Harry is drowning in self-pity that he is not able to realize that he is falling in love. Arrogance is a strong enough emotion to kill a person inside surroundings, symbolically Harry has reached the top of the social chain still do die heroic and alone.
To love, or to be loved is a special feeling in which the protagonist had a hard time accepting "Oh Harry, that's not fair, I love you, I"ll always love you, don't you love me?" (255) Companionship is a two way street, Harry was afraid to commit, therefore companionship did not work out for Harry and Helen. The denotation of companionship is two people that match or go together. Metaphorically Helen is a good arm piece as well as a partner to Harry. On the other hand Harry uses and abuses her and then runs. Symbolically Harry's conscience allows him to realize that he is flawed, which has hurt many and now is afraid to commit. This is evident through the dream sequence when Harry implies that he would follow women to the end of the earth only to have his heart broken. Afraid to love again, he forces his women to follow him. Now Harry is at the end of the earth, afraid to lose his armour and to tell his love goodbye. Heroism prevented Harry to show his emotions to Helen. Though Harry insisted on not loving by saying, " I don't like to leave anything, I don't like to leave things behind." (254) His mind frame, as well as past prevented Harry from seeing the pure innocent side of life in those he loved.
Kilimanjaro, a beautiful scenic site, is metaphorically used to describe life. This is obvious as Kilimanjaro represents a variety of ecosystems, which can also symbolize the various stages in life. Through the dream sequences, dialogue and the importance of nature, it can be understood that Harry's life is represented through the metaphorical mountain. The dream sequences represent his past and the damage, which had inflected pain onto him.
