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British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

OUTLINE
I INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE NOVEL 1 - The author Earnest Hemingway (1899-161) 2 - The novel A Farewell to Arms 2.1 - Overview of the novel 2.2 - Summary of A Farewell to Arms. II THE THEMES REVEALED IN A FAREWELL TO ARM 1 - The theme of war 2 - The theme of love 3 - The theme of Patriotism 4 - Other themes of A farewell to arms 4.1 - Abandonment 4.2 - Journalistic style of omission 4.3 - The Relationship Between Love and Pain III.CONCLUSION

British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

I - INTRODUCTION ABOUT THE AUTHOR AND THE NOVEL 1 - The author Earnest Hemingway (1899-161) Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in suburban Oak Park, a small town in the state of Illinois, started his career as a writer in a newspaper office in Kansas City at the age of seventeen. After the United States entered the The First World War, Hemingway joined a volunteer ambulance for the American Red in the Italian army. Serving at the front, he was wounded on July 8, 1918, was decorated by Italian Government, and spent considerable time in hospitals. After his return to the United States, he became a reporter for Canadian and American newspapers and was soon sent back to Europe to cover such events as the Greek Revolution. Hemingway began his writing career as a journalist and in the 1920s, while living in Paris, worked as foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star. As a journalist he learned to focus only on events being reported, and to omit superfluous and extraneous matter. The late 1920s were a time of many publications for Hemingway. Hemingway lived in Paris from 1921-1926. This time of stylistic development for Hemingway reached its zenith in 1923 with the publication of Three Stories and Ten Poems by Robert McAlmon in Paris and the birth of his son John. In 1926- the year he left Paris, The Torrents of Spring and The Sun Also Rises were published by Charles Scribner's Sons. The year 1929 was marked by the publishing of his famous novel A Farewell to Arms that stresses the necessity to attain moral courage to live and face the social chaos. From 1928 to 1938 the writer lived in Florida. He traveled a lot to France and Spain. Some his works in this period such as Men Without Woman (1927), Winner Take Nothing (1933). In addition to personal experiences with war and death, Hemingway's extensive travel in pursuit of hunting and other sports provided a great deal of material for his novels. Bullfighting inspired Death in the Afternoon, published in 1932. In 1934,

British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

Hemingway went on safari in Africa, which gave him new themes and scenes on which to base The Snows of Kilamanjaro and The Green Hills of Africa, published in 1935.In 1937 he traveled to Spain as a war correspondent, and he published To Have and Have Not. In 1950 he published Across the River and Into the Trees, though it was not received with the usual critical acclaim. In 1952, however, Hemingway proved the comment "Papa is finished" wrong, with The Old Man and the Sea winning the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. In 1954, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. On July 2, 1961, he died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. He was buried in Ketchum. "Papa" was both a legendary celebrity and a sensitive writer, and his influence, as well as some unseen writings, survived his passing. In 1964, A Moveable Feast was published; in 1969, The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War; in 1970, Islands in the Stream; in 1972, The Nick Adams Stories; in 1985, The Dangerous Summer; and in 1986, The Garden of Eden. Hemingway is a democrat and humanist. He devoted his whole life to the struggle against fascism and wars. He considered arts and literature as having an important role in the world so he always tried to use his language to convey his message to mankind through simply words. Hemingways style of writing follows the theory of an iceberg (also known as the theory of omission) which means that the writer may omit things that he knows he is writing about, and that if he writes truly the reader will have a feeling of those things as the writer has tasted the the dignity of the movement of an iceberg is due to only one eighth of it being above the water. Hemingway's own life and character are as fascinating as in any of his stories. On one level, Papa was a legendary adventurer who enjoyed his flamboyant lifestyle and celebrity status. However, deep inside lived a disciplined author who worked tirelessly in pursuit of literary perfection. His success in both living and writing is reflected in the fact

British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

that Hemingway is a hero to intellectuals and rebels alike; the passions of the man are equaled only by those in his writing. 2 - The novel A Farewell to Arms 2.1 - Overview of the novel A Farewell to Arms is an antiwar novel written by Ernest Hemingway in which Hemingway wanted to make the reader see war as a merciless massacre of men and women and the senseless destruction of the values created. The book, which was first published in 1929, is a first-person account of American Frederic Henry, serving as a Lieutenant (Tenente) in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army. The novel falls into five parts, each describes a different phase in Henrys adventures. A Farewell to Arms works on two literary levels. First, it is a story concerning the drama and passion of a doomed romance between Henry and a British nurse, Catherine Barkley. Second, it also skillfully contrasts the meaning of personal tragedy against the impersonal destruction wrought by the First World War. Hemingway deftly captures the cynicism of soldiers, the futility of war, and the displacement of populations. Although this was Hemingways bleakest novel, its publication cemented his stature as a modern American writer. In 1998, the Modern library, a publishing company in America ranked A Farewell to Arms on its list of the 100 best English- language novels of the 20th century. It was first adapted to film in 1932, with further versions in the following decades. 2.2 - Summary of the novel A Farewell to Arms. Lieutenant Frederic Henry, a young American ambulance driver with the Italian army during World War I, takes a winter leave from the front. When he returns, he meets and quickly falls in love with Catherine Barkley, an English nurse's aide in the town's British hospital. She mourns the death of her fianc from the war last year, and she

British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

eagerly enters the pleasurable diversion the game of love offers with Henry. Henry, too, is revived by love after the horror he has seen of war. Henry's knee is badly wounded during an artillery bombardment, and he is sent to a hospital in Milan for an operation. Catherine transfers to his hospital and helps him recuperate from the surgery. They spend all their free time together, and their love deepens as they gradually acknowledge that they stand alone against the cruel world. Before Henry returns to the front, Catherine reveals she is pregnant. They are both pleased with this, however, and cannot wait to see each other again. Back at the front, the Germans and Austrians break through the Italian line, and the Italians are forced to make a lengthy retreat. Henry travels with some other drivers, two Italian engineering sergeants, and two Italian girls. When the sergeants abandon the drivers when their car gets stuck, Henry shoots one of them, and another driver finishes him off. Later, the trigger-happy Italian rear guard mistakenly shoots one of the Italian drivers. One of the drivers deserts the group, choosing to be taken prisoner rather than face potential death. At a bridge over a flooded river, the corrupt Italian military singles out Henry as a lieutenant and accuses him of treachery leading to the Italian defeat. Knowing he will be executed, Henry jumps into the river and escapes with the current. Henry manages to get out of the fast-moving river and jump a train to Milan. He thinks he has made a "separate peace" and is no longer attached to the military. He finds Catherine in the town of Stresa and, prior to Henry's arrest for desertion, the two make a daring nighttime escape by a borrowed boat to Switzerland. They enjoy an idyllic, isolated life that winter in the Swiss town of Montreux, spending time outdoors and preparing for the arrival of their baby. Henry is not completely without guilt, however, for abandoning his friends at the front. They move to the town of Lausanne in the spring to be close to its hospital, and Catherine soon goes into labor. The pregnancy is lengthy and painful, and the baby, delivered through a Caesarean, is stillborn. Catherine dies soon after of multiple

British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

hemorrhages with Henry by her side. He tries to say goodbye to her, but it is like saying goodbye to a statue, and he walks back to his hotel room in the rain.

British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

II THE THEMES REVEALED IN A FAREWELL TO ARMS Themes are the fundamental and often universal ideas explored in a literary work. 1 - Theme of War Hemingway repeatedly emphasizes the horrific devastation war has wrought on everyone involved. The war is one of the most often themes in Hemingways works. For author, The war is strong symbol of the hostility of World that is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful and ever-presence of pain and death, in which Hemingway can see morality, ravages and unavoidable misery. In order to facing, confront and overcome such world, people have to act with his dignity (honor, courage), endure physical and emotional pain in silence [Hemingway code]. At the beginning of novel, Henry an American student- joins the war with empty attitude, not any thinking or wondering deeply about the Warfare and The Death. He has little experience of how destructive the war was, and has not a clue to meaning of what he is doing. He only suppose to do some patriotic action fighting for the welfare of country. He admits that when being asked the reason of volunteer to join the Italian Army. what an odd thing-to be in Italian army.Its not really the army. Its only the ambulance. And other time: Get out of the country. I wouldn't go to war. I was at the war once in Abyssinia. Nix. Why do you go?"- "I don't know. I was a fool." Catherine Barley is an English nurse, she attends the war indifferently, and chilly with innocent and romantic dream: having a chance to nurse her fianc when he injures I remember having a silly idea he might come to the hospital where I was. With a sabre cut, I suppose, and a bandage around his head. Or shot through the shoulder. Something picturesque. Both of them still think that war is some strange thing, not theirs. Its a silly front. But its beautiful and This is the picturesque front. However, reality of fierce war is like a slap without mercy to Catherines innocent dreamand Henrys emptiness. After the tragic death of fianc, Catherine sees that war is a

British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

butchery, a giant meat- grinder. He didnt have a sabre cut. They blew him all to bits. The shock makes her a little crazy, and becomes hating the war, only wants it to stop. She knows that what dealth meant. Dealth put an the end to everything. Thats the end of it she said this sentence two times. Now, only a silly little rattan stick to remind of her finace, and grief and regret. Henry doesnt lose his belief in the war, does not share the same Catherines opinion of the war in the first conversation: Whats to stop it? and We LL crack. We will crack here. They wont crack They did very well last summer. In contrast, Henry not as experienced. He never loved anyone and has little experience of howdestructive the war was. Have you ever loved anyone?- No. He always answers I don't know when Catherine mentions of death. The leading character Henry Frederic has to witness many casualties, he finds that War is nothing but butchery with too much grief and sorrow, The killing came suddenly and unreasonably The death is often mentioned in ridicule and ironical voice as though it is not considerable or terrible at all: At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera. But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army. - "Never mind. That's one thing I can always remember. I killed that of a sergeant." "What will you say in confession?" Aymo asked.- "I'll say, 'Bless me, father, I killed a sergeant." They all laughed. At last, Henry departs the war, says farewell to lovely Catherine with empty attitude because the world after his back was collapsing, un-reactive. Hemingway using the Structure of correlative in beginning and ending like a spiral to draw out part of Henrys life Henry returns the hotel in the rain. The way to finish novel is the best way to accuse the fierce war, Henry only expects to say Farewell to Arms with dream I did not want to read about the war - to be a free man, to live beyond the chaos. However, at

British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

last, he not only cant escape from it, but also loses everything Honor, weapon even the sweet hugs. Henry leaves the war, but he becomes another one who can aware of war in full possession. War is like a farce, a comedy in which people ridicule and shed tears after that. And People who attend in this giant show become actors who lose part of their own nature. Not only enemy The Austrian, but the Italians his fellows always make him suffer misery. An Italian soldier gets frightened loses his control and shots fellows, kills Henrys friend Aymo. The irresponsible Italian army officer's sentence unreasonably, make Henry run away to avoid shameful and meaningless death like a deserter. After all, the war brings Catherine to him and also spoliates her from him. Untidy sentences with many and/ with to connect incoherent verses refer to characters distinguish attitude. Henry just wants to using his words to hide his emptiness inside his soul but cant aware of what he is talking. People get stunned, dazed, and exhausted in a collapsed world; Henry at last finds that war uproots and destroys all values in the life. 2 - Theme of Love A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is a typical love story. The love between Catherine and Frederick must outlast long separations, life-threatening war-time situations, and the uncertainty of each other's whereabouts or condition. This novel is a beautiful love story of two people who need each other in a period of upheaval. A Farewell to Arms is a tragedy of love the love between Catherine and her fianc. The love story between Barkley and her fianc is really beautiful and romantic, but it is also sad. Catherine and her fianc grow up together. They had been engaged for eight years. However, the war had made their love become a tragedy. Catherines fianc was blown all to bits in the Somme when they were going to married. Catherine was left alone with her fiancs things. Catherines love for her fianc was so deep that she had served in army as a nurse with a romantic dream of nursing him when he got a picturesque wound:I remember having a silly idea he might come to the hospital

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British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

where I was. With a saber cut, I suppose, and a bandage around his head. Or shot through the shoulder. Some thing picturesque. However, her covet of meeting her fianc in the front could never become true when he didnt have a saber cut. They blew him all to bits. Death puts an end to everything but only a silly little rattan stick could remind Catherine of her fianc. It was a deep regret and grief to her. She regretted not marrying him earlier. And why didnt you marry? - I dont know, she said. I was a fool not to. I could have given him that anyway. Catherine had a very beautiful long hair. When her fianc died, she had the intention of cutting it because she wants to do something for him. This showed that after his death, Catherine still kept a great love for him and was obsessed by this misery. Each of her words seemed as if she was blaming herself: I wanted to do something for him. You see I didnt care about the other thing and he could have had it all. He could have had anything he wanted if I would have known. I would have married him or anything. I know all about it now. But then he wanted to go to war and I didnt know. It was the tragic death of Catherines fianc that made her understand that war was butchery. She knew what death meant, hated the war and only wanted to stop although at first she was very indifferent to the war. Regarding lieutenant Frederick Henry, at the beginning of the novel, he lacks a sense of value and order in his life. The novel portrays Henry as a drunk who traveled from one house of prostitution to the next, he was not happy with his lifestyle. Henry feels detached from life and is on a quest for identification, he gives a particular insight about how he feels about women clear, cold and dry. Henry loved to play the role of a womanizer. He is isolated from his family and compatriots. During this time of intense stress and pressure this lifestyle is common amongst his fellow comrades. Further into the novel, Frederick becomes involved with Catherine Barkley. He does not truly fall in love with her until he gets badly wounded and is put in a hospital. He slowly falls in love with her and, in his love for her, he finds commitment. Their relationship brings some order and value to his life. Compared to this new form of order in his life, Frederick sees the losing Italian army as total chaos and disorder where he had

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previously seen discipline and control. He can no longer remain a part of something that is so disorderly and so, he deserts the Italian army. Frederick's desertion from the Italian army is the turning point of the novel. This is the significance of the title, A Farewell to Arms. When Frederick puts aside his involvement in the war, he realizes that Catherine is the order and value in his life and that he does not need anything else to give meaning to his life. At the conclusion of this novel, when Henry and Catherine plan to get married soon after the baby is born. The months past while they are in the safety of Switzerland. Henry is awaken one morning by Catherine stirring in bed. She was having severe pain; they rushed to a hospital, she would be required to have a caesarean. Henry sat outside in the hall, at this point he begins to pray to God, Dont let her die. Oh God, please dont let her die. Ill do anything for you if you wont let her die. Please, please, please, dear God, dont let her die. Dear God please make her not die. Ill do anything you say if you dont let her die. You took the baby but dont let her die. That was all right but dont let her die. Please, please, dear God, dont let her die. This is one part in the entire novel that the author has shown any emotions by Henry and it also helps the readers know more about how deep is Henrys love to Catherine. And then the nurse signaled him to come into the room. He approached Catherine and began to cry by her side. Catherine was very ill and was falling unconscious; the doctor had asked Henry to exit the room. Henry exited the room to the hallway with the doctor, he was offered some company for his way home but he declined any offers made by the doctor and nurses. Catherine had die from her birth labor. Henry went into the room, got the nurses out and shut the door then he proceeded to turn off the lights, it wasnt any good for him, it was like saying good-by to a statue. After a while he left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain. Henry had lost something of great value. He realized death is the end and when it comes; there is nowhere to go. He accepted death as the end of existence. Obviously, their love at the beginning is even more like a game, where they play their parts and nothing more. Both Catherine and Henry are looking for things that they

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want, but the characters do not realize the consequences of their actions and do not realize that not all of the emotions portrayed by others are always true feelings. But as time passes they develop deeper desires and feeling towards each other. The two people are from time to time plunging into their dreams of better life, so that it is sometimes difficult to find the strict division between the reality and their imaginary world. Even when they distance from the severe reality of war and spend some time together in the Swiss mountains they do not refuse from their fantasies about life. In reality these fake feelings are going to wind up in major consequences for the both of them. Catherine pretends that she and Henry are deeply in love to escape the pain of her fiancs death in battle. Most tragically, Henry and Catherine retreat from the world to live an idealized private life in the mountains of Switzerland, only to have the specter of reality return when Catherine and her baby die during childbirth. 3 - The theme of Patriotism The concept of war is preceded by the idea of patriotism. The love of country and the willingness to sacrifice all for ones country is the patriots reason for joining the battle. The novel suggests that war has become a habit, a disgusting habit. At first he has dropped his studies and volunteered as an ambulance driver. Because he is depicted here as one of many people who were made to believe when the war broke out that their participation in the war was patriotism and that their sacrifice was not in vain. However, At some point, Frederic has learned that this war is not romantic, and it most certainly does not concern him personally. Soon, He came to realize the aimlessness and the senselessness of their fighting and questioned themselves what and whose interest they were fighting for. Henry, too, becomes to be aware of the terrible difference between words and needs . Therefore He does not become a war-hardened soldier, but a disgusted ambulance driver who observes more facets of war than a soldier or politician would. Consequently, the notion of the patriot is reflected upon a few times, and the reader gains a definite sense that being a patriot is never to be equated to a love of war. However, that

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is not to say that Frederic ever clearly denounces or supports war because it is not in his character to be so passionate. In the most obvious instance, Frederic returns to the front after his convalescence and chats about the wars progress with one of his drivers, Gino. The character Gino embodies Hemingways idea of what a patriot looks like. This driver declares himself a patriot and says he does not like to hear so many people talk of the Italians losing. Gino then launches into an invocation of patriotic language which Frederic cannot help but see as naive. Henry says that Gino was born a patriot and was a fine boy and that he couldnt help himself. It is at this point that Frederic admits his problem with words like glorious, sacred, and sacrifice. Frederic compares the notion of sacrifice to the stockyards of Chicago-one large slaughterhouse. Such a comparison, to the American reader at the time, was enough to question patriotism as a reason for war. If, Frederic asks, to love ones country is to be an animal slaughtered in the stockyards, then is it smart to be a patriot? Doubt about the calling of every man to be a patriot is put to rest ambiguously when Count Greffi challenges Frederic to a game of pool. The wise old man tells Frederic that the slaughter does not define patriotism. Instead, a patriot is a lover of ones countrymen. However, this is ambiguous precisely because there is little of this type of love on display during the retreat. All that Frederic saw in the retreat was the stupidity of war. The men who questioned his patriotism in retreat did not love him because he was an officer, and the battle police were present to kill him for his supposed betrayal. Unfortunately, one supposes, Count Greffi is no longer in charge and his vision of love is thus retired. The reader is left with an unanswered question: whether or not patriotism is an abstract value which is no longer possible to pursue rationally, given the technical sophistication of death. Reality and fantasy

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British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

Throughout the novel, Hemingway shows how the harsh truths of reality always infiltrate and corrupt the distracting fantasies that characters create to make themselves feel better. Henry and Catherines relationship is what helped to develop this theme. When they meet for the first times Catherine and Henry are under the influence of the illusion of their love. Henry never believed in love, he always said that he would never experience it. Well, until Catherine came along into his life. Catherine always craved for that feeling of love and she had it with her fianc. Both of them were reliant upon illusion and fantasies in order to comfort themselves, and serve as a distraction for their pain and the ongoing war around them. He was in the war and she became a nurse thinking that he would get a little hurt so that she could always take care of him and itd be so romantic. She liked making up little fantasies in her head about love. I remember having a silly idea he might come to the hospital where I was. With a sabre cut, I suppose, and a bandage around his head. Or shot through the shoulder. Something picturesque, was the fantasy that she played in her head. This one though, all burned down. He got blown up and she never got her fantasy. This is where Henry came in and automatically she fell in love. At first he thought that she was crazy and lied to her about loving her too. I knew I did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her. This was a game, like bridge, in which you said things instead of playing cards is what Henry thinks about when he and Catherine started getting close. She knew he was lying but still, it was something. She didnt have to feel alone and unloved anymore, You dont have to pretend you love me. Thats over for the evening Please lets not lie when we dont have to. Their relationship was all filled with and based on lies, no honesty whatsoever. Neither one of them truly loved the other, it was all make believe, all a part of her own fantasy world. It was all just a game to them, they pretend to love each other and each one gets what they want. She doesnt feel alone and Henry gets to enjoy her. This is why they didnt care. They didnt mind all the lies because they were happy. Catherine pretends that she and Henry are deeply in love to escape the pain of her fiancs death in battle. Both Catherine and Henry are looking for things that they want,

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but the characters do not realize the consequences of their actions and do not realize that not all of the emotions portrayed by others are always true feelings. But as time passes they develop deeper desires and feeling towards each other. The two people are from time to time plunging into their dreams of better life, so that it is sometimes difficult to find the strict division between the reality and their imaginary world. Even when they distance from the severe reality of war and spend some time together in the Swiss mountains they do not refuse from their fantasies about life. 4 - Other themes of A farewell to arms 4.1 - Abandonment In war, separation and abandonment are what people always have to face with intentionally or forced. The soldiers abandon their family, their friends and even their lives to join army, to go to battlefield. When they die because of the war, it means they abandon many people, many things, their team-mates, the people they love, their idea and both their life; when they try to survive in the war, also, they have to abandon many things, sacrifice many things. And, with the novel a farewell to arms, abandonment in the war is revealed clearly by Hemingway. The novel deploys several instances of abandonment, intentionally and forced, in the realms of love and war. Henry is a former student of architecture. He has dropped his studies and volunteered as an ambulance driver. Right at the beginning, this is an abandonment of Henry to his family, to his future given by being made to believe when the war broke out that their participation in the war patriotism and that their sacrifice was not in vain. When Catherin and Henry meet together they are attracted by each other right at the beginning, however, they just stop by overlooking and taking care of each other but not admit their love to the other because they are both afraid of being abandoned. Catherin, who goes to the front for her fianc, accept to work hard on the battlefield as a

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nurse to wait and to find her fianc, is finally abandoned. Her fianc is killed. She even cannot meet him any time. Catherins feeling is revealed clearly through the dialogue with Henry: He was a very nice boy. He was going to marry me and he was killed in the Somme. - Have you done nursing long? - Since the end of 15. I started when he did. I remember having a silly idea he might come to the hospital where I was. With a sabre cut, I suppose, and a bandage around his head. Or shot through his shoulder. Something picturesque. Because of having loved too much, when facing with abandonment one time, Catherin is very bitter and she scares being abandoned once again. Abandonment is also the prepossess to Henry in his relationship with Catherin. In spite of being attracted by Catherin right at the first meet: Miss Barkley was quite tall. She wore what seemed to me a nurse uniform, was blond and had a tawny skin and gray eyes. I thought she was very beautiful and continuously asking to understand about her, Henry still cant confirm his feeling with Catherin is love or not till he is wounded and she take care of him. And the reason is the war. Due to the war, he have to give up many things, abandon many things, he cannot know how he will be later and also, he is afraid of being abandoned. Not only in chapter IV, abandonment is described more clearly in many other situations in the novel: the engineering sergeants, who abandon Henry and the other drivers; Bonello, who abandons the drivers to give himself up as a prisoner; the Italian retreat, a large-scale abandonment; and Henry's escape from army. However, Henry's abandonment is completely justified (he was going to be executed if he did not), and it is less a desertion that what he calls a "separate peace." Ultimately, he decides that not abandoning Catherine is far more important than not abandoning the war.

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British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

Under Hemingways pen, abandonment is depicted as a bad consequence of senseless war and is one of the themes that make up the meaning and value of the novel. 4.2 - Journalistic style of omission As is typical in a Hemingway work, Henry's narration is spare, detached, and journalistic. Contrary to what the reader might expect, the effect often heightens emotion. For example, Hemingway ratchets up the connotations of death and violence by omitting explicit mention of blood when it drips on Henry in the ambulance. Hemingway shows his range when he occasionally uses a near "stream-ofconsciousness" narration for Henry. In these few cases, Henry's thoughts are ungrammatical, awkwardly worded, and repetitive - much as the mind works, especially under such chaotic circumstances. A notable example is the long second-person narrative passage in Chapter XXXII after Henry has divorced himself from the army. By addressing himself as "you," Henry shows how he has separated from his former self through his "separate peace." Nevertheless, the novel cannot be said to condemn the war; A Farewell to Arms is hardly the work of a pacifist. Instead, just as the innocent engineers death is an inevitability of war, so is war the inevitable outcome of a cruel, senseless world. Hemingway suggests that war is nothing more than the dark, murderous extension of a world that refuses to acknowledge, protect, or preserve true love. 4.3 - The relationship between love and pain Against the backdrop of war, Hemingway offers a deep, mournful meditation on the nature of love. No sooner does Catherine announce to Henry that she is in mourning for her dead fianc than she begins a game meant to seduce Henry. Her reasons for doing so are clear: she wants to distance herself from the pain of her loss. Likewise, Henry intends to get as far away from talk of the war as possible. In each other, Henry and Catherine find temporary solace from the things that plague them. The couples feelings

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for each other quickly pass from an amusement that distracts them to the very fuel that sustains them. Henrys understanding of how meaningful his love for Catherine is outweighs any consideration for the emptiness of abstract ideals such as honor, enabling him to flee the war and seek her out. Reunited, they plan an idyllic life together that promises to act as a salve for the damage that the war has inflicted. Far away from the decimated Italian countryside, each intends to be the others refuge. If they are to achieve physical, emotional, and psychological healing, they have found the perfect place in the safe remove of the Swiss mountains. The tragedy of the novel rests in the fact that their love, even when genuine, can never be more than temporary in this world.

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British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

III - CONCLUSION: A farewell to Arms is an anti-war novel in which the reader can see war as a merciless massacre of men and woman and the senseless destruction of the values created. Nowadays, this novel is still read and admired by many generations to come. Obviously, World War I caused emotional, psychological, and sometimes physical damage to most involved. In this time of chaos, people all over the world struggled to find ways to escape it all. The characters in A Farewell to Arms all try to find shelter from the brutality he or she faces everyday by turning to their vices. Each character thinks he or she finds the comfort and refuge he or she seeks by turning to these illusions. Each character tries overcoming the realities of the harsh world, thereby obtaining a sense of security. In conclusion, this whole novel is the fight between love and war. Hemingway constantly uses symbols to completely omit feelings and emotions of his characters. Often times these symbols represent something that they usually do not. His use of themes also makes A Farewell to Arms a classic novel. He uses themes to reveal hidden messages. An example of this is his use of love and warto show that war can destroy anything, even one of the most beautiful things on earth.

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British and American Literature A Farewell to Arms

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