Critical Appreciation Of A Farewell To Arms

     A Farewell to Arms is the book of Frederic Henry, an American driving an ambulance for the Italian Army during World War I. The book takes us through Frederic's experiences in war and his love affair with Catherine Barkley, an American nurse in Italy. The book starts in the northern mountains of Italy at the beginning of World War I. Rinaldi, Frederic's roommate, takes him

Don’t leave me here alone.’ The narrator simply shakes him off and moves on. The soldiers have been trained like beasts and they have been dehumanised; they have been taught that no life is to be spared. Death is now the norm and they have been desensitized to it. The narrator relates an incident where he volunteers for a raid on the German trenches. He experiences much trauma; he kills a soldier, Karl. Karl’s death is terrible- the bayonet is trapped in Karl and eventually the narrator has to shoot him. When he returns to the trenches with two German prisoners he tries to suppress what has happened: ‘It is better not to think’. The narrator knows that he would indubitably go insane if he thinks about his action. Karl’s death epitomizes the fact that soldiers on both sides are killed in horrific way for no discernible reason. There is definitely nothing glorious or heroic about war.

Chapter 2 sums up the war in a different fashion, showing the contrast between the uselessness of past knowledge and the “raw and emotional skills necessary” in the trenches (20). The duties imposed on the camp by Corporal Himmelstoss symbolize the hours of work and duties done before enlistment that mean nothing during the war. Being “put through every conceivable refinement of parade ground soldiering” shows how schoolbook tasks were diligently performed only for fear of how society would perceive the boys if they were to do otherwise (26). Himmelstoss himself is the embodiment of previous responsibilities that only make the men “howl with rage” at present (26). The death of Kemmerich goes hand in hand with the death of innocence, Kemmerich’s shiny boots being the small glimpse of hope that keeps the men going. Baumer receives saveloy, hot tea, and rum from Muller for salvaging the boots. In return for giving Muller a sense of hope, Baumer receives a more needed sense of comfort and satisfaction. His hunger, one “greater than comes from the belly alone” (33), is thus satisfied. Chapter 7 directly reinforces this transition from an old life into a new one. Baumer “feels an attraction” to the

A final moral issue happens when one of Staff Sergeant Eversmen’s good friends, Sergeant Smith, gets shot. The wound caused by the bullet

Mallard and Desiree both have struggled within their marriages that have driven them to death. There is nothing neither woman could do to help their situations. The only way they were freed from controlling men was by death. “When the doctor came, they said she had died of heart disease—of joy that kills” (Chopin 429). Mrs. Mallard died after seeing her husband at the front door. She was so excited to be free. Once she saw him, it gave her a heart attack. She could not believe what was before her eyes after being told he was killed. “She walked across a deserted field, where the stubble bruised her tender feet, so delicately shod, and tore her thin gown to shreds. She disappeared among the reeds and willows that grew thick along the banks of the deep, sluggish bayou; and she did not come back again” (Chopin 434). Desiree chose to end her sufferings and her child’s future sufferings by walking into the bayou and not coming back up. If she did not end their lives than Desiree would have been in a home where she was not wanted and their child together would be treated as a slave because Armand was racist. Although their lives end, Mrs. Mallard and Desiree both had freedom in the

To soldiers, fighting on the front lines is a life changing event that can forever alter the way they look, think, and feel. By using juxtaposition, Erich Remarque is able to capture how feelings and behaviors can change while trying to become free from the war experience in Chapter Seven of All Quiet on the Western Front. The main character, Paul, faces three events that make him yearn to rid himself of the terrible weight of war on his shoulders. It is clear that you can never truly understand what it is like in a war until you are the one doing the fighting.

As the soldier wonders why he has been given so much torment, a single bullet going mph goes past the soldiers face, inches away from his nose and falls into the hell that is called a trench.

In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, author Erich Maria Remarque adopts an exemplary use of diction and emotion to describe a critical moment in the life of the protagonist, Paul Bäumer, as he ends the life of the French soldier Gérard Duval. On a “patrol… sent out to discover just how strongly the enemy position is manned” (209), Paul dives into a shell hole for refuge from the lead storm above. Trapped, an alarmed Paul is forced to stay in the hole for an extended period of time as “minute after minute trickles away” (217), all the while fearfully attempting to escape. When the enemy troops begin to attack, Paul plans what he might do in advance in the event of one of them falling in the hole and finding him. He ultimately decides to pull his knife out as self-defense. When an enemy soldier stumbles and falls on top of him, without thinking and merely responding to survival instincts, Paul stabs the soldier. In that dire scene, Remarque depicts the entire perspective of war as it evolves for both the reader and the young Paul Bäumer. It is only until Paul (who represents the entirety of the armies) discovers what he has truly done as he kills and witnesses Gérard Duval’s life slowly drain from the pool of red on his chest, realizing that everybody is a human, much like himself.

He was injured in his leg so the medics had no choice but to amputate it. It states, “ Kemmerich has lost his foot. The leg is amputated. He looks ghastly, yellow and wan.” (Remarque, 14). As a result of World War I’s technological deficiency many soldiers died from the incapability of finding fast and sufficient cures. Kemmerich personifies many other soldiers whose life becomes worn out and drained because of the war. It states, “ In his face there are already the strained lines that we know so well, we have seen them hundreds of times. They are not so much lines as marks. Under the skin the life no longer pulses, it has already pressed out the boundaries of the body.” (Remarque, 14). Kemmerich’s death mainly affects Baumer because it is the first time he had seen a dear friend traumatized by the effects of the war. He is concerned about Kemmerich but the nurses and orderlies don’t seem to care too much about the patients as they just want to clear Kemmerich’s bed for another wounded soldier. It states, “Hospital-orderlies go to and fro with bottles and pails. One of them comes up, casts a glance at Kemmerich and goes away again. You can see he is waiting, apparently, he wants the bed.” (Remarque, 30). This emphasizes the unprofessionalism and how unequipped the army was in tending to the needs of the

In both Battle Scars and All Quiet on the Western Front the soldiers haft to go through horrific physical wounds. One of these wounds are lost of limbs. When “Kemmerich” “lost his foot” none of his comrades dared to tell him

Our main character, Paul, is a german soldier fighting in the middle of world war one to the very end of the war. In the beginning of the story, we find that Paul is a soldier in the german army and is sent to the front lines. We also learn about Paul’s friends named Tjaden, Kat, Müller, Kropp and Haie who are serving with him in his unit. We find out that Paul has not yet seen combat yet, and is only in the reserves. Later on, we read that Paul was sent to the front lines and is hit by an artillery barrage that kills

This extract shows that when someone dies, or gets so injured they cannot keep on fighting, there is not a lot of respect given to them. The word ‘flung’ indicates this, illustrating the fact that they are not provided a lot of care; and that they are just one person in about 20,000,000 who will not survive the war.

In “The Story of an Hour,” Kate Chopin describes the series of emotions a married woman with a heart condition, Mrs. Mallard, endures after hearing about the death of her husband, Mr. Mallard. She assumes that she will be a mournful widow, but she ends up silently rejoicing. It turns out that she was not happily married and the thought of freedom from her attachments of marriage gave her

Any and all events in one's life may change a person profoundly, but the effect may not always be as expected. For instance, situations of despair may cause feelings of depression and uncertainty to develop in an individual, as would likely be expected. However, those same situations could ultimately lead to a sense of fulfilment or enlightenment. In the novels All Quiet On The Western Front by Erich Remarque, The Wars by Timothy Findley, and A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemmingway, the varying possibilities of the effects of war on an individual are clearly displayed. In All Quiet On The Western Front, Paul Baumer finds the war has changed not only the way he views

The narrator is unknown to the readers but describes Catherine’s, and other characters inner thoughts, that would otherwise be reserved to them. Although it is Catherine that is made the main focus, “Catherine’s feelings, as she got into the carriage, were in a very unsettled state; divided between regret for the loss of one great pleasure, and the hope of soon enjoying another”, her narrative representation is sympathetic and pleasant but the third-person structure also allows for Catherine’s nature to be presented without confusing the