Death in Hemingway's Novels

Paper Summary:

This paper compares the portrayal of death in two of Ernest Hemingway's books, "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" and "The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber." It specifically focuses on Hemingway's views on money and high society and how they can affect a person's life. The paper discusses the use of symbolism within the two books.

From the Paper:

"Harry is a writer who has more or less stopped writing. The reason behind this is he finally decided to marry his wife, a woman of money and high society. Hemmingway shows the resentment that Francis has towards his wife Helen in their arguments. During one scene he calls her "a rich bitch" (Hemmingway 57) and tells her that it is her money that has made him stray from his goals. He feels as though he has "traded for security his talent as a writer" (Evans 601). He feels as though he can no longer write about the experience of the common man and his usual topics while living the high society life with Helen. He resents her for this, and even though he tries to cover it up, while on his death bed he does make several comments to this point. After telling her he doesn't love her, he covers up by saying "I'm crazy as a coot and being as cruel to you as I can be...you know I love you." (Hemmingway 61). This shows that he knows hurting her will do him no good, but that on his deathbed his resentment cannot be hid. He also tells her he used her money as his armor."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Evans, Olive. "The Snows of Kilimanjaro: A Revaluation". PMLA Vol 76 (1961) 601-07. Modern Language Association, 2001
• Galliard, Theodore L Gaillard, Jr. "The Critical Menageria in "The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber". The English Journal, Vol. 60, No.1 (1971) pp 31-35. National Council of Teachers of English 2002
• Hemmingway, Ernest. "The Short Stories" Short Stories Scribner Classics, New York, New York 1997.
• Short Story Criticism. Ed. Jelena Krstovic. Vol. 117. Detroit: Gale, Cengage Learning, 2009. p148-294.

More papers on Death in Hemingway's Novels:

• Analytical Essay # 6645 : " 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' by Ernest Hemingway"
• Analytical Essay # 16437 : "Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms"
• Book Review # 148034 : "Themes in Ernest Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms"

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