Despair and Alienation in The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Winter Dreams

Ernest Miller Hemingway is known for his unique style and theories of writing, especially the iceberg theory. In the Death of the Afternoon, Hemingway says that “The dignity of movement of an ice-berg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. A writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.” (92) Simple words, vivid images, rich emotions and deep thoughts are the four basic elements of the iceberg theory. Talk about how these stories illustrate four elements of theory. In both short stories, Hemingway describes scenery and characters with simple words directly to give readers a vivid image. Under this sketch, readers can know characters’ emotion and get the theme through their imagination and analysis.

Throughout his novel Into the Wild, Jon Krakauer’s own perspectives shape the way he tells the story of Chris McCandless. Krakauer’s writing style allows for varying interpretations of the primary motivations of his protagonist, ranging from sympathizing with Chris to perceiving him as selfish. This is especially evident when Krakauer describes an interview with Walt McCandless about his son’s death seven weeks after Chris’ body was found. However, various interpretations of Krakauer’s work can lead to differing points of view on the subject. While Krakauer’s description of Walt’s emotional reaction to his son’s death could indicate Chris’ selfishness in abandoning his family, it could also serve to justify Chris’ decision to embark on his journey into the Alaskan wilderness.

We all have hidden inner conflicts that we have buried deep within our souls. In the story “Hunters in the Snow written” by Tobias Wolff he gives us greater understanding of what adults experience and the extreme limits that people will go through just to be accepted, the author stimulates our senses with the use of very descriptive examples using figurative language. The writer uses weather for the overall setting of the story “Tub waited for an hour in the falling snow”. The setting which the author obviously uses weather takes place during the winter; this determines that there is some darkness and cold death possibly being present.

Houston’s “A Blizzard Under Blue Sky” explores and exhibits the idea of psycho-physical experience of being in the natural world to heal one’s psychological and emotional ailments through its invigorating contact. The narrative, by drawing on the theme of depression, relates how the narrator, seeing “everything in [her] life…uncertain” (Houston 185), goes winter-camping alone in the high country; undergoes a chilling near-death experience; and gleefully returns reinvigorated with the memory of “joy”, and “hopefulness” (188). Though highly personalized in the narrative, the narrator’s experience of depression is a common phenomenon and, Houston, in this sense, seems to

Tobias Wolff, in his short story Hunters in the Snow, creates a world where moral lines are blurred to the point of nonexistence and his characters have no real guidelines or goals. The subjects of their aimless pursuits seem to be as absent as the deer whose tracks have been covered by the snow. This colorless, pointless world fosters a sense of hopelessness, and each man’s purpose is as impossible as road signs under the fallen snow to identify. Without any moral guidelines, the men resort to aggression to assert their dominance and self-worth, associating affection with weakness and constructing friendships that are short-lived. Kenny’s accident alludes to the futility of a self-centered approach to life; however, even in the triumphs of

“He talked a lot about the past, and I gathered that he wanted to recover something, some idea of himself perhaps, that had gone into loving Daisy. His life had been confused and disordered since then, but if he could once return to a certain starting place and go over it all slowly, he could find out what that thing was” (Fitzgerald 110).

Today, 2018, those who interact in everyday society will come across many citizens of all ages that suffer from many incurable diseases, addictions,  and mental illnesses. That, or they do not seek help from others for the disorders they obtain. If one were to essay the works by F. Scott Fitzgerald, they will come to find that he discusses his experiences and sufferings with an addiction, dealing with close loved ones that also suffer from mental illnesses, alike his wife who suffered from anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts and tendencies, and he writes about characters who don’t have any problems, the characters he wishes he were like. Despite his addiction with alcohol and problems with money, Fitzgerald was a large dreamer, he craved

F. Scott Fitzgerald, famous for his work, The Great Gatzby, seems to always include one recurring theme within his works; the consequences of alcohol. But in his short story, Babylon Revisited, he offers another addition to one of the consequences. The idea that even though you have successfully changed your ways, your past determines how people view you, and what follows can have major effects on your future.

A common theme in literature is the human demand to know, explore and penetrate the unknown. Characters in stories commonly search to find truths about existence and the meanings related to life. Four stories that exemplify that theme are The Great Gatsby, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro”, “Desiree’s Baby” and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. This group of stories all has characters that search to explore the unknown and expand their personal knowledge.

Fitzgerald’s success came along with the roaring 20s, also known as the Jazz age. His fame and fortune skyrocketed during this era with his first novel, This Side of Paradise being a hit. However, the lifestyle of the rich and famous during the Jazz age would prove to provide an insurmountable heartbreak. Fitzgerald claims that the Jazz Age “flattered him and gave him more money than he had dreamed of” (qtd. In “Broken Dreams” 42). With this new fame and money, he began living very recklessly. He threw extravagant parties and “rode on the roofs of taxi cabs and jumped into fountains... and got drunk at countless parties.” Fitzgerald said, “I had everything I wanted and knew I would never be so happy again.” (QUOTE). He finally had a taste of the glamor of the American Dream, and he absolutely loved it. However, this lifestyle was expensive, one that Fitzgerald, even with all his money could not afford. He lived so irresponsibly that he was often in debt. He wanted more of this lifestyle, but it was the lifestyle of the American Dream that eventually lead him away from the American Dream. He began chasing the American Dream just so he could

Ernest Hemingway was an intricate and dedicated writer who devoted a significant portion of his life to writing multiple genres of stories. Throughout his stories, the similarities in his style and technique are easily noted and identified. Two of the short stories he wrote contain themes and motifs that specifically explain the plotline. The first story, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro,” sets its scene in the depths of a desolate area in Africa, where the main characters, Harry and his wife, decide to make their home. After living there for a few years, Harry ventures out and falls into a thorn bush, thus infecting his leg with gangrene. A few weeks later, he finds himself on the brink between life and death, unable to treat such a severe

Disillusionment does not merely occur in only novels; every single individual to walk the Earth will experience mental displeasure at some point within their lives. Nevertheless, many choose to let unfortunate events circle within their souls and become encrypted into their memory. Once this happens, the role of aimlessness takes its course, adverse fate reigns, and the feeling of disenchantment dwells in the mind. Hemingway’s novel, The Sun Also Rises, grasps this very subject in a subliminal way; one must accurately analyze Hemingway’s somber tone and sparse writing style in order to find the hidden symbolism and themes captured within this literary work. His protagonist, Jake Barnes, has certainly experienced prodigious pain, but

Fitzgerald’s “Winter Dreams” and Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants” exemplify both author’s different focus and account

There is perhaps no greater an example of exemplary Modernist writing than that of Ernest Hemingway. The Modernist movement defined itself with its opposition towards traditional American values. With a tendency to suggest rather than state, show rather than tell, and focus on questions rather than answers, the Modernist movement changed the course of American Literature, and one of the most influential members of that movement was Hemingway. Amongst a sea of notable works, Hemingway's “Snows of Kilimanjaro” serve as a testament to the subtle craft of the Modernist style of writing. The symbolism and dialogue within the “Snows of Kilimanjaro” is superb and helps reinforce the Modernist themes of Hemingway's writing. Hemingway frames Harry's wife in a way that negatively equates her with American wealth. Hemingway then suggests that such wealth ruins the natural gifts of a writer, symbolized through Harry's gangrene. This is further expanded upon with Harry's salvation in realizing that his writing is what was truly important, a salvation symbolized within the snow leopard and the mountains of Kilimanjaro themselves. Hemingway's symbolism is well constructed, and helps to illustrate the theme of the dangers of corrosion under wealth, while expressing salvation in purpose.

I chose to read the novel “Snow” by Orhan Pamuk for my book report. The novel “Snow” is about a poet named Ka who is a political exile living in Germany. Ka travels to Istanbul to attend his mother’s funeral and is asked by a friend at a local newspaper to travel to the town of Kars to write about the municipal elections and a string of suicides being committed by Islamist women who are being forced to take off their headscarves at school. Ka has been experiencing writers block while living in Germany. Upon his return to Kars, poems begin to start coming to him. Throughout the novel, Ka has poems come to him after a significant event occurs or when something inspires him. Ka ends up writing 19 poems during his stay in Kars. When the