The Snows of Kilimanjaro (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Ernest Hemingway
- First Published: 1936
- Type of Work: Short story
- Genres: Short fiction
- Subjects: North America or North Americans, United States or Americans, Africa or Africans, Twentieth century, Authors or writers, Guilt, 1920’s, 1930’s, Death or dying, Loneliness, Terminal illness or terminally ill, Wealth, Happiness, Camping, campers, or campgrounds
- Locales: Kenya
Reminiscent of Ambrose Bierce's “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” (1891), “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” tells of a writer, Harry, who faces almost immediate death in Africa from gangrene. A rescue plane is to fly in and rescue him, but his prognosis is grave. In the story, the great, white, hovering plane arrives, sparkling in the bright sun.
The fact is that the plane does not arrive. What the reader is told is Harry's final dream. His wife, Helen, comes into the bedroom and finds him dead. The story is important in the Hemingway canon because, like A Farewell to...
[The entire page is 615 words long]
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