The Snows of Ernest Hemingway’s Beard

For starters, this was probably the third time I’ve read “Snows of Kilimanjaro” and analyzed it in depth. Funny thing is, every time I analyze it I find something new and draw several different connections than I previously had. I’ve always loved Hemingway’s work. I actually spent the majority of last summer reading A Farewell To Arms and For Whom The Bell Tolls. It’s not just his writing style that I enjoy; it’s more of a combination of his alcoholism and island lifestyle. I digress. Anyways, a point was brought up in class that Harry could quite possibly be his own antagonist and I found that beyond interesting. Every time I’ve read this I have identified “Death” itself as Harry’s demise, but whoever planted the “Harry is his own worst enemy” seed into my head really did a good job. I truly do feel that his internal conscience was the antagonist now. That’s just another reason I love Ernest Hemingway. For a man’s work to survive countless years and still let the reader find new analytical discoveries every time, you know it’s a quality author. Chances are I’m writing my term paper on “Snows Of Kilimanjaro” so I look forward to further delving into Hemingway’s mind.

 

Luis Carrodeguas

Araby

James Joyce’s Araby is a very dark and damp story of the narrator’s, who is nameless, infatuation with a girl.  I say infatuation because I do not believe that what the narrator feels for this girl is a mature type of love in any way.  In the story, the narrator describes himself as playing in the streets with his friends and being called to come inside.  For this reason, the reader can assume that the narrator is of a very young age; perhaps around ten years old, maybe a little older or younger.  At ten years old, every little kid had a crush.  But it was never anything serious or anything mature.  Also, when the narrator describes the girl, he describes her in an almost angelic way.  But the narrator also seems somewhat confused about the way he feels about her.  The narrator uses words such as “confusing” and “disorienting.”  These are not words that are expressed for someone in which a mature love is felt.  An infatuation, however, may use these words.  I believe that this story is of a little boy, the narrator, who THINKS he is in love with a girl, and learns that love is a little more complicated than he believes; and he learned the hard way.

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The Snows of Kilimanjaro

“The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” by Ernest Hemingway, may be one of my favorite stories that we have read thus far. I generally like Hemingway’s writing because it’s short, sweet, and to the point. I dislike writers that have an obnoxious amount of detail, and Hemingway cuts out all the shit and just tells you what’s going on. I also find that Hemingway is easier to read for me, which is good since I’m lazy. The development of the theme of the inevitability of death was interesting to me. The change in Harry’s personality as he accepted the death was fascinating, as he went between insulting his wife to telling her that he loved her, and finally insulting her as he realizes that he doesn’t love her. I feel like a lot of true emotion comes out as death approaches, and I find it to be an interesting topic – how people change as they near death. I loved the symbolism at the end, with the Hyena representing death. As many others might, I always think of the Lion King when I see or read about hyenas. With this image in mind, the end of the story was that much more amusing to me.

An Outpost of Progress

As soon as I started reading “An Outpost of Progress”, by Joseph Conrad, my mind went back to my junior year of high school in my AP US History class, where we read many (way too many, I thought) articles about colonialism. I found it obvious that as soon as Conrad described the two men as “white men” that there would be a big racial division between the characters of the story, and that one side would eventually get screwed over. While the white men are typically seen as the civilized ones that take it upon themselves to educate those that they are colonizing, I found it very interesting how Conrad made the white men, Kayerts and Carlier, the savages in the story. Where you would assume the men to be organized, clean, and honest, the very opposite became apparent as the story progressed, while the natives were able to keep organized and maintain a clean living environment. The gradual degradation of the two was very amusing to me. They seemed to work well together in the beginning, but paranoia and distrust took over and the two were no better than animals trying their best to stay alive. I enjoyed how Conrad was able to portray his dislike of colonialism.

An Outpost of Progress

This short story by Joseph Conrad depicts the path of Kayerts and Carlier and the detriments that money can have in the moral values of a person. The story centers around ivory trading and the two men as they work to increase their companies affluence as well as their own.  Its interesting how Kayerts and Carlier use each other as a safety net or security blanket in this new environment. When Conrad describes them as “blind men… aware of only what came into contact with them, but unable to see the general aspect of things” it conveys the severity of the men’s situation. They knew not what the future held for them, only when something immediately was shown or given to them did they have any sense of worth in their business. Carlier’s foreshadowing of trouble in part 1 leads to ultimate climax of his and Kayerts demise. By the end of this short story we see a relationship that has completely transformed. The trust is gone, leaving only suspicion and animosity between them. Even though they set out to be good people and go through this journey successfully together, the end result is only death and betrayal. When Kayerts sees Carlier dead on the floor covered in blood one would expect him to be distraught or go into shock because his friend was gone, but instead he, “burst into tears of gratitude”. The idea of paranoia and distrust is emphasized in his death.

 

 

 

An Outpost of Progress

In the short story, “An outpoint of progress”, racial themes are very apparent. The first sentence of the novel opens up with, “there was two white men in charge”, automatically letting the reader know that the two white men were in charge, no blacks or native americans are in power. In the late 1890’s it was a common thought for negroes to be considered savage like, dirty, uneducated and uncivilized while white-Europeans were seen as superior and civilized but Conrad reverses that common thought in this short story depicting Kayerts and Carlier with pathetic characteristics such as Kayerts being “short and fat” while Carlier is described as tall, with a large head and a very broad trunk perched upon a long pair of thin legs”. The “Afro-savage”, Makola is depicted with more honorable and civilized descriptions as Conrad adds that he knows both English and French, had good handwriting and “understood bookkeeping”. In this story, the setting can essentially describe the characters. Makola controlled a storehouse where he “pretended” to keep accurate accounts of different trade items. Unlike Makola’s storehouse, the two bedrooms for the white men were described as disgusting and messy as Conrad describes the plank floor as “littered with belongings and open half empty boxes, torn wearing apparel, old boots and all things dirty and broken ”.

The Grand Inquisitor

I love how this story is a frame narrative, it gives the reader so much to think about. The constant questions keep the reader engaged and often ask the questions that I, the reader, would have never thought to ask.At first reading this story seems like an outright attack on religion. But really I believe that it should be read on a level that examines human nature. Can the masses handle freedom and make their own moral decisions or does someone have to step in and make the  decisions for them? Who is to say who’s qualified? I thought it was a very awakening point in the story when Jesus was sent to jail. I think this drew a lot of attention to the insanity of what was actually at the time. I found it very thought provoking that Jesus only said one word throughout the story. I understand the point of having Jesus say nothing as he is observing and we can simply imagine what he is thinking. But perhaps, the author did this because he doesn’t understand the will of Jesus, as no one really can. He does however understand human nature- and it is on this basis of human nature that he focuses. I think this is why it is not a religion bashing story. It is a story of how people can become corrupt and convince themselves, in an elitist point of view, that whatever they are doing is for the greater good.

Snows of Kilimanjaro

While reading Hemingway’s “Snows of Kilimanjaro,” I couldn’t help but keep his other short stories in the back of my mind. Stories such as “Hills Like White Elephants.” Many of Hemingway’s stories are similar in their diction and style but another similarity that often goes unlooked is his consistent use of symbolism. One of the most frequently seen symbols is his use of snow. Snow and winter are usually linked to death and sickness, and Hemingway doesn’t stray of that path at all while writing his stories. In fact, over three fourths of Hemingway’s short stories involve snow, whether or not it is a main symbolic theme though out all of them is something to read and find out. In “Snows of Kilimanjaro,” we see the mountain described as snow laden and the snow is linked to many details that we are in the story such as the storm the main character flies through and also the image of the frozen leopard that is described to us. The frozen leopard is one of the main symbols in this story linked to snow. The leopard is a foreshadow of what is to become of the main character and the fact that he’s described as a frozen carcass sums up the main characters flight at the end of the story.

Revolutionary

After reading The Snows of Kilimanjaro, a thought popped into my mind that really is fact: Hemingway revolutionized writing. He took what was very descriptive and was always beating around the bush, or bogged down with literary devices and just gives the reader the information straightforward. Or is it? What Hemingway does is not make the reader guess what is going on in the immediate surroundings. The setting is strong and concrete. The dialogue is believable and so are the characters. He takes all of the symbolism and imagery and puts it in between the lines in his stories. The reader sees what is going on through the text, but his writing style leads readers to believe and trust that there is going on than what is being said. He mastered the art of being able to tell a story without actually telling it. Before him everything was spelled out for the reader, for the most part. Hemingway took writing and showed that it doesn’t have to be superflous and overwhelmingly wordy in order to be excellent. He was able to do in a few short concise sentences, what some writers were not able to portray in a few pages of writing. His concept of storytelling and human interaction is absolutely impeccable, and he is really able to give a sense of reality. Readers often get lost in his words, in a sense that they are consumed in the characters thoughts and backstories and are not distracted by the setting that Hemingway slyly adds in between his dialogue. He is definitely one of the writers I respect and idolize most.

Bernice Bobs her Hair

This semester I have read a lot of Fitzgerald on my own time. As a huge fan of his writing style and the 1920s I’ve read this story a few times and while it might not be revolutionary or talked about so much, it really might be one of my favorites. The simplicity in plot, mixed with his ornate, loaded and superfluous descriptive language the story flows smoothly and is easy to follow. When Fitzgerald wrote this story I feel like young women and girls would have read this story and would have been able to relate quite easily. Fitzgerald has a way of doing that though. He can take a topic and write about it very descriptively and still be able to have his readers relate to the characters, the scenes, the situations. And yes, I realize that these journals aren’t necessarily supposed to be about my preferences, but Bernice Bobs Her Hair is just one story that I do love reading very much because I feel like it really gives insight to the 20s. It would be like a teenage girl reading a Nicholas Sparks novel in today’s society (except the quality is much better). Overall, even though it is not one of Fitzgerald’s outstanding works I really feel like it should be regarded as a window to the time period and the feelings and atmosphere that encompassed the ritzy jazz age of flappers and dancing. I mean that is what Fitzgerald is known for, right? This is just a very realistic, entertaining and even humorous example.