Monday, March 18, 2013

Ernest Hemingway's self-commentary in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro"


To preface, I don’t know much about Ernest Hemingway outside of the introduction in the Norton Anthology. “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is now, I think, his only work I’ve even read. So, my speculation here could be entirely pointless, but I couldn’t help but make a connection between the author profile and the story. The profile states that when Hemingway’s father committed suicide, he blamed his mother. (1019) Central to “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is Harry’s recognition that he has wasted his talents and, ultimately, his life procrastinating and enjoying a luxurious lifestyle rather than achieving his ambitions, particularly related to his writing career. While he eventually assumes responsibility for his own regrets, he initially lashes out at his wife, blaming her wealth for his predicament, as if her presence in his life was a debilitating poison for which he had no antidote.

So, I wonder if the two are related. Even further, it’s intriguing to ponder whether such a connection is intentional, or a subconscious expression. Does Harry’s eventual realization that he has nobody to blame but himself for the state of his life indicate a similar change in Hemingway’s perception of the events leading to his father’s death? Was he trying to implicitly acknowledge that through the story, or did it perhaps materialize without his intention? I believe people can learn a lot about themselves by analyzing their own actions, especially with hindsight, so the possible connection between Hemingway’s father and the story interests me. If he wrote “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” without thinking about his father’s death, but then noticed the connection in a similar manner as myself and consequently re-evaluated his thoughts regarding his father’s death, the story is infinitely more interesting to me. However, for all I know, he could have forever maintained the belief that his father’s death was his mother’s fault, making the similarities between that situation and the story purely coincidental, if not a figment of my imagination.

Anyone who knows Hemingway better than me care to chime in on the likelihood of the connection?

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