A Farewell To Arms Literary Analysis

Earnest Hemingway’s novel, A Farewell to Arms, explores the unfathomable love towards a singular character used as protection. Hemingway primarily presents the concept of comfort during some of the most exciting and shocking events in his main character’s life but introduces desperation exclusively in the closing chapter of his novel. Desperation, a state of total distress, is used wittily by Hemingway to describe the reliance that Fredric Henry has on Catherine. Fredric Henry, an ambulance driver for the Italian Army during World War I, experiences multiple exhilarating moments in the novel but seems to remain well composed and feels immune to the war. Hemingway uses the concept of desperation exclusively when Catherine is the subject to describe

“Bodies bleed in his novel, at times uncontrollably, and Frederic's narrative likewise suffers at times from troubling and uncontrollable outflow” (Dodman 98). These soldiers are bleeding uncontrollably, which shows the physical destructiveness of war, but these doctors are more greatly emotionally traumatized by witnessing these soldiers bleeding out and dying and knowing that there is not much they can do to save them. Just as the bullets and bombs have caused the soldier’s “uncontrollable outflow” of blood, Hemingway’s novel suffers from “uncontrollable outflow” because of the traumatizing events he witnesses.

White is disrupted from his thoughts when he hears a group of teenagers turning the corner and

Although it provides an important perspective into the lives of post war veterans, Hemingway’s novel is merely a fictional story and the events that occur in the book are not representative of any real life occurrences. Hemingway is able to accurately able to depict the shift of morale views that occurred after the war.  People went from emotional and restrained and god fearing, to liberated, materialistic, and pessimistic. Following the First World War, Veterans lost a belief in objective morality and correspondingly lost the belief in love and capacity to make deep connections with people. The characters within this novel face social and personal problems, whether it be physical ailments or mental disabilities, both of which impede their lives completely. Hemingway’s ability to capture and and present the overwhelming emotions that encompassed the Lost Generation is what makes his novel effective and historically

Thesis: In Ernest Hemingway’s short story, “Soldier’s Home”, Hemingway uses a simple writing style and a scenic image style to portray the damaging effects World War I has on soldiers.

On September 29, 1929, “The New York Times” published a commentary piece on Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, describing his writing style as “so strikingly his own that it may bear his name, and is likely to henceforward” (Love and War in the Pages of Mr. Hemingway). Eighty-six years later, readers can experience this for themselves - in the first paragraph of Chapter XXI of A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway uses vivid imagery, staccato-like syntax, and a detached tone through simple diction to create his own unmistakable style. Hemingway’s use of vivid imagery is an aspect of his style that paints evocative pictures in a reader’s mind. One knows that when fall comes, the temperature drops and the leaves change color.

Around the world, works of literature are constantly being banned in schools. Many books are often banned because of their “offensive views” on the outlook of life and the inappropriateness of its content. “A Farewell to Arms” is a great informational book; however, the book contains many points that are offensive to readers and it partakes inappropriate content. Therefore, some of the major reasons “A Farewell to Arms” should be banned is because of the abuse of alcohol, its view of the war and the sexual content in it.

Referring to a passage describing the setting in the book, Bryan Giemza said called the book, “certainly one of the most pregnant opening paragraphs in the history of the modern American novel. In that passage the power of concentration reaches a peak, forming a vivid and charged sequence, as if it were a 10-second video summary.” (Giemza) There were many critics and readers of A Farewell to Arms who appreciated and admired how the author could write in such a contradicting manner. The many descriptive, but simple passages in this book were a staple of Ernest Hemingway’s

Novels published after a major war are often the most deeply emotional, profound ruminations on human nature. The authors of these novels were once soldiers, living in fear and enduring sleepless nights. These authors channel their experiences and emotions into their work, often creating masterpieces of literature. A Farewell to Arms is one such novel. Its author, Ernest Hemingway, was in the Italian ambulance corps in World War I, much like the protagonist of A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry. The themes in A Farewell to Arms reflect his mentality and the typical soldier’s disillusionment in the institutions and values he had always held close. A Farewell to Arms explores the far-reaching disillusionment that seems to plague Frederic. The theme of Frederic Henry’s disillusionment of all that he believes in appears through his desertion of the war, the deterioration of his relationship with Catherine, and his thoughts on life.

In A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls, and The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway uses damaged characters to show the unglamorous and futile nature of war and the effects it has on people. Hemingway wants readers to know that war is not what people make it out to be; it is unspectacular and not heroic. Hemingway also feels that war is futile by nature and that most goals in war have almost no point. He also shows readers that military conflict often causes people to have shallow values and to hide their pain for their own protection.

In the book “Farewell to Arms” written by Ernest Hemingway there is a passage that describes the setting of the book which takes place during World War I. “Sometimes in the dark we heard the troops marching under the window and guns going past pulled by motor-tractors” (Hemingway, Page 1-2). This quote is taken right at the beginning of the book. This quote along with most of the first chapter is describing the scene to us in beautiful detail. The book characterizes the setting as peaceful during the day. The daytime is described, giving great detail of the village. How the village is rich with crops and how it has a great view of the mountains and rivers. Then ,where our quote takes place it moves to start to talk about

In Ernest Hemingway’s fiction book A Farewell to Arms the reader follows protagonist Frederic Henry through his continuously winding journey. This colorful wartime book possesses many themes, but contrary to the idea hinted behind Joel Armstrong's literary criticism “‘A Powerful Beacon’ Love Illuminating Human Attachment in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms” love is not the central theme of the book. The topic that does reoccur and therefore proposes itself as the central principle, however, is the idea associated behind the process of healing from pain. In the book, both Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley had to fight against pain during the times when Barkley loses her first lover, when Henry suffers from the trench mortar trauma, and when Henry bids farewell to the dying Barkley.

A Farewell to Arms was written during a time of life-changing events and interesting times for the author Ernest Hemingway. During the writing of the first draft of this book Hemingway’s son was delivered by a Caesarean section which ties into an event that happens late in this book with the character’s wife. While Hemingway was rewriting A Farewell to Arms his father killed himself and Hemingway said that he was not going to allow his father’s death to distract him from his book but I believe that his death may have forced this book down a deeper and darker path resulting in more of a sad book. Ernest Hemingway rewrote the end of A Farewell to Arms 39 different times to get the words correct and over the time it took him to finish the end, the story changed many times through those 39 endings. During the span of World War 1 many men and women were sent to the front lines as both medics and soldiers, their lives changed dramatically with the transition from a more peaceful life to the terror of the front line. With this transition, they often had to leave behind friends and family and almost everything they own to go fight but as much as their lives were changed they would often try and grasp different aspects of their previous lives to their present-day war lives. A Farewell to Arms portrayed the life of an ambulance driver that served on the Italian front and although his life was changed he still was able to retain certain characteristics from his old life. I think that

Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms tells the tale of two young, star-crossed lovers in the midst of World War I. A powerful romance and stirring history of the war, this semi autobiographical novel meshes the contrasting worlds of love and war, setting war as the backdrop of love. The novel’s portrayal of love is an issue that has attracted critical debate, prompting many academics to reflect on its existence, form, and role in the plot. Joel Armstrong is one such academic. His literary criticism entitled, “‘A Powerful Beacon’ Love Illuminating Human Attachment in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms,” asserts that love is the centering principle of the novel, and that the narrative’s world is one in which “love illuminates all of life” (Armstrong 79). As Armstrong asserts, love is the centering principle of A Farewell to Arms because it serves as an anchor for Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley during the tumultuous events of war, motivates them to go through significant struggles, and works along with loss to lend more meaning to significant events in the plot.

In Ernest Hemingway’s fiction book A Farewell to Arms the reader follows protagonist Frederic Henry through his continuously winding journey. This colorful wartime book possesses many themes, but contrary to the idea hinted behind Joel Armstrong's literary criticism “‘A Powerful Beacon’ Love Illuminating Human Attachment in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms” love is not the central theme of the book. The topic that does reoccur and therefore proposes itself as the central principle, however, is the idea associated behind the process of healing from pain. In the book, both Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley had to fight against pain during the times when Barkley loses her first lover, when Henry suffers from the trench mortar trauma, and when Henry bids farewell to the dying Barkley.