The Snows of Kilimanjaro Thematic Analysis Earnest Hemingway gives the reader an opportunity to observe several different themes in “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” such as impending death, conflict, regret, and redemption. Hemingway shows several uses of foreshadowing such as imagery and symbolism to portray the coming death of Harry and utilizes flashbacks as a style to show the regret and conflict that Harry feels. While on the mountain, Harry also has an experience which portrays a sense of redemption for him as he is ascending to the top of the mountain. The central themes of death, conflict, regret, and redemption are clearly shown in the way Hemingway utilizes imagery, symbolism, structure, and writing style. The imagery that was made of the leopard frozen in the …show more content…
The progression of Harry's gangrene symbolizes his rotting sense of self-worth. The gangrene Harry suffers was not intentional, but was due to his own neglect. He failed to clean a cut he received when attempting to photograph an animal in the wild, causing his flesh to become infected and eventually rot and lead to his demise. In a morbid way, Harry's death was self-inflicted. It shows his sense of self hatred and shines a light on the repeated acts of self-betrayal throughout Harry's life. As stated previously, Harry regrets many things about his past; things that he felt he should have done, or maybe even not done at all. The regret Harry feels so passionately about leads to believe that he was not at all satisfied with the way that he chose to live his life. This gives the reader the idea that maybe Harry subconsciously did not disinfect his wound, allowing the gash to lead into infection and kill him. Perhaps Harry somehow intentionally, yet someway unintentionally lead to the end of his own life in an attempt to punish himself for the deeds that he committed during his life span that lead him to feel remorse and