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Farewell to Arms Essay

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Farewell to Arms The symbolism in “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway is vivid and dynamic, and in the novel the rain and other factors, symbolize despair. The symbols all are presented in varying forms. The other symbolic factors include; lakes, rivers, snow, ice, mountains, plains, night, seasons, weather, Catherine’s hair, Frederic’s beard, officer stars, riding crop, the painted horse and the silhouette cutter. The symbolic concepts are; the baby, war, love, wounds, and the enemy. The different symbols have an effect on each character in the novel, in a special way. When a reader opens up the novel from the first page to the last page some of the symbols are made obvious, while some symbols are insightful.
The rain is the …show more content…

Catherine decides to reveal her pregnancy, and “It turned cold that night and the next day it was raining” (320). Frederic goes back to the front, leaving Catherine behind pregnant in Milan and it is also raining. The train ride to Stresa where Frederic meets up with Catherine it is raining. This rain symbolizes abandonment. The boat trip from Italy to Switzerland it is raining. This rain means that Frederic and Catherine are scared they will not get to the Switzerland side of the river before daybreak. Frederic will be killed for abandoning the army if they do not make it. The nurse told Frederic his baby is dead during the operation on Catherine and he looks out of the window and it is raining. Catherine dies from a hemorrhage during the cesarean section and it rains. "It seems she had one hemorrhage after another. They couldn't stop it. I went into the room and stayed with Catherine until she died. She was unconscious all the time, and it did not take her very long to die (320)”. Henry leaves the hospital back to the hotel in the rain. This rain symbolizes he is devastated he lost everyone he loves and the rain is his sadness. Rain is all throughout the novel from beginning to end. Lakes and rivers in this novel symbolize the neutral base, which divides the lines, between the conflicting forces. A river separates the Austrian front, from the

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