It Has To Be Suicide

"But tonight the smell of the land came very early and he knew it was too early in his dream and went on deaming to see the white peaks of the islands rising from the sea and then he dreamed of the different harbours and roadsteads of the Canary Islands." I Feel like this is saying the breeze came very early like it is saying death, in a way, it came earlier than hemingway thought it would and the different islands he is referring to could relate to heaven and how everything is different and beauitful.

Taelar wrote:"But tonight the smell of the land came very early and he knew it was too early in his dream and went on deaming to see the white peaks of the islands rising from the sea and then he dreamed of the different harbours and roadsteads of the Canary Islands." I Feel like this is saying the breeze came very early like it is saying death, in a way, it came earlier than hemingway thought it would and the different islands he is referring to could relate to heaven and how everything is different and beauitful.

I could argue that Hemingway is not thinking about suicide. You mentioned that the breeze came very early like it is saying death is coming. The old man "knew it was too early" but it could translate into him thinking that "it's too early for death". The moment the old man felt that death was coming he immediately changed the scene of his dream into "white peaks of the islands." This means that the old man (Hemingway) is trying to escape from the breeze, which in this case refers to death. Inorder to escape this, the old man chose to dream about "white peaks" which is generally more postive and that you have mentioned, is refering to something beautiful. Doesn't this indicate that Hemingway is not wanting to commit suicide?

On a side note.......

When I first read this part I was actually thinking about Hemingway's writing career. A lot of writers stuggle with coming up with new ideas and are constantly faced with a 'deadline'. The phrase "very early and he knew it was too early" led me to believe that Hemingway felt that he did not have enough time to think/write a masterpiece that would please not only others, but also himself. The old man in the dream is sensing that he is close to land, his final destination, but does not want to reach it quite yet, so instead, he shifts his dream into something else, such as "the white peaks of the islands" inorder to distance himself from his destination, which allows him some time.