Beneath Kilimanjaro

Matthew Brady
EN 209
17 April 2013
Beneath The Summit Ernest Hemingway is widely known for many literary reasons—one being his expert use of symbolism and detail. The detail in his short story “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is no exception. The story is rich with detail, as Hemingway claimed he “used up four novels in one rich short story” (Santangelo 251). This rich use of detail ultimately lays the groundwork for a brilliant idea beneath the text. Throughout the story, the idea of death is examined. Although subtle, Hemingway uses detail and symbolism to comment on religion and its hollow validity.
The beginning of the story opens with an interesting italicized section. It says: “Kilimanjaro is a snow-covered mountain 19,710 feet high, and is said to be the highest mountain in Africa. Its western summer is called the Masai ‘Ngaja Ngai,’ The House of God. Close to the western summit there is the dried and frozen carcass of a leopard. No one has explained what the leopard was seeking at that altitude”
The “House of God” reference juxtaposed with the leopard who was seeking something that nobody can figure out is an interesting critique on religion, a higher power, and the existence or lack thereof. Hemingway may be suggesting that society as a whole often seeks a higher power, but upon arrival, they are met with nothing. Silvia Ammary writes in her article “The Road Not Taken in Hemingway’s ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro’” of the leopard’s “physical perfection, agility, and boldness: it has the power to climb and reach the mountain peaks” (Ammary). Yet, despite the leopard’s beauty and grace, it is ultimately met with death. The leopard, in a sense, symbolizes Harry’s writing career and, more importantly, how he could never reach what he truly wanted. Furthermore, Hemingway may be suggesting through Harry that humans are often times possessed by religion, but, eventually, they are met with nothing, like Harry and the leopard. The primary symbol in the story is the snow-covered mountaintop of Kilimanjaro. The mountaintop, according to Oliver Evans’s article “The Snows of Kilimanjaro: A Revaluation,” does not symbolize death, but rather “life-in-death” (Evans 602). This idea of “life-in-death” gives further meaning to the idea of salvation and life after death. The mountain’s peak, according to Evans, stands for “a kind of perfection that is attainable only in death, through union with nature” (Evans 602). It must certainly be true, then, that if life after death were legitimate (as many religious human beings believe it to be), the leopard would have reached the summit of the mountain. Hemingway chose for the leopard to die on the side of the mountain, close to the summit, for a reason—to comment on religion’s emptiness. There is, in fact, an exceeding amount of truth to claims that Hemingway was not a religious person. In Paul Johnson’s book Intellectuals, he writes that Ernest “did not only not believe in gods and regarded organized religion as a menace to human happiness.” Johnson also writes that Hemingway “ceased to [practise] religion at the earliest possible moment” (Johnson 144). In Carlos Baker’s essay “Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story,” he writes that “Dr. Hemingway 's religion centered on sin and made him a melancholy, stern and sober moralist” (Baker). There is no doubt that the ideas expressed beneath the surface of Hemingway’s “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” are sobering to a religious reader. Although more subtle, the symbolism of snow within the story is important and apparent. The coldness of the snow that is apparent during winter is also apparent in the story, through death and loss. It is often times true that, in literature, death is associated with something cold, and Hemingway chooses to use snow in his story for good reason. The coldness of the snow that covers Kilimanjaro can be associated with a number of things in the story, such as Harry’s cold personality toward his wife, or, more importantly, the cold feeling that Harry (and those who believe in a higher religious power) is met with upon arrival to Kilimanjaro’s summit. The incredible sight that Harry is met with during the end of his life is examined toward the end of the story:
“Then they began to climb and they were going to the East it seemed, and then it darkened and they were in a storm, the rain so thick it seemed like flying through a waterfall, and then they were out and Compie turned his head and grinned and pointed and there, ahead, all he could see, as wide as all the world, great, high, and unbelievably white in the sun, was the square top of Kilimanjaro. And then he knew that there was where he was going”
The detail that stands out the most (when examining the religious implications of the text) is the features of the summit of Kilimanjaro; in particular, how it is “as wide as all the world, great, high, and unbelievably white in the sun.” The color white is often associated with life—not death. Likewise, the reader discovers later in the story that these events ultimately take place when Harry is dead. The description of the summit of Kilimanjaro is an interesting one when examined closely. It almost seems as though the sentence about the summit could describe something else—heaven, perhaps. In many modern day biblical references, heaven is described as a place in the sky, and could be “great, high, and unbelievably white.” Hemingway includes this passage to again elaborate (although not explicitly) on his views of religion and “life-in-death.” As mentioned before in the leopard story, Hemingway uses examples like this to examine religion’s validity and how humans are possessed with salvation after life. Eventually, as the reader finds out, he does not make it to the summit of Kilimanjaro. The plane-ride scene in the story that was previously mentioned helps further promote Hemingway’s views on religion and a higher power. During the final moments of the story, the plane (that is coming to rescue Harry) finally arrives after many promises from Harry’s wife. The reader begins to think that the man is on his way to salvation. But the airlift is not going to take him anywhere, as the reader soon discovers (and was mentioned in the essay earlier). As Santangelo writes in “The Dark Snows of Kilimanjaro,” “Harry knows he is going to the top” (Santangelo 260). However, the “top” is never reached for Harry. This theme rings true in many ways—his writing career, Kilimanjaro, and life-in-death. In the essay “Sartre, Nada, and Hemingway’s African,” Ben Stoltzfus writes that, in the end of “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” “Harry goes to heaven” (Stoltzfus 222). But does he? In my interpretation, Hemingway clearly communicates the fact that Harry never makes it to heaven, and this is illustrated through the airplane-ride. Hemingway leads the reader on, describing an elaborate and romantic sequence of events to what we think we will be a happy ending. However, just as Harry approaches the summit of the mountain, the story quickly switches back to reality, where Harry has died, and his wife looks on in disbelief. Not only does Hemingway reject the romantic notion in literature, he also rejects something larger—the idea of religion and its existence or lack thereof. A more explicit example of Hemingway’s take on religion is included during the middle of the story, in which Harry is reflecting on the things he could have written. The tale includes an army officer who becomes caught in electric wire. The text reads “They had an argument one time about our Lord never sending you anything you could not bear and some one’s theory had been that meant that at a certain time the pain passed you out automatically.” Before this quote, the story tells of the officer begging his officers to shoot him, saying “Shoot me, Harry. For Christ sake shoot me.” Again the reader senses a rejected feeling toward religion, and Hemingway furthers his viewpoint on religion’s authenticity. The imbalance between the officers’ viewpoint on the “Lord” and reality suggests that Hemingway would not accept any religious authenticity. Overall, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is a short story full of symbolism and meaning. Hemingway’s expert use of the aforementioned has made him one of the most decorated authors in American Literature. The rich use of detail and symbolism, in this case, provides an interesting insight into Hemingway’s feeling toward religion. Furthermore, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is an allegorical short story written to, among other things, comment on religion and its hollow validity.

Work Cited
Baker, Carlos. Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story. New York: Scribner 's, 1969.
Stoltzfus, Ben. “Sartre, ‘Nada,’ and Hemingway 's African Stories.” Comparative Literature Studies. 42, 3. (2005): Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 April 2013.
Ammary, Silvia. "The Road Not Taken ' in Hemingway 's 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro." Connotations 18.1-3 (2008): 123+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.
Harding, Jennifer. “’He Had Never Written a Word of That’: Regret and Counterfactuals in Hemingway 's ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro.’” Hemingway Review. 30, 2. (2011): Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 April 2013.
Johnston, Kenneth. “’The Snows of Kilimanjaro’: An African Purge.” Studies in Short Fiction. 21, 3. (1984): Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 April 2013.
Evans, Oliver. “’The Snows of Kilimanjaro’: A Revaluation.” Modern Language Notes. 65,3. (1950): JSTOR. Web. 17 April 2013.
Santangelo, Gennaro. “The Dark Snows of Kilimanjaro.” The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Ed. Benson, Jackson J. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 1975. 251-260. Print.

Cited: Baker, Carlos. Ernest Hemingway: A Life Story. New York: Scribner 's, 1969. Stoltzfus, Ben. “Sartre, ‘Nada,’ and Hemingway 's African Stories.” Comparative Literature Studies. 42, 3. (2005): Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 April 2013. Ammary, Silvia. "The Road Not Taken ' in Hemingway 's 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro." Connotations 18.1-3 (2008): 123+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. Harding, Jennifer. “’He Had Never Written a Word of That’: Regret and Counterfactuals in Hemingway 's ‘The Snows of Kilimanjaro.’” Hemingway Review. 30, 2. (2011): Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 April 2013. Johnston, Kenneth. “’The Snows of Kilimanjaro’: An African Purge.” Studies in Short Fiction. 21, 3. (1984): Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 April 2013. Evans, Oliver. “’The Snows of Kilimanjaro’: A Revaluation.” Modern Language Notes. 65,3. (1950): JSTOR. Web. 17 April 2013. Santangelo, Gennaro. “The Dark Snows of Kilimanjaro.” The Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. Ed. Benson, Jackson J. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. 1975. 251-260. Print.