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What Is The Irony In The Snows Of Kilimanjaro

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What Is The Irony In The Snows Of Kilimanjaro
In the late nineteenth century the beauty of the Mount Kilimanjaro, a snow-covered mountain in Tanzania, became a tourist attraction. The mountain is infamous for being the highest freestanding mountain in the world with a height of 19,341 feet. White snow is covering the tip of Mount Kilimanjaro. Visitors can see the uniqueness and beauty of the mountaintop from miles away. In the 1930's this mountain was a tourist attraction. It was common for people to travel to Africa to visit the safaris and climb the notorious Mount Kilimanjaro (Helama 118-119). In "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," Ernest Hemingway writes with the focus of regret and guilt by using the following: characterization, symbolism, irony and flashback. The main characters, Harry …show more content…
The story begins with the couple stuck in an African safari. At this African safari, Harry has cut his leg on a piece of nature that goes untreated and in return gives him gangrene. Yet, the couple was comfortable at the safari because they had their "servants" and plenty medical and survival materials at their camp. Even with all those necessary supplies, Harry's gangrene continued to spread on his leg and Helen became regretful and guilty (Harding 23). Helen states that she wish they did not come to Africa. She is inferring that Harry would have never gotten gangrene if they had gone on vacation somewhere else. She also mentions that they should have gone to Hungary or back to Paris instead of visiting Mount Kilimanjaro. (Hemingway 827). Helen's guilt leads her to think of alternatives vacation locations because she is sure that the only reason Harry is dying is because she took him on a vacation to Africa. She goes on to explain that she would have gone to any place he desired such as Hungary, for hunting, or Paris; since he enjoyed Paris so much the first time they went (Harding 25). Helen is feeling a tremendous amount of regret at the end of the story. The rescue team never arrived and the gangrene on Harry's leg kills him despite Helen and the servants' best efforts. Helen remorse is because her husband's death was due to something that happened on vacation and she wishes that they had gone to a more leisure destination for a vacation, such as Europe (Harding

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