Conflict, Death, and Loss in Hemingway's Short Stories

Introduction: Hemingway's Themes of Conflict and Loss

One reason for Hemingway's enduring appeal is his distinctive point of view on life, death, and conflict. Hemingway did not fear writing about difficulties, and writing may very well have been the best form of therapy for the author. This therapy works well for readers, who can not only be entertained but can also rest assured they are not alone in their feelings of insecurity, conflict, and loss. One of the most prevalent themes in Hemingway's work is the conflict involved with simply being alive. Conflict, like death, is a part of existence. Through Harry's death experience in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro," readers see the many ways one can die. In "Soldier's Home," Hemingway uses conflict to demonstrate the difficulty of returning to normal life after a harrowing event. In "Now I Lay Me," we see an inner conflict that makes the most restful thing in the world the most stressful.

Death and Excess in 'The Snows of Kilimanjaro'

Hemingway was no stranger to excess. His life as an expatriate overseas exposed him to a life of variety and experimentation. If we look at Hemingway's life through his art, we can see how excess manifests itself in "The Snows of Kilimanjaro." This story concludes with a glorious yet delusional death. Susan Beegal writes that the story can be read as "autobiography, symbolist fiction, or metafiction" (Beegal), and while there are many ways to interpret it, many of those interpretations deal with death in one fashion or another.

When we look at Harry's circumstances, we see him facing not only his physical death but also the death of his life's dream. Death is part of life, and Hemingway had no problem incorporating it into his stories. Harry watched the "world change; not just the events; although he had seen many of them and had watched the people, but he had been in it and he had watched it and it was his duty to write of it" (Hemingway 95). He became a man who understood that his life was going to end before he could achieve what he wanted. This sad realization causes readers to pause and consider what the implications might be in their own lives.

Harry's symbolic gangrene represents the rotting soul beneath the surface of his decaying skin. He says, "The marvelous thing is that it's painless. That's how you know when it starts" (Hemingway 82). Harry is dying in both flesh and spirit. He sees that there is no escaping death and has accepted it almost too casually. Just like the loss of his writing career, he simply accepts it and does not choose to fight. He knows he "would never do it, because each day of not writing, of comfort, of being that which he despised, dulled his ability and softened his will to work so that, finally, he did no work at all" (89). Death is striking Harry from all sides: his body, his career, and his relationship with his wife. The one thing he wanted but never achieved is easily attained by his wife, who benefits from his loss — like the hyena feeding off what was dying in him all along.

Harry dies in a delusional state. He is not conscious at the time of his death, and this allows him to imagine his dream coming true. This brings a kind of happiness he has not experienced for some time and makes his actual death less painful. In this way, Harry symbolically makes it to the mountaintop. We read, "And then he knew that there was where he was going" (104). Here we see ultimate triumph and failure simultaneously. Harry knows the only way he will ever see the mountaintop is through the magic of death.

Returning from War in 'Soldier's Home'

Death is one kind of struggle, and while it may be the ultimate struggle in life, there are many other kinds of conflict that make life difficult. Life presents various situations where conflict is born and breeds, and most of those situations take place within the human mind. Hemingway knew this all too well. Male characters were a popular focus for the author. Robert Gajdusek observes that "Hemingway . . . consistently studied the multiple evasions and cowardices which have kept men . . . from committing themselves to an intimacy" (Gajdusek). Male characters often emerge as "unintegrated, unindividuated, and undeveloped boys or boy-men whose words must forever be hollow and false, their knowledge only partial" (Gajdusek). Having seen what war did to people — inside and out — and having experienced it firsthand, Hemingway could write about conflict and loss with remarkable authenticity.

In "Soldier's Home," Krebs's struggle is fitting back into the society he left behind when he went to war. The primary problem is that he is changed, and when he returns, he returns to nothing. He faces conflict from the moment he arrives home, beginning with the fact that he had returned much later than the others who had served. The townspeople find it "ridiculous" (136) that he should be returning so late, "years after the war was over" (136). Because of his late arrival, stories of the war were old and uninteresting. The town had "heard too many atrocity stories to be thrilled by actualities" (137). Krebs even attempts lying about the war to generate interest, but that does not work. He lies twice, and a "distaste for everything that had happened to him in the War set in because of the lies he had told" (137).

Krebs is dealing with both an outer and an inner conflict. The outer conflict — with those around him who are unable to relate to him — is the less complicated of the two, while the inner conflict is more disturbing. He wants to fit in and feel accepted, but the lies make him feel disingenuous, and he cannot continue. Krebs resumes normal activity, but his life is empty. Hemingway reveals this through his writing style: the story is flat and lifeless, with no excitement and no emotion in its mood or tone. The narrator's voice supplies only facts, and this flat style reflects Krebs's flat-lining existence and his approach to life after the war.

Nothing seems very different to Krebs, except perhaps the girls who are now women. His attitude toward them is one of distance. He likes looking at them but finds them "too complicated" (138) and does not want to "work" (138) to pursue one. Krebs is completely disassociated from everything, including his family. He feels incapable of loving, and when he tells his mother he does not love anybody, we see his desire to live without the consequences of emotional involvement. He did not want his life to be complicated. This story is about a man unable to fulfill his role because of the setback of war. Krebs is retreating into a world of nothing; he wants simplicity, but the world is complicated for grown men. The realization is that Krebs's life is stuck in a vicious cycle. He is afraid to risk change, yet he cannot change his life without some form of risk. The conflict is real and too large for him to tackle alone, so he shuts down and checks out emotionally.

Conclusion: Hemingway and the Human Condition

Hemingway knew how to write, but the thing that made him a successful writer was his ability to connect with readers on a personal level. He knew how to get inside the minds of his characters and make his readers feel as though they understood exactly what he was describing. Hemingway never talked down to his readers; instead, he wanted to speak to them and provide an escape that might lighten their burden by showing them they were not alone. Harry faced his death with apparent bravery but was ultimately weak because he had not done all he could with his life. Krebs could never adjust to life back home after the war and was so beaten down by the experience that he lacked the will to try. Nick was also suffering from his wartime experience, and felt the only way to control his conflict was to never allow his mind a moment's rest.