/lit/ - Literature

[Anonymous No.1686721]

Ernest Hemingway’s Snows of Kilimanjaro
Certainly, the writings of Ernest Hemingway present an uncomfortably challenging view of gender relations, quite disparate from the pugilistic and virile personality he projected as a writer. He writes, in The Snows of Kilimanjaro “He had destroyed his talent by not using it, by betayals of himself and what he believed in . . . by pride and by prejudice . . .” in a tone which conveys his protagonist’s fit of rage. This passage does considerably more than convey the frustration of a man at the end of his life, burdened by his failures as a writer. It furthermore betrays a chauvinistic attitude on the part of the old man, as he alludes sarcastically to the female writer of frivolity and inanity and applies these characteristics to himself. The body of this story is rife with these two sided chauvanisms, which betray both anger and hostility toward the opposite sex, as well as frustrations, guilt, shame, and pain in the face of virile archetypes, and ultimately, a question of debt in wealth and work in relation to the concept of man. In The Snows of Kilimanjaro, Hemingway uses his construction of a frustrated, self-reflective and hyper self-aware character, a series of sarcastic literary allusions, and a detente situation which reverses the typical gender roles in order to showcase or exposé the complex nature of the masculine situation.

[Anonymous No.1686725]

Meta-textually, there is quite a good deal happening throughout this short story. While one could dwell on the grand implications of this work on its author’s own psychological situation, for this essay’s purposes, this essayist will limit himself to the understanding of the author’s intent as a work of fiction.
Hemingway’s construction of Harry as a character speaks more to his goal of examining the sexes than it does to any reflections of historical or narrative significance. Or put a different way, the details of Harry’s life through his reminiscence are of less importance— though not entirely lacking— than his act of reminiscence. Harry’s first retrospective section, about a winter spent in the Austrian Alps, can be seen perhaps as a first step away from typical masculine labor and work toward a less favorable life of play and luxury. “When there was no snow you gambled” he reminisces, “and when there was too much [snow] you gambled.” The highly self-aware nature of Harry lends itself to a complete and almost systematic understanding of the masculine psyche. Harry first reacts to a situation, thought, or emotion, then analyses it, and finally extrapolates its implications on his own psychological condition. It is not immediately obvious what these specific implications are, however. In some cases, it seems that Harry’s self-deprecating outbursts are a plea directed toward universe begging punishment for his moral debt of unused talent. “ In others, he seems to place himself in a situation where he is beholden to a stronger woman who has control over him.

[Anonymous No.1686727]

In comparison, Helen is painted as an almost masculine character, herself, though it is unclear whether or not perceives these behaviors as such. “She was still a good looking woman, he thought. And she had a pleasant body,” Harry muses over arrival to camp, her carrying a rifle after having just shot a beast. “But she was not pretty,” he continues. He comes just short of describing her as a handsome woman.
Hemingway’s overuse of the terms “man” and “woman,” signal to the reader that beyond Harry’s projected brutish and virile image, there is a man who is so caught up in the identity of gender that
It seems the only thing Harry is left in the dark about is the complex system of symbols within these italicized passages, which all signal a violent loss of virility. These indicators have an almost freudian— in its application only, not thematic— type of narrative, focusing hard on past events and the unconscious mind, while certain icons are taken to represent very real concepts. Harry recalls a very young version of himself who recalls an episode where his grandfather’s “log house was burned down and all the guns were burned.”
unfinished, fragments, needs paragraphs filled out. any ideas on the direction for this?

[Anonymous No.1686736]

hey all. any glaring inconsistencies?

[Anonymous No.1686748]

no one?

[Anonymous No.1686769]

one last bump

[Anonymous No.1686772]

I thought it was very readable. Keep up the good work.

[Anonymous No.1686778]

>>1686772
thanks guy. well i guess i'll just keep doin what i'm doin then.