In The Snows of Kilimanjaro by Ernest Hemingway, a displeased writer and his wife become stranded on the plains of Africa, near the base of Mount Kilimanjaro. The story's main character, Harry, scratches his leg and develops gangrene in the cut. As they wait on a rescue plane from Nairobi, Harry reviews and evaluates his past and realizes that he has never pursued his writing talent in the way he feels he should have. Instead of pursuing a career as a writer, she marries a rich man and, in turn, trades her artistic future for a life of comfort and material wealth. However, while on his deathbed, Harry attempts to make some last-second changes in hopes of fixing his ways before he dies, forgotten, on the plains of Africa. Hemingway displays themes of regret and death through animal symbolism in The Snows of Kilimanjaro. Ernest Hemingway uses the ever-threatening vultures and buzzards to symbolize Harry's wasted life. At the beginning of the story, the very first thing mentioned are the large “obscene” vultures (Hemingway). These vultures flock to Harry due to the gangrenous wound that gives off a putrid stench, which will later be the cause of his death. Vultures and buzzards represent both what could have been and what now cannot be. Hemingway chooses birds as symbols of their ecological function in life and death. Life, because their scavenger activity allows the African plains to remain mostly free of rotten carcasses and other debris, and death, because they linger menacingly around the wounded to get a fresh piece of their future dinner. Early in his life, Harry studied the way vultures behaved and behaved in order to write about them, which he never did. In essence, these “trash men” of the p...... middle of paper ......vultures, Harry knows for a fact will die on the African plains. On his deathbed, Harry feels as if he has done everything he can in this moment to redeem himself to be worthy of heaven whenever he dies. Before he dies, Harry tells his wife that she should “never believe in the skull and sickle” (Hemingway). In Africa, instead of the stereotypical Western reaper and scythe, hyenas and vultures dominate the culture regarding death and dying. Knowing that he will die before he wakes up, Harry passes out and dreams that the rescue plane is taking him to the snowy peak of Mt. Kilimanjaro, also known as the House of God. In Harry's eyes, he finally secures the trip to Kilimanjaro by writing about his final hours while on his deathbed. However, for his wife, the reality is that Harry is dead and she is alone again.