To Search for Order in a World Where there is No Order - Essay Example

To search for order in a world where there is no order. To search for order in a world where there exists moral dilemmas between right and wrong, war and God, religion and death has always been the goal of humankind. This is the world in which Hemingway creates for the basis of his novel, A Farewell to Arms. The reader is first introduced to the notion of religion within a few pages of the story. It is during a scene when the character of the priest is being harassed, ridiculed, by many of the soldiers. In reply to the issue of religion, as well as God, the major claims, “All thinking men are atheists” (Hemingway 8). This immediately sets the stage for seeing what the foundational perspectives of religion are in the story, despite the fact that the main character of Henry admires and likes the priest because he represents a sense of belief and stability. However, one is never really sure if the priest is really that devoted due to the general nature of war and what it does to people in terms of making them question existence. In these respects it seems that God and religion have no real place in the world these men live in, in that world of war. Death is simply that, death. Religion seems to hold no promise of anything, especially for a “thinking” man it would seem, which one assumes Hemingway is (Hemingway 8). In a world of war there are no real answers, only real death. As the story develops, Henry has learned from the priest, and developed on his own throughout the story he realizes that, “It is only in defeat that we become Christian” which illustrates a sense of ignorance and a fearful hope in becoming religious (Hemingway 178). This sort of perspective or theme is further endorsed, and illuminated upon, by another character, Count Greffi, who states, “I had always expected to become devout. All my family died very devout. But somehow it does not come” (Hemingway 263). This clearly illustrates further the theme of becoming religious, believing in God, only at the end when death and defeat are near. But, for this man, and for all others in the novel it seems, that a sense of faith never comes and death is just death. Hemingway’s reflection on death was right after WWI. The world believed, along with Hemingway that was the war to end all war. It was a massive war, with a death toll never before reported or seen. All of the death seemed senseless. It was hard at that time to believe that a God and religion sanctioned all of this death, not just of the Axis powers, but of the Allies. Hemingway started to believe that death was an end, not a beginning to an afterlife. Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five has very similar presentations of religion, but with a different historical perception. Vonnegut’s story was written after WWII. He wrote from the point of view that war was inevitable, no matter the preventive measures taken by peaceful nations. This made him a little more cynical, with the belief that God was dead. Vonnegut discusses the lack of truth in religion. In his perception death is destined, and as such religion and God have nothing to do with the end. As with Hemingway’s novel, this story also offers a quick look directly at religion near the beginning of the book. It is noted that, “Billy wasn’t a Catholic, even though he grew up with a ghastly crucifix on the wall” (Vonnegut 48). The narrator then illustrates how his father was not religious and his mother went from church to church trying to find one she liked yet “She never did decide”, but developed an interest and fascination with crucifixes (Vonnegut 49). This offers the hope, as did Hemingway’s story that perhaps religion could offer some answers to life’s questions. This point also clearly illustrates that there is no such thing as seen through the almost futile nature of Vonnegut’s story wherein everyone’s fate is out of their hands. When it comes to a discussion of religion in terms of God, Vonnegut’s takes a far more humorous approach than Hemingway. Vonnegut leads the reader to believe life and war seems to indicate God has nothing to do with people and their ultimate demise, or does he likely care. The narrator illustrates how “The visitor from outer space made a gift to Earth of a new Gospel. In it, Jesus really was a nobody, and a pain in the neck to a lot of people with better connections than he had” (Vonnegut 139). Humorously the narrator indicates that Jesus still got to say, in this particular Gospel, all the fun things he said in the well known Gospels, but yet it consistently pointed out that Jesus was really nobody. But, suddenly, just before “the nobody died, the heavens opened up…The voice of God came crashing down”, and he essentially took Jesus in as his son and claimed that, “From this moment on, He will punish horribly anybody who torments a bum who has no connections!” (Vonnegut 139). Such an elaborate illustration of Jesus and God, and thus the Christian religion, illustrates the pointless nature of it all. While it all may mean something it does not matter when it comes down to the moment of death in an individual’s life. Hemingway and Vonnegut have similar points concerning death and religion. Both agree that the two have nothing to do with one another. Hemingway took the view that death is just death, not a religious experience. Vonnegut went farther suggesting that religion does not exist, especially when concerning death. These two authors explored what man has speculated about for ages, religion and death. These authors came to similar conclusions, but in the end, no one can be sure about death or religion. References Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. USA: Schribner, 1995. Vonnegut, Kurt. Slaughterhouse-Five. USA: Dial Press Trade Paperback, 1999. Read More