Harry Character Analysis in The Snows of Kilimanjaro

Harry is an American writer who has spent his recent years married to various rich women in order to live a life of luxury. Stranded while on safari in Africa with his current wife Helen, a thorn scratch leads to his leg becoming infected with gangrene. The infection ultimately takes his life, with story’s narrative focusing on his quarrels with his wife and his death-bed musings until that point. While bedridden, Harry spends his waking hours bickering with the dutiful Helen about whether a plane will come to rescue him and whether he should have an alcoholic drink, while also antagonizing her about her wealth. At times he looks at her with admiration, while at other times he treats her with contempt. His inconsistent manner with Helen reflects his own inner turmoil, as he looks back on his life unsatisfied and seeks someone to blame. In a series of flashbacks, the reader sees that Harry has lived an eventful life but has not written all the stories he had saved up to put down on paper. He experienced the trenches of World War I, spent time living in Paris in poverty and later as a well-financed socialite, and has hunted in woodlands and mountains across continents. At first, he blames his wife and her money for distracting him from his calling. But in the end, Harry decides if it was not her it would have been someone else, and he had destroyed his own talent by living in unproductive comfort and wasting his opportunities. Harry’s life and career bear similarities to Hemingway’s own, and so he is often seen as a reflection of the real-life writer’s own concerns with his unfulfilled potential. Indeed, Hemingway once told a friend that “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” is a study of what could have happened to him had he given in to a life of comfort, like Harry had.

Harry Quotes in The Snows of Kilimanjaro

The The Snows of Kilimanjaro quotes below are all either spoken by Harry or refer to Harry. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

So now it was all over, he thought. So now he would never have a chance to finish it. So this was the way it ended, in a bickering over a drink.

Related Characters: Harry, Helen

Related Symbols: Gangrene

Page Number and Citation: 40-41

Explanation and Analysis:

Early in the story, Harry has been bickering with his wife Helen about whether or not to have a whiskey-soda, as their medical guide advises against drinking when infected with gangrene. Having realized this is truly the end of his life—tghathe has run out of time to do all he had hoped to achieve—Harry deflects his frustrations into quarreling over whether or not to drink. This reflects the way he has, for years, focused on the desire to live in comfort rather than strive to achieve his calling. In this way, Hemingway sets in motion Harry’s, and the readers’, gradual Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam

Now he would never write the things that he had saved to write until he knew enough to write them well. Well, he would not have to fail at trying to write them either. Maybe you could never write them, and that was why you put them off and delayed the starting. Well he would never know, now.

Related Characters: Harry

Page Number and Citation: 41

Explanation and Analysis:

On his death bed, Harry regrets delaying his life’s work now that he has run out of time. As a writer, Harry has been holding onto memories and experiences which he planned one day to write down. He has faced the typical writers’ concern that he cannot achieve his potential, but his excuses here are weak and self-serving. His procrastination, he reflects, has perhaps been a sign that he lacked the skill to do his stories justice in the first place. While that much will forever remain unclear, it’s obvious that he has lacked the dedication that his chosen calling Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam offici

“I love you, really. You know I love you. I’ve never loved any one else the way I love you.” He slipped into the familiar lie he made his bread and butter by.

Related Characters: Harry (speaker), Helen

Page Number and Citation: 43

Explanation and Analysis:

Harry has again been quarrelling with Helen and made her cry. Although he does not actually love his wife, he does not wish to punish her for his own hopeless situation, and easily lies about his affections. The cynical reference to how he makes “his bread and butter” is contrasted against the fact he is not the breadwinner in the relationship. He lives off Helen’s wealth, as he did the women before her. As social norms of the time dictated he should be the financial provider in the relationship, such a situation would be distinctly emasculating; indeed, Harry he despises Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accus

… you said that you would write about these people; about the very rich; that you were really not of them but a spy in their country; that you would leave it and write it and for once it would be written by someone who knew what he was writing of. But he would never do it, because each day of not writing, of comfort, of being that which he despised dulled his ability and softened his will to work so that, finally, he did no work at all.

Related Characters: Harry, Helen

Page Number and Citation: 44

Explanation and Analysis:

Harry considers himself distinctly separate from the wealthy upper-class society into which is relationships have granted him entry. He clearly resents these people yet fails to acknowledge that he has effectively become one of them, readily giving into the comfort such a lifestyle affords. From his deathbed, however, he asserts the rich are dull to observe and also actively dull his ability to write, as Hemingway positions comfort as antithetical to artistic calling. Hemingway also makes use of an interesting pronoun switch here, from “you” to “he.” Harry’s immediate thoughts are within the context of his own past, so “you” Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut oc

And he had chosen to make his living with something else instead of a pen or a pencil. It was strange, too, wasn’t it, that when he fell in love with another woman, that woman should always have more money than the last one?

Related Characters: Harry, Helen

Page Number and Citation: 45

Explanation and Analysis:

Harry has used a series of rich women to provide the luxurious lifestyle that suits him. Hemingway sets Harry’s primary calling, writing, in opposition to his current “career,” bedding wealthy women, through implied word association: pen, pencil, penis. This set up also argues that pursuing a comfortable life and producing meaningful work are mutually exclusive. Although written in the third person, the narrative is from Harry’s perspective as he looks back on his life. His contemptuous tone here shows that he despises himself and his lifestyle. The rhetorical questioning is a means to mock his past choices. This reveals a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostru

And just then it occurred to him that he was going to die. It came with a rush; not as a rush of water nor of wind; but of a sudden evil-smelling emptiness and the odd thing was that the hyena slipped lightly along the edge of it.

Related Characters: Harry

Related Symbols: Gangrene, The Hyena and Birds

Page Number and Citation: 47

Explanation and Analysis:

Harry is talking with Helen when he suddenly feels an ominous foreboding. While he was previously stoic and pragmatic about his death, the significance of his situation suddenly dawns on him. The imagery of this realization illustrates Harry’s perception of death and the nature of his fear. He does not picture death as a dramatic physical force overwhelming him bodily. He dreads death primarily because it brings to an end his psychological existence. It is not the pain or struggle that worries Harry, but the finality of the end. Ultimately, he fears the unknown—the “emptiness.” This “evil-smelling” emptiness in turn Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus volu

There was so much to write. He had seen the world change … He had been in it and he had watched it and it was his duty to write of it; but now he never would.

Related Characters: Harry

Page Number and Citation: 49

Explanation and Analysis:

Harry is lost in his deathbed memories, reflecting on past romances that he thought he would one day write about. Indeed, he has meant to write about many of his varied experiences, but now time has run out. He had chosen comfort over calling, delaying the day he would deliver on his duty to his fellow man and write about their suffering. Hemingway’s choice of wording here is very clear, that a man of talent has the obligation to record and inform the world. Harry’s moral failure betrays those who had shared experiences with him, as well as those who Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eve

“You can’t take dictation, can you?”

“I never learned,” she told him.

“That’s all right.”

There wasn’t time, of course, although it seemed as though it telescoped so that you might put it all into one paragraph if you could get it right.

Related Characters: Harry, Helen

Page Number and Citation: 50

Explanation and Analysis:

As his death approaches, Harry becomes more desperate to write down his experiences. As comfort is no longer a possibility, he becomes more concerned with achieving his calling as a writer. He asks Helen to assist, but she has never learned to take dictation. It’s too little too late, and the blame here lies with Harry, whose rich world experience long ago taught him death is an ever-present reality that could strike at any time. Hemingway illustrates the dangers of procrastination and comfort, as Harry’s potential lies tantalizingly out of reach. The final sentence reflects Hemingway’s long-held view that “one Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur molli

But if he lived he would never write about her, he knew that now. Nor about any of them. The rich were dull and … they were repetitious.

Related Characters: Harry, Helen

Page Number and Citation: 53

Explanation and Analysis:

Harry comes back to the present after a flashback remembering “twenty good stories from out there” of which he had never written. Those memories of suffering, hardship, and adventure contrast sharply with his later life among the rich—people he has decided are not worth writing about. This again implies that comfort is the enemy of art or creativity. Harry also largely dismisses Helen simply because she is wealthy, and therefore, in his view, boring. Harry, and by extension Hemingway, scorns the rich, who he sees as having easy lives devoid of wider significance or meaning. Instead of living such a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi

No, he thought, when everything you do, you do too long, and do too late, you can’t expect to find the people still there. The people all are gone. The party’s over and you are with your hostess now.

Related Characters: Harry, Helen

Page Number and Citation: 54

Explanation and Analysis:

Harry thinks about the many horrific deaths he has seen and reflects on the nature of his own impending end. He decides he wishes only that he was in better company. His dismissive view of his caring wife (thinly) veils his deflected frustration with his own life choices, as Hemingway shows Harry should have stayed on course as a writer rather than living as a kept man. Harry sees life as a series of parties; you get the most you can from the situation and move onto the next one once the fun dries up. He sees rich women only Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam offic

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.

Related Characters: Compton, Harry

Page Number and Citation: 56

Explanation and Analysis:

Harry is hallucinating that a friend called Compie has arrived in a plane to fly him to hospital. But they change course and fly instead toward Mount Kilimanjaro, which Harry understands to be his final resting place. Mountains appear often in the story as settings for great achievements or personal improvement. Here, Kilimanjaro offers the possibility for both. Harry knows he has underachieved in life, but a final resting place on the slopes of the mountain would place him in the ranks of the famed and respected adventurers he wishes to join. The snows also offer the possibility of a Dolorem et quae. Exercitationem non aut. Eveniet dolor non. Incidunt dolores sunt. Ad dolor at. Quia aperiam eligendi. Ut veniam voluptatem. Aperiam consequuntur mollitia. Provident expedita delectus. Occaecati ea suscipit. Optio ut iste. Voluptas aut occaecati. Accusantium recusandae voluptates. Explicabo minus tempore. Nostrum dolor asperiores. Ut aliquam officiis. Unde enim nesciunt. Commodi necessitatibus voluptas. Accusamus eaque omnis. Velit eaque error. Possimus corrupti soluta. Qui a

Harry Character Timeline in The Snows of Kilimanjaro

The timeline below shows where the character Harry appears in The Snows of Kilimanjaro. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

An unnamed man (later revealed to be Harry) says that it’s “marvelous” that something is “painless,” but he apologizes to his unnamed companion... (full context)

Harry tells Helen that it’s “much easier if I talk,” but that he doesn’t want to... (full context)

While Helen insists that Harry won’t die, Harry says that he is currently dying—“Ask those bastards,” he comments, referencing the... (full context)

Harry thinks to himself that it’s really “all over,” and now he’ll never have the chance... (full context)

Helen looks at Harry over her drink and says she wishes they’d stayed in Paris or gone shooting in... (full context)

Helen asks, rhetorically, why all this has happened to them, and Harry answers that he hadn’t treated his thorn scratch properly, leading to the gangrene. Or maybe... (full context)

In a stream-of-consciousness flashback, Harry remembers leaving Thrace on the Simplon-Orient railway from Karagatch after a retreat on the front... (full context)

Nor had Harry written about another cold bright Christmas day, when a soldier had bombed the Austrian officers’... (full context)

Coming back into focus on the present, Harry asks Helen where they had always stayed in Paris, bickering over the details. She says,... (full context)

Helen cries. Seeing this, Harry explains he doesn’t know why he’s being like this, suggesting “it’s trying to kill to... (full context)

It seems Harry has been asleep, as he awakens in the evening. There are more birds waiting in... (full context)

Harry had come to Africa, where he had the best and happiest times of his life,... (full context)

Harry sees Helen heading back to the camp with a ram she has shot. Harry looks... (full context)

...arrives back in camp, saying she has killed the ram to make a broth for Harry, and asks how he is. He treats her far more civilly, saying she shoots “marvellously.”... (full context)

Harry suggests they have a drink. Night falls as they do so, and a hyena passes... (full context)

In another rambling flashback, Harry remembers his time in Constantinople after quarrelling with a previous wife in Paris. He had... (full context)

Harry recalls leaving that same night for Anatolia and later on the same trip riding through... (full context)

Harry recalls being glad to be home after returning from the front, and loving his wife... (full context)

Coming round from his flashbacks, Harry sees Helen has returned from her bath. She suggests he have some broth to keep... (full context)

Harry says he’ll lie out by the fire tonight rather than in the tent as it... (full context)

Slipping back into flashback, Harry remembers his grandfather’s log house on a hill above a lake, which had been burned... (full context)

You could not dictate the Parisian slums Harry had lived in, he thinks to himself, with their flower sellers, the old men and... (full context)

Helen brings Harry back into the present, offering him some more broth. He asks for a drink instead,... (full context)

In another series of flashbacks, Harry returns to Paris, regretting never writing about that Paris, the one he cared about. He... (full context)

Coming to, disoriented, Harry tells Helen to “tell them why.” She doesn’t follow his meaning, asking “Why what, dear?”... (full context)

Falling back asleep, into another flashback, Harry remembers the gruesome fate of bombing officer Williamson in the trenches, his guts spilling into... (full context)

Waking up, Harry contemplates his coming death, which he considers his to be relatively easy. Only, he wishes... (full context)

Harry feels death comes again, this time lying its head on his cot. He tells Helen... (full context)

In the morning, Harry hears a plane and the boys preparing for its landing. Compton arrives, and Harry offers... (full context)

...louder sound and rouses her. She wakes up disoriented and afraid. She looks over to Harry, who has lifted his leg out of the cot and is unresponsive. His dressings have... (full context)

Harry Character Analysis

Harry Quotes in The Snows of Kilimanjaro

“The Snows of Kilimanjaro” Quotes

Harry Character Timeline in The Snows of Kilimanjaro