Here, the narrative is divided into two sections, separated by three asterisks (* * *). The first section of this narrative resumes the conversation between Harry and his wife, but now it becomes more bitter and hateful. When she reminds him that in Paris he loved a place where they stayed, he angrily responds that “Love is a dunghill,” which debases their love. She asks him if he must destroy everything by killing his horse and wife and burning his saddle and armor. She alludes to a warrior’s trophies that were set afire after the death of a warrior. Harry blames her “bloody money” for his predicament; then he repents and lies to her about his love for her. Lastly, he admits that his abuse stems from frustration about leaving things behind that he never did. It is here that the reader gets the most vivid glance into Harry’s bitterness, rage, and frustration at himself and at his wife for what she represents in his life.
In the second section, he later wakens and discovers that Helen is away, hoping to shoot a Tommie (a small gazelle) for meat and broth. The sun has gone down, and although the vultures are no longer walking on the ground around the camp, they are roosting for the night in a nearby tree in greater numbers. Even the stillness and cover of the night and the comfort of sleep do not rid Harry of the feathered reminders of his impending death; even while roosting to sleep, the vultures are ever vigilant of his continuing decline. The small animals scurrying on the ground are another yet minor symbol to note, as they indicate that life still goes on, business as usual, all around Harry despite his life-threatening situation.
Harry considers his procrastination—not writing, and writing becoming daily more and more difficult. Finally, he did no work at all. Almost without knowing it, he traded his artistic talents for money and comfort, and the exchange was not worth it. He acknowledges, however, that it was not his wife’s fault. If it had not been Helen, there would have been another rich woman. Also, he realizes that he destroyed his talent for writing by drinking so much that his perceptions were finally blunted.
Helen returns with game—a male Tommie that she successfully shot. As Helen and Harry are having drinks, a hyena appears in the early evening, just it has been doing for two weeks. Hemingway uses the hyena as the second important, prominent symbol of Harry’s deterioration. The hyena is another carrion eater that is probably the most despised of all African animals because of its filth and aggressive team efforts to destroy and to steal other animals wounded and suffering on the plain. In this sense, the hyena can represent Harry’s loveless marriage and the moral sloth of choosing material comfort over true love, because it is these two elements intermingled in his marriage that are the most destructive to him as a writer. Hence, although the hyena is a symbol of death, it is a spiritual death as opposed to a physical one.
Seeing the hyena, knowing about the vultures, and realizing that his wife and her money all symbolize the death of an artist, Harry suddenly knows for certain that he is actually going to die here on the plains of Africa.
However, even at this point, he realizes that Helen does really love him whether he really loves her, and he sees that she is a good, honest woman. He likes her pleasantness and appreciation and admires her shooting. Instead of having an honest conversation about his real feelings for her, he sacrifices himself to her to avoid hurting her, and chooses not to make any deathbed confessions that would cause her emotional pain. Because he doesn’t break with her and stays true to her in the end, he reestablishes his higher self. This is the second one of the three important deeds of his life that facilitates his flight over Kilimanjaro at the end of the story.
Helen is improved by her association with Harry, as he makes her life complete. She has selfless love and respect for him, and is considered to be one of Hemingway’s heroic women. Conversely, Harry has declined because he has lived hypocritically with a woman he doesn’t love.
Flashback 2
Harry remembers quarreling in Paris and going to Constantinople and spending his time having sex with all kinds of women and finally getting into fights. After one fight, he decided to leave for Anatolia, the great plains of Turkey, where poppies are grown for opium. He recalls what strange things opium did for him: He seemed to see men wearing white ballet skirts and upturned shoes with pom-poms on their toes. He saw such horrors that when he returned to Paris, he couldn’t talk about it or write about it.
In Paris, Harry met Tristian Tzara, a Romanian poet who founded the Dada movement (Dadaism) and who represented everything that Harry (and Hemingway) opposed. Harry “had never written any of this,” but he’d like to write about it.
This particular flashback focuses on escapism, futility, and what doesn’t come to fruition, particularly in Harry’s relationships with women. The empty, one-night sexual encounters with women, winning a fight with a man for a woman he has for one evening, and the sentimental relapse for a past love that ruins his present marriage all are in response to a quarrel that happened and then passed.
Another level of futility can also be seen in the war. Harry and the British observer run as fast as they can, only to see the Turks coming upon them as they hide.
Rather than facing his feelings, Harry escapes into the world of booze, one-night stands, as well as opium for altered states of consciousness that enable him to forget the quarrel with his wife and the war.
