In 1954, the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters awarded that year's Nobel Prize in Literature to the 55-year-old American writer Hemingway. At that time, the American media humorously reported that the Nobel Prize needed to pay tribute to Hemingway before he died.
Indeed, Hemingway is a "young man" compared to the average age of the writers who won this award, who is about 65 years old. It's just that his life is full of legends and adventures, and in the year of winning the Nobel Prize, he just suffered two air crashes.
Whether it is literary creation or real life, Hemingway has always been known for his "tough guy" style. Behind this masculine title is his real experience of facing death many times and miraculously surviving. "The Snow of Kilimanjaro" is a novel that confronts death, and Hemingway presents the reader with a pilgrimage road to the snowy mountains, and at the end of the road, there is a reflection and awakening about life.
Hemingway
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >01 Reality is dying, and the ideal is reborn: reality and imaginary reality overlap, showing the protagonist's contradictory and conflicting life</h1>
"The Snow of Kilimanjaro" narrates the reflections and dialogues of the male protagonist Harry before his death. He and his wife Helen came to Africa to hunt, and after accidentally injuring his leg, he contracted ulceration, which was a fatal disease in those days. The story follows the main line of Harry's death, and in the dialogue between the two, Harry's memories and reflections are constantly interspersed. In the end, Harry completes the repentance of all the unbearable experiences of the past, returns to his original intention, and dies in a dream.
The combination of virtual and real is an important feature of the novel, Harry's life story, which is disrupted and placed in consciousness, needs to follow the character's ideas closely to understand his life.
Harry's vitality is lost like an hourglass, and the story moves forward. The chain that connects the story is the dialogue between Harry and Helen in reality. The consciousness that constantly bubbles up in the mind is the fragments embedded in the dialogue that make up the complete portrait of Harry.
Harry's memories include the adventures of his youth, the adventures of his military expeditions, the killing and morality of war, and the entanglement of lust with his lover. Scenes of life flashed without any connection, and he mourned in each passage of consciousness, saying, "He didn't write a word about those." Returning to reality, Harry is confronted with a charming and beautiful wife, a careful servant, wine and delicacies, but the luxurious life maintained by deception against his will is both ironic and sad at the end of his life.
The real life of wealth and ease cannot make Harry feel that the world is worthwhile, but the illusory memories and imaginations are more realistic. He looked back aimlessly on his life, and the hard and bitter past made him feel at ease.
In the memory, there is another Harry who is very different from what he sees. Born in the lower classes of Paris, the poor streets nourished his literary talents, and he once dreamed of using the pen as a knife to pour out social reality, laughing at the stupidity and depravity of the rich, but he could not resist the temptation of material pleasures. The novel does not evaluate Harry, but the reader clearly sees a contradictory Harry. He had a loyal love, but he shuttled between rich lovers, using lies to climb the ladder of wealth. He has a natural sympathy for the weak, hates the absurdity and cruelty of war, and is reluctant to live a soft life, abandoning the original intention of writing about social reality. He longs to remove the "fat of the heart", regain his perception of life, and pick up the writer's pen again, but the way to purify the mind is another exotic sightseeing adventure accompanied by his wife and servants.
Death persecutes life and tortures the soul. The sudden change of events and the imminent disaster have given Harry, who is lost in money, an opportunity for calm reflection. Spiritual distress comes not only from death threats, but also from the denial of real life within.
Harry's stream-of-consciousness image is recorded on a video recorder, true, accurate, and without superfluous voiceover. The past is scattered and disorderly, just like the wild thoughts of a dying person. Objectively describing events and giving readers the greatest space for feelings is also the characteristic of Hemingway's "iceberg theory" - recording facts, leaving the power to see through the heart and speculate on the connotation to the reader.
Reality and imagination overlap, and the reader gets to know Harry and feels the pain of the loss of his life, but not only the pain. Years of extravagant life have quietly blunted his perception, but under the impact of death fear, Harry regained his sensitivity. He questioned and questioned himself over and over again in his heart, in search of answers to the salvation of his soul.
Promotional poster for the movie "Snow in Kilimanjaro"
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >02 Reflection and awakening at the end of life: external focus narrative reality, zero focus on structural consciousness, and inner focus highlights the inner character</h1>
In his book The Narrative Discourse (1972), the French narratologist Renette proposed the concept of "focalization" to explain the narrative of the novel.
"There are three types of focus in narrative works: zero focalization, internal focalization, and external focalization." Zero focus" is observed by an omniscient narrator; "inner focus" observes the story through the eyes of the characters in the story; "outer focus" is observed from outside the story, without penetrating the character's heart. ”
"No," the man said. "I don't think so. I never thought of it that way. ”
"I don't want anything to stay," the man said. "I don't want anything left behind me."
The novel uses "external focus" to narrate the dialogue of characters in reality, without inner description or subjective emotional portrayal, and even sometimes even the names of the characters are omitted as "men say" and "women say". Harry wants to flee and betray the reality in front of him, and the "outside focus" perspective strengthens the reader's strangeness to the plot and characters, and with the blunt wording in the dialogue, Harry's distance from the rich life and the beautiful wife is more distant, and closer to the illusory consciousness that arises from the depths of the heart.
"Zero Focus" is the most used perspective in the novel to construct Harry's mental activity. The "inner perspective" appears only occasionally and is also used for inner depictions. The switch between "zero focus" and "internal perspective" is an important feature of the use of narrative perspective in novels. Whenever Harry recalls the idea of youth and feels remorse and self-blame rise in his heart, the perspective suddenly switches to "inner focus", the third person is changed to the second person, and the reader seems to question Harry, who has betrayed his ideals, together with another out-of-body Harry.
"He sold the remnants of his old life in exchange for security and comfort"
"And when you're not in love for ten minutes, the more you value money."
Harry recalls his adventurous life, when he was still a young man who fought the sword, following the troops from south to north. He carefully observed the snowy mountains of Bulgaria, secretly recorded the lives of those who were at the mercy of fate, made friends with the lumberjacks, and drank beer in the bar where the countrymen gathered. He wanted to write what he had seen in the book, and that was his dream and glory.
Between "selling the remnants of the old days" and "only looking at money", "zero focus" transitions to "inner perspective". Before that, the reader is like observing an other, seeing Harry's misguided experience, but only the behavior of the characters. After this, the reader, or Harry, reveals the truth under the surface and self-criticizes the greed and hypocrisy in the soul. The "inner perspective" makes the critique more profound.
Stills from the movie "Snow in Kilimanjaro"
"You died like this, in a whisper you couldn't hear... You've ruined everything. But maybe he won't. ”
In the vast expanse of the African savannah, Harry's soul gradually withdrew. He recalled the true love he had embraced hard, and unlike the rich Helen, they could not give him a life of servant service, but always brought him sadness and hangovers, but they were sweet to recall. He also remembered the first time he had seen the battlefield and dead bodies in Istanbul, and he was too kind or too weak to return to his hometown and did not even dare to mention the battle.
Under the change of personality and perspective, the reader feels that it is the past Harry who is dying—addicted to money, pleasure, and the soul is corroded; while the other Harry is separated from the body, throwing off the burden and being reborn. The change from second to third person marks Harry's split, with purity and ideals extracted from the flesh and corruption left with depravity and filth.
"You can dictate this, but you can't dictate to the castle parapet square, where the flower sellers dye their flowers on the street, and the paint is everywhere on the road."
Eventually, Harry's mind returns, seeking peace and tranquility inward. His thoughts swept over and over the street of his birth, looking back at the poor but warm hut that belonged to him. Harry remembered the forest where the blackberries had been picked, the stream where salmon had jumped out of the water, and he knew the drunken old man, the girl who showed off the style at the door of the dance hall, which was where Harry really lived. Although in reality he was on a money-paved African hunting trip, but now that he was going to die, he longed to return.
Spiritually reborn Harry, back to the starting point of life. At this time, the "inner focus" is like Harry's eyes, leading the reader into the hometown that stimulates his desire to write, through the beautiful countryside, the noisy and lively crowds, and to the pure place of Harry's heart.
After scoping the most cherished images of his life in his mind, Harry felt tired and relieved at the same time. He finally no longer had to be locked in the neck of money, became a vassal of the rich, and in his mind he had returned to the past and regained his life, and now he was no longer afraid of death and did not feel pain. He had a dream — to accomplish the true purpose of this trip to Africa, to worship the snow-capped mountains and purify the fat of his soul.
Examining the inner "inner focus" found an outlet for Harry in his predicament. On the brink of life and death, he took a fantasy rescue plane, broke through the fog, reached the clouds, and saw the snow peaks of Kilimanjaro, huge, white, and eternal, where the best home for innocent souls. At this moment, he let go of his desires, and he also let go of his unwillingness; he let go of hatred and regret. Under the pale golden sunset, Harry completed his self-redemption before the dividing line between contradictions, life and death.
Mount Kilimanjaro on the African steppe
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >03 Excellent works contain the character and beliefs of the writer: Hemingway and Harry's various fits reveal his attitude towards life</h1>
The life experience of the protagonist of the novel is highly compatible with Hemingway, and their professions are writers; Harry lives in Paris, And hemingway also has a long life experience in Paris, and the famous work "The Sun Also Rises" is published in Paris; they have all experienced the war, Hemingway participated in the First World War and was injured, this experience has played an important role in his creation of novels; in terms of emotional entanglement, they have all had several marriage experiences and multiple lovers.
The similarity between the characters and the author's experiences gives us reason to believe that Hemingway projected his personal experiences onto Harry. Through Harry's path to redemption, perhaps we can also glimpse Hemingway's thinking about life and death.
(1) The "tough guy" life of blood and sweat
Harry once had the drive and the blood, eager to change the world with a pen. He joined the army and honed himself in the war. For a rich life experience, come to the forest mine, come into contact with all kinds of characters, and dig up stories of sadness or joy. The young Harry had nothing but ideals, and he was neither timid nor lazy, calling for a storm.
Fighting the outside world and thinking sharply in the midst of pain is also Hemingway's usual style. The battlefield is a testing ground for Hemingway's willpower and perception. He fought in World War I, World War II, the Greek-Turkish War, and the Spanish Civil War. His hobbies include boxing, bullfighting, fishing, and hunting, all of which are highly competitive and confrontational.
Confrontation led to Hemingway's "tough guy" style and writing style, and his most famous works, "The Sun Also Rises", "For Whom the Death Knell Tolls", and "The Old Man and the Sea" all originate from these experiences. Perhaps because of this, in "The Snow of Kilimanjaro", there will be a young and fearless Harry, whose compromise and apostasy are tragedies that are more mournful than heart-dead in the eyes of writers.
(2) Death is not a result, it is a process
When you have answered all the mysteries of life, you desire death, for it is only another mystery of life. Life and death are two of the noblest manifestations of bravery. — Gibran
At the beginning of the story, Harry is afraid of the passing of life, and the vultures and hyenas disturb him. "People who have not lived adequately are most afraid of death", and Harry is angry with his wife. Death forced him to reminisce about his life, and the simple ideals and conscience of his youth infected Harry, who was in vain in the floating world. When I woke up suddenly, everything around me was no longer abominable. In the process of dying, Harry learned forgiveness and understanding.
Hemingway borrowed Harry's words about the meaning of death. Life is a one-way ticket with no return, and the journey itself is a philosophical landscape. Standing at the end and looking back at the road ahead, the last journey is especially insightful. Since no one can hide from the end of life, it is better to be honest in vain.
(3) Attitude towards the cause of literary creation
In Harry's stream of consciousness, there are memories of world war I, the Dada Movement, inflation, and the phenomenon of general poverty in society, and these reflections on more macroscopic social phenomena divorced from the individual level are not so much what Harry longs to write about as the author's concern for the times and society.
Dostoevsky said that the best, the greatest, the deepest thing in the mind of a thinker is destined to be brought to the grave only. Harry's mind "did not write" was repeated 9 times, which may be Hemingway's real anxiety, and he must pass on the wonderful story in the genius mind, the keen thinking that penetrates human nature.
Hemingway was known as the representative of the "lost generation", and he realized that war, capitalism, communism, and various social trends made the young generation feel confused, confused, and even gradually moving toward nothingness. Hemingway's novels always focus on the problems of the times, accurately expressing the confused heart of the times, allowing readers to get inspiration and thinking from stories with a sense of reality. This is Hemingway's literary creation concept, and it is also a writer's value pursuit.
Hemingway's Short Story Selection of Kilimanjaro's Snow
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >04 epilogue</h1>
Eighteen years after the publication of The Snow of Kilimanjaro, Hemingway ended his life at his Cuban home with a double-barreled shotgun that had accompanied him for many years. Some people say that Hemingway was injured too much, and in his later years he could not bear the pain of illness and committed suicide. It is also said that his suicide stemmed from family genes, and Hemingway's father, sister, and brother all committed suicide, so Hemingway's genes contained suicidal tendencies.
Either way, the trigger was ultimately pulled, but Hemingway, who had faced danger for years and had a deep understanding of death, should have fully thought about death, at least during his lifetime. As he put it, "I learned to face death squarely." Death has a beauty in itself, a kind of silence, a deformation that does not make me afraid. Hemingway did not leave a suicide note, but he should have admitted in his mind the faults of a lifetime, remembered the time of youth and adventure, remembered the girl who accompanied his youth, and caressed the immortal writings he left to the world.
Hemingway statue