once aimed to destroy German subs with his private boat), his love of many women, and his library of travel details, Hemingway was able to write extraordinary stories.

“The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is no different. It is a story of a man, an adventurous and luxurious man, a man with many regrets, and quite honestly, it is about a man that in spite of all his detestable traits, Harry is a likable sort.

And that fact is also a deathly sort of finality. Hemingway, at times, is an entirely likable guy. I like to think, that he would like us too.

Highly recommended, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Earnest Hemingway.

Attribution:

Jed Wyman Handout of “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” by Earnest Hemingway

Wikipedia, “Earnest Hemingway”

The website “Abebooks” at www.abebooks.com, “Ten Facts about Earnest Hemingway”

Other stories about death, including “The Lottery”(Shirley Jackson) and “For Esme- With Love and Squalor”(J.D. Salinger) and the novels "The Road"(Cormac McCarthy) and "Memories of Running"(Ron McLarty)

Personal experience with suicide, and depression.