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(The Snows of Kilimanjaro) In “In Another Country” a symbol is when the
Italian soldier returns three days after, after hearing his wife was dead
wearing a black band on his sleeve to signify mourning. Santiago is a symbol of
Jesus showing how both of them went through so much suffering. When he returns
home after catching the marlin he carries part of the boat up over his shoulder
and that symbolizes Jesus being crucified. Santiago has to stop several times to
take a drink of water symbolizing the people giving Jesus a drink while he was
on the cross. When Catherine dies, Henry is forced to face death. It said her
body was like a statue. IRONY In “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” Harry is the type of
man that believes he can handle anything that he doesn’t have to worry about
those so-called “minor” things in life. Due to his carelessness he became
infected with gangrene. As a result to his heedless actions he died because he
never took care of a “minor” thing. In “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber”
it’s ironic how Macomber first fails and then succeeds in hunting, develops
self-respect, but has his life ended just when it began to be enjoyable. What is
meant by that is that Macomber first scurries away from his fears. He then
becomes so fed up with his wife’s comments he goes out and challenges his fears
by winning, and gains self-esteem. His wife is so distraught that he did this
that she kills Francis. “In Another Country” a soldier , a champion fencer, went
to war knowing he was facing death but didn’t worry about it. As a result he had
to leave war because he had a wounded hand and had to be put in rehabilitation.
At this point he was aware of the fact that his wife was sick. He went to phone
her and was then notified by the doctor that she died of pneumonia unexpectedly.
The irony of “The Old Man and the Sea” is that Santiago worked so hard to keep
the marlin and all he returns home with is the skeleton.
It all began on
Santiago’s eighty-fifth day he caught a marlin bigger than any other marlin he
has ever seen. Santiago goes through two days and two nights of the pain of his
shoulders, back, and hands because the marlin is to big to just tie the line to
the boat. When he finally kills the marlin he ties it to the boat. Later sharks
come along and take the marlin bite by bite. He was able to kill only a couple
of the sharks but then he became to be too much. Eventually there was nothing
left of the marlin but the skeleton. It’s ironic how Henry and Catherine go
through so much together but yet can’t spend many years together. They are only
together for a short time but still have a deep passion for one another. In “The
Killers” it’s ironic how where Ole was supposed to be killed was a saloon. A
saloon used to be a place where shootings happened a lot. It’s also ironic how
Ole didn’t show the night the men planned on killing him. SETTINGS In both “The
Snows of Kilimanjaro” and “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” the setting
is in Africa during the 1920’s while game hunting with their wives coming along
on the trip. The importance of the setting in “The Short Happy Life of Francis
Macomber” is that if Francis did not go on the safari he would have never
conquered his fears. If Harry had never returned to Africa, he would have never
been infected with gangrene. Both “A Farewell to Arms” and “In Another Country”
takes place in Milan during World War I and II. All the main characters are at
the health centers either working or recuperating. “The Killers” took place in
an American city around the 1920’s. “The Old Man and the Sea” takes place off
the coast of Cuba where Santiago catches the Marlin. Santiago is from a small
fishing town that doesn’t have much to offer. Most of the people around there
fish for a living. With Santiago going eighty-four days without catching any
fish it is hard for him to survive. If it wasn’t for Manolin he would have
nothing to eat and no way of buying fishing bait. A FAREWELL TO ARMS In A
Farewell To Arms the novel follows the classic romance formula until Hemingway
alters the last chapter. The classic romance formula to many would be: man meets
woman, man loses woman, man gets women back. The man in this novel is Frederick
Henry, one of the central characters and the narrator. Catherine Barkley is the
other central character. Frederick is a young American ambulance driver with the
Italian army in World War I. The Italians are fighting in the Austrian War.
While working on the front lines Frederick meets a beautiful Red Cross nurse
named Catherine Barkley, whose fiancee has already been killed at the battle of
the Somme. Henry is immediately attracted to her and at first tries to seduce
her as if it was a game to him. Henry becomes wounded by a trench mortar shell
and is taken to a hospital in Milan to recuperate, there he meets up with
Catherine again who is working at the hospital. Henry and Catherine begin a
passionate affair but he has to leave Catherine when he has recovered to return
to the war front. The Italian forces are defeated by the Austrians and Germans
and have to retreat hastily. The Italian forces become disordered and chaotic.
Henry is forced to shoot an engineer sergeant under his command. In the
confusion he is arrested by the Italian Military police and charged with the
crime of not being an Italian. Henry , knowing he faces death, dives into the
river and escapes. He swims to safety and boards a train to Stresa. He reunites
with Catherine, who is then pregnant with his child. With the help of an Italian
bartender, they escape to Switzerland, a neutral country war. In Switzerland
they forget the past and Henry’s troubles. The two of them live happily and plan
to marry after the baby is born. When Catherine goes into labor, however, things
have an unexpectable turn, a turn for the worse. The doctor announced that her
pelvic was too narrow to deliver the baby. He attempts an unsuccessful Cesarean
section, and Catherine dies in childbirth. “To Henry, her dead body is like a
statue; he walks back to his hotel without finding a way to say good-bye”
(Hemingway 329).
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