Farewell To Arm Essay, Research Paper
aaThe theme that Hemingway emphasizes throughout the novel is the search
for order in a chaotic world. Hemingway conveys this through
Frederick’s own personal search during the chaos of World War I.
Catherine has found strength within herself to lead her through life.
This is what Frederick must come to realize. Through his involvement
with Catherine, Frederick slowly finds his own inner strength.
Frederick’s affair with Catherine prompts him to leave his wild life
of prostitutes and drink. He becomes aware of an element of stability
in their affair and realizes that the war that he was involved in was
too chaotic, so he deserts the army. He and Catherine make a life for
themselves totally isolated from everything and everyone else.
Frederick believes that his life is now completely in order and that
his values are in perspective, yet he still seems discontented. He
continuously has to convince himself that he has “a fine life.” He has
not yet reached Catherine’s level that enables her to be perfectly
happy in their love and yet not dependent on it for all comfort and
support. Frederick still has to find that within himself.
Until the conclusion of the novel, Frederick still relies on Catherine
as the source of order in his life. With the end of their affair
when Catherine dies giving birth to their stillborn love-child,
Frederick realizes that he cannot depend on any one person, such
as Catherine, or any thing, such as religion, war, or frivolity, for
order and discipline. Hemingway describes Frederick’s enlightenment
best in the final paragraph of the novel when Frederick sees
Catherine’s corpse for the first and last time. Frederick’s reaction
was that “it was like saying good-by to a statue.” Frederick realizes
that Catherine was only a symbol of the order and strength in his
life. Strength to face life must come from within him and only he will
be able to get himself through his own life. He will have to learn to
depend on himself. Frederick realizes this and is able to get on with
his life on his own. “After a while [he] went out and left the
hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.” He did not mourn
or feel like his own life had ended with her death, rather he was able
to continue on with his newfound inner strength and face his world
alone.
This novel succeeds in getting Hemingway’s message across. Frederick’s
realization causes the reader to reflect on his/her own life and on
what institutions they depend on in their own lives. I enjoyed this
novel because I learned along with Frederick that I must face my life
on my own. The strength to face my problems cannot come from any other
source because no other source can ever be as permanent as the
strength that I can find within myself.
A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is somewhat of a Romeo and Juliet love story, with a tragic ending. In this novel, Romeo is Frederick Henry and Juliet is Catherine Barkley. Their love affair must survive the everything that is around them during World War I. The setting of this novel is war-torn Italy. The love between Catherine and Frederick must outlast long separations, life-threatening war situations, and the uncertainty of each other’s whereabouts or condition. This is a love story of two people who need each other in a period of chaos.
The book A Farewell to Arms is partly autobiographical. Hemingway, like his hero, was a Red Cross ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I. Not only was Hemingway wounded in the war, but he also recuperated in a hospital in Italy. During his recuperation, Hemingway had a very romantic liaison with a nurse. The relationships between the characters in the novel, including doctors, soldiers, etc., reflect the actual relationships Hemingway had during his stay in Italy, and the plot of the story is historically as well as geographically accurate. Before Ernest Hemingway wrote the book A Farewell to Arms, he was already regarded as a good literary writer, but after the publication of this book he was considered a great one. A Farewell to Arms was Hemingway’s first commercial success, selling over 80,000 copies in the first four months.
In this story there are only two main characters, Frederick Henry and Catherine
Barkley. Frederick Henry acts as both the narrator and central character in the novel. The reader is not told so much about Catherine, only what is understood from Frederick’s point of view. Catherine acts as a static character in the novel. She has already known love and lost it so she understands that she cannot build her whole life around Frederick. Frederick, on the other hand, is a very dynamic character, and he has to come to grips with many of the principles of life and death that Catherine has already learned. There are few other characters in the book of any significance, but of some small importance are Rinaldi, who is Frederick’s best friend on the fighting front, and also the priest in Frederick’s company whom he befriends and with whom he has long talks about life.
The plot structure of A Farewell to Arms starts out with an introduction to the major characters and with the setting of the war. Hemingway also introduces the various problems each main character struggles with throughout the novel. Catherine Barkley and Frederick Henry are introduced to each other casually and the reader begins to wonder what will come of the relationship between the two characters. This seems to be the narrative hook in the novel. Following this the reader is told about various scenes of war, and further introduced to Frederick Henry’s character. Frederick is then wounded in war and shipped back to the hospital. In the hospital Frederick and Catherine are reunited and the reader sees the development of love between the two characters. After Frederick’s stay in the hospital he is sent back to battle and has to leave Catherine. However, after only a short time back at the front Frederick Henry, seeing the lack of discipline and confusion in the army’s retreat at Caporetto, deserts and returns to the stability of his relationship with Catherine. The battle at Caporetto is the climax in the war action part of the novel, but there is still rising action in the love story. Frederick Henry makes a successful escape to Switzerland with Catherine, and all seems to go well for them for a time. A child had been conceived during their affair but during the birth Catherine begins hemorrhaging. She delivers the baby stillborn and soon after dies. This scene is the climax of the novel. After Catherine dies the book ends very abruptly, leaving very little falling action.
In the novel there are two very prominent types of conflict. One is man verses man, which is seen constantly in the battles of the war, and the constant fighting that takes place as a background in the story. The other type of conflict that we see is man verses himself, which is shown in Frederick’s constant struggle within himself. Since we are told of Frederick’s thoughts we know constantly of the internal struggle within himself over everything from his love for Catherine to his thoughts during battle in the war. The conflict that Frederick experiences within himself starts at the beginning of the novel and is not resolved until Catherine’s death.
The theme that Hemingway seems to emphasize throughout the novel is the search for order in a chaotic world. Hemingway conveys this through Frederick’s own personal search during the chaos of World War I. Catherine has found strength within herself to help lead her through life. Frederick sees this in her and wants it also. Through his involvement with Catherine, Frederick slowly begins to find his own inner strength, and as a result his of his affair with Catherine he leaves his previous wild life of prostitutes and drink. He states in the novel that spending the night with Catherine is better then spending the night in a house of prostitution even though his feelings for her are not deep at that time. He becomes aware of an element of stability in their affair and realizes that the war that he is involved in is too chaotic, so he deserts the Italian soldiers he has been helping. He and Catherine make a life for themselves totally isolated from everything and everyone else. Frederick believes that his life is now completely in order and yet he still seems discontented. He continuously has to convince himself that he has “a fine life,” and he has not yet reached Catherine’s emotional level that enables her to be perfectly happy in their love and yet not dependent on it for all comfort and support. He never reaches a place of internal peace until the end of the book when Catherine dies and he realizes that he can not be totally dependent on another for happiness in this life.
A Farewell To Arms was a was a well written novel that gives people a whole different perceptive about the people and events of World War I in Italy. The book was not the least bit confusing when it came to the text and was really an enjoyable book to read. This book could be appreciated both by the average high school student or an adult looking for a great book. It had an interesting, moving plot that kept the reader interested in the book, and has been appreciated and read for many years by people of all ages. From reading this book one learns much about Ernest Hemingway himself plus the times and problems of World War I. This book was a classic in 1929 and is still seems contemporary today.
Although the book, A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway was not the type of book that had an exciting page-turning story, it can nevertheless be called a classic. A classic has been defined as “a book that lasts through generations because of its universality of theme, ageless symbolism, word choice and the ordering of detail.” This book has a universal theme, several ageless symbols, and a classic style that is as easily read today as
it was 50 years ago.
Although there were several themes in this book, a major theme seemed to
dominate the story. This theme is the importance of love and loss in a male\female relationship. These two lovers were so absorbed in each other that they needed no one else in their life. ” Wouldn t you like to go on a trip somewhere by yourself, darling, and be with men and ski? No. Why should I? I should think sometimes you would want to see other people besides me. Do you want to see other people? No. Neither do I. ” p.297. This conversation shows that Catherine loves him so much that she is willing
to be alone just so he can be happy. At the same time, Mr. Henry would probably like to go skiing but would never dream of leaving Catherine alone. Death wins out over love. ” It is very dangerous. The nurse went into the room and shut the door. I sat outside in the hall. Everything was gone inside of me. I did not think. I could no think. I knew she was going to die and I prayed that she would not. Don t let her die. Oh, God, please don t let her die. I ll do anything for you if you won t let her die…” p.330. Hemingway
went on for an entire paragraph of him pleading with God. This is how he is able to show that Mr. Henry loves her more than anything, more than life its self. In a way, I think that they loved each other too much. They did not go out often or do anything that was with other people. They were always together. This is an unhealthy life style. They were creating their own fortress and isolating themselves from the world. “My life used to be
full of everything, I said. Now if you aren t with me I haven t a thing in the world. ” p. 257. This quote further supports the idea that they are isolating themselves from the world. Since they were so cut off from the outside world, Mr. Henry has even a more difficult time going back into the reality of life after her death. This theme of man and woman isolated in love and finally their loss to dark death is universal.
The most profound aspect of this book would be its ageless symbolism. The free-living, heavy-drinking life that Catherine and Mr. Henery shared could be compared to the heavy investing, speculating and consequence-free life of the 20 s. The product that came from Catherine and Mr. Henry s lifestyle was a dead child. The result of the over- investing of the 20 s was the great depression. So the baby symbolizes the depression. Another point to consider was that Mr. Henry was a deserter. He left the army to be with Catherine. Desertion was illegal and he paid for it by loosing that which he loved the most, Catherine. Rain was connected with pain or grief. He drank to dull
this grief or pain. Rain is wet and “wet” is connected with alcohol. “We had each been drinking out of one of the bottles and I took my bottle with me and went over and lay flat on the hay and looked out the narrow window at the wet country.” p.217. In this scene, he has been thinking of Cat and he decided that it would be best to drink his troubles away. When Hemingway said that the land was “wet”, it usually meant that Mr. Henry was drunk. After Catherine and the baby died at the hospital, Mr. Henry walked home in the rain. “After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the
rain.” page 332. He had just suffered a major loss and dealt with it in the only way that he knew; through alcohol. Although drinking at this point was not actually mentioned directly, we can nevertheless assume that he was going to make this connection just because of the setting in the rain. This book had many examples of symbolism and they all point to the fact that there is always a terrible price to pay for weak actions or for blind love.
The word choice and ordering of detail of this book also leads one to believe that they are reading a classic. Hemingway s style is one of simple, straightforward dialogue with the absence of slang. Many generations of readers can read and understand the story. An example of this simplicity of dialogue is as follows: ” Where do you want to go, Cat? Montreux. It is a very nice place, the official said. I think you will like that place. Here at Locarno is a very nice place, another official said.” page 282. Although this simple dialogue is very easy to read, it is also very powerful in it s directness and simplicity. On the other hand, his use of language when describing scenery is very elaborate. “The next year there were many victories. The mountain that was beyond the valley and the hillside where the chestnut forest grew was captured and there were victories beyond the plain on the plateau to the south and we crossed the river in August and lived in a house in Gorizia that had a fountain and many thick shady trees in a walled garden and a wisteria vine purple on the side of the house.” page 5. When
describing these scenes, not only does he do it in an elaborate and detailed way, but he also runs his thoughts and sentences together as if it were all being spoken in one long drawn-out breath. The ordering of detail of this book was in a straight-forward, well-organized way. It was very linear and the story did not jump around between the present and flash-backs to the protagonist s past. This kept the story from becoming confusing. Hemingway s style is that of a classic author.
Because of the universal themes, ageless symbolism, and style of word choice and story detail, A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway can indeed be considered a classic literary work. The theme of love between a man and woman so self-absorbed that all else is ignored and the theme of life bringing them to a breaking point is a human story that all can sympathize with. The ageless symbolism that compares the loss of a baby, or hope, with the beginning of the American economic depression is profound. The alcoholism in the story reflects the careless attitudes toward life by the people living at this time. The irresponsible attitudes, such as the decision to desert the army, only leads
to heartache. Life is nothing but a game to these characters, until the reality finally smacks them in the face. Hemingway s simple and straight-forward dialogue and story line makes this an easy to read and understandable ageless story.