Narrative Structure in A Farewell to Arms - Essay Example

Narrative Structure in A Farewell to Arms Outline I. Introduction II. Narrative Style A. Tensions B. First Person Narrative C. Focus Style D. Language Style E. Climax III. Conclusion Narrative Structure in A Farewell to Arms In developing the narration of A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway the story is built through tensions that are overlapped through a first person narrative that is based upon the protagonist’s relation of the story. However, Hemingway does not rely on Henry to tell the story, but uses his literary skills to develop the story through showing the events and how they affect those within the story.

Even though the emotions of the story have an emotional depth and complexity of spirit, the language that is used throughout the novel is that of simplistic sentence structures and short, pointed sentences that move the story forward. Using skills that reflect his ability to construct a complexity of emotion, Hemingway also provides the male perspective, the use of language designed to reflect the way in which a male experiences his story. The narrative style in the novel by Hemmingway is based upon tensions that are placed at intervals so that the reader is pulled from one end to the next through styles and motifs that alternate from one extreme to the next.

As an example, the dialogue will run until a certain point has been achieved, and then will be contrasted with an active element, the contrast providing a narrative structure that provides the building of tension through episodes of revelation that place context into the action of the work. The build up throughout the work is accomplished in this back and forth contrast through themes, narrative styles, and the development of the ways in which these contrasts develop the emotional build up provides for a momentum that carries the reader through the novel.

The narrative is relayed in first-person, the pace that Hemmingway has set creating a system in which showing rather than telling becomes the nature of revelation. Despite the style of narration, there is little that is brought to the surface that reflects the emotions or the opinions of the narrator. The style creates a system of narration that is detached, the emotions felt by Henry confined within the action of the story rather than told through his capacity as narrator. The first person narration builds, at first completely detached from the events, and then more and more personalized, funneling into the action as the story progresses.

As an example, he writes “There were mists over the river and clouds on the mountain” as opposed to personalizing the view by saying “I saw mists over the river…” (Hemingway 10). In this way, Hemingway is showing the setting, creating a scene and coming into focus on the events from a wide angle. As the dialogue begins to loom closer, the nature of the narration shifts just a bit as Henry says “I watched the snow falling, looking out of the window of the bawdy house” bringing the focus of the narration into his experiences.

The experience of the narration is defined by the expanding of the space of the novel then narrowing into focus, that focus never meandering into tangents of discourse, but staying on course and taking the reader through to the bitter and terrible end to the novel. Even as Cathy is slipping away from Henry, his narration is focused on the experience, the events revealed through his interpretation of what is happening and narrowed to those events only. Henry relates his disbelief as he says “She won’t die.

She’s just having a bad time…Afterward we’d say what a bad time and Catherine would say it wasn’t really so bad” (Hemingway 227). Still the focus is on the event, not meandering to some other relatable feeling or emotional state, but focused on what he is involved in at the moment that he relates his state of mind. The writing uses a lack of complexity as a literary tool, building the tension through imagery that is succinct and quickly developed. Where the word usage seems simplistic and appears to lack complexity, the development of the emotional content, beside the disengaged nature of the first person narration and the simple sentence structures, is developed through a complexity that reflects the male experience.

The masculinity of the point of view is continued through the emotional experiences that are developed as the revelations are made throughout the story. Within the tension, conflicts and contrasts is a decidedly masculine revelation of how a man believes, reacts, and responds to the events within his life. Despite the simplistic language, the communication is complex and fully developed so that the narration continues forward in revealing the emotions of Henry as he lives through this time in his life.

As the story comes to its final climax, the death of Catherine which the story has been building towards, the narration takes on the reflection of the emotions that Henry feels about what he is experiencing. The story has been revealed through clever exposition as the narration and dialogue tension has worked towards creating a fully developed storyline. The action has been a constant rise and ebb of the tide of emotions as well as the rise and fall of events that have propelled the story towards its end.

As Catherine dies, the relationship comes to its end, resolved through the loss of the female paramour. The story that Hemingway constructs is done with a deceptively high level of literary skill. The story evokes the spirit of the male experience within an emotionally charged story, his point of view detached just as his experience might leave him feeling a bit detached from the events. As the story reaches all of its climaxes, ultimately reaching the final climax as Catherine dies, the narrator is left with the tatters of the constructed emotional qualities that the story has evoked.

The uses of language compliment the detached feeling of the first person narrative. Works Cited. Hemmingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc.