SOURCE: "Lesson from the Master," in Hemingway: The Writer as Artist, Princeton University Press, 1963, pp. 191-96.

In the following excerpt, which was originally published in 1952, Baker explores the autobiographical aspects of "The Snows of Kilimanjaro. "

"The Snows of Kilimanjaro" is a tragedy of a different order [from "The Short and Happy Life of Francis Macomber"]. Its setting is the final afternoon and evening in the second life of a writer named Harry, dying of gangrene in a camp near the edge of the Tanganyika plains country. "Francis Macomber" proceeds through and by action; "The Snows of Kilimanjaro" is an experiment in the psychology of a dying man. Like Across the Riverand Into the Trees, it contains almost no overt physical activity, though much is implied. Judged in terms of its intention, it is a triumphant piece of writing.

Hemingway's own experiences on safari help to account for the...