Anaslysis of A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway - Book Report/Review Example

A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway Outline I. Introduction A story told from a first-hand experience or knowledge results in an extraordinary piece of literature, and this is what defines Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. Henry falls in love with a British nurse, and they both abandon duty to live happily away from the war. II. Thesis The novel is a mixture of tender and harsh, beautiful and tragic, as well real representation of love, society, and war. Hence, this paper this paper illustrates how Hemingway represents love, pain, illusions, and religion in a society marred by war. III. Body A. Love and pain Against the surrounding of war, Catherine and Henry achieves a mournful, deep meditation connection, which portrays the relationship between love and pain B. Love and religion Henry does not believe God controls things in the universe, but his love towards Catherine is influenced by the priest’s love towards God. C. Illusion and fascination Catherine resorts to fantasies and illusion to cope with pain of losing her husband while Henry does the same to forget the atrocities of war D. The ugly reality of war The ugly reality of war in the society is another aspect that Hemingway portrays in this story The majority of characters in the novel including Henry show open resentment for the war and remain uncertain about it. In addition, they dislike the terrible destruction caused by the war, and to make matters worse, they do not see any rationality in it such as the glory that it claims to bring to the people IV. Conclusion The war simply provides a background for the actual story, which is the love that develops between Henry and Catherine. Amidst the war, their love flourish, but, unfortunately, ends tragically with the death of Catherine after giving birth to a stillborn baby. Body of the paper A story told from a first-hand experience or knowledge results in an extraordinary piece of literature, and this is what defines Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. As a volunteer ambulance driver on the Italian front, Hemingway was twice decorated, as well as wounded, and through his experience, he recreates the courage, fear, and comradeship of people involved in the war front to make an unforgettable description of the war. In addition to this, the author constructs a love story full of an uncompromising passion and fascinating drama. With his impeccable writing skills, the author combines a writing perfection with personal experience and fiction to deliver an exquisite work of literature that leaves the readers captivated and craving for more. The novel brings out vividly the impact of World War I in which it was set and focuses on love and in conflict, in addition to experience of the, author. The story of love comes about when Hemingway falls in love with a British nurse, and this marks their journey to find refuge for their love in a world inhabited with war. The novel is a mixture of tender and harsh, beautiful and tragic, as well real representation of love, society, and war. Hence, this paper this paper illustrates how Hemingway represents love, pain, illusions, and religion in a society marred by war. We rarely see good things come out of the war, only hardships, pain and suffering, but in A Farewell to Arms, one of the major things that the author illustrates is love, which in this case is love between him and the British nurse, Catherine. Thus, against the surrounding of war, the two bring out a mournful, deep meditation connection, which portrays the relationship between love and pain (Monteiro 15). Catherine resorts to seduction in order to distance herself from the loss and pain of mourning her husband. Similarly, Henry has the desire to forget the war and distance himself from it as much as possible. As a result, the two find solace in each other, which starts as an amusement, but quickly develops into full-sustained feelings. This love becomes so meaningful to henry that he disregards such important things such as emptiness of abstract ideals including honor to flee war and seek Catherine. Following this, they plan a calm refuge as a salvage for the damages caused by war, and as a result, they flee away from the Italian countryside away from the war. Though the lovers find a safe place to achieve psychological, physical, and emotional healing, their beautiful and tragic love end tragically with Catherine dying after giving birth to a stillborn baby (Gibson 30). This connection between love and pain in the story is very deep and immensely important in the story. Hemingway also talks about love and religion in the story A Farewell to Arms. According to Hemingway, God does not order the universe, and so there is no one responsible for controlling the lives of the people and dictating moral rules. To support this, he quotes, “All thinking men are atheists” (Hemingway 8). Furthermore, through the war between the people, the author shows that the universe is indifferent to human beings furthering the idea that men are atheists. This is understandable because clearly, there exists no rational reasons for the start of the war, and as Hemingway claims, there are no winners either in the winner. However, interestingly, the war that Henry condemns is what serves as a supporting energy for their love by creating a situation that brings them together emotionally. Henry does not believe God controls things in the universe, but his love towards Catherine is influenced by the priest’s love towards God. The priest shows that whether one is in love with God or a woman, a person who is in love is willing to forgo a lot to serve the object of their affections. Furthermore, Henry among other heroes of the novel portrays that the universal moral codes are nonexistent, and the abstract values such as justice and glory are also nonexistent. Nevertheless, the heroes display personal values including courage, dignity among others. Though Catherine masters this from the beginning, the author who is also another hero comes to understand this during the course of the war. Therefore, to a certain extent this novel could pass for an anti-war propaganda (Robert 11). This is because the author describes well the chaos and brutality of the war, with the Italian army retreat scenes considered one of the explicit presentation of war available in American literature. Moreover, the broken columns of soldiers are a symbol of their moral judgments, minds, and nerves. In addition, there is a presentation of the disorder and violence of war as underlined by the engineer’s murder. Hence, as the author presents the world as senseless and cruel due to the brutality of war, he also reveals that the war can also be a catalyst to the devotion to faith in God, as well as dear woman. Similarly, the author presents illusions and fantasies that individuals resort to when confronted with the brutal reality of life. For example, Catherine resorts to fantasies and illusion to cope with pain of losing her husband while Henry does the same to forget the atrocities of war (Donaldson 24). They are under illusion of love because it starts as a game with each of them playing their part diligently. However, with passing time, this game of love and distractions develops into deep feelings, desire, and emotions, which sees their friendship blossoming up until the end of the story. From time to time, the two plunge into the world of their own filled with dreams and imaginations, until at some point it becomes difficult to differentiate between their imaginary world and reality. These fantasies and illusions continue even after they escape the war, as it is the only way for them to cope with the tragic impacts of the reality around them. As noted earlier, this additionally makes it hard to identify the boundary between illusion and love in the story between the two heroes. For instance, after spending several months in Switzerland, Henry portrays as a mixture of illusion and reality (Baker 10). Furthermore, boredom sets in and they resort to several changes such as haircut for Catherine and growing beard for Henry in order to deal with the dullness and boredom of real life. Here they dream of living in Swiss mountains a life in which they will need only each other, as well as make their own clothes. The ugly reality of war in the society is another aspect that Hemingway portrays in this story. This is evident right from the title, A Farewell to Arms, which is about war and it symbolize the step that Henry takes to dishonor his duty towards war and leave it behind to settle with Catherine and live a happy life (Unger 7). The majority of characters in the novel including Henry show open resentment for the war and remain uncertain about it. In addition, they dislike the terrible destruction caused by the war, and to make matters worse, they do not see any rationality in it such as the glory that it claims to bring to the people. Hemingway assumes a masterful description of the violent chaos and senseless brutality that marks the war. In the Italian front, the war crumbles the soldiers and with it their rationality and ability to make sound decisions also crumbles. For example, Henry shoots the engineer simply because he refuses to assist in freeing the car from the mud is just something unimaginable and unexpected. Henry is a cool and detached character whom nobody expects such outbursts from, and in addition, the setting of the incident deprives it of moral significance since the fellow soldiers who are with Henry legitimize the killing. The basis for this justification is because of the inevitable influences of the disorder of the war and escalating judgment. Furthermore, in the narration of the war and its dynamics, Henry does not want to see the readers weep no matter how much he is affected by the war and its by-products. He arrests purely on craftsmanship and naturalism to retell that events of the war. Despite this, he admirably expresses the spirit of the moment with the use of limited literary style. An example of a masterpiece of narration that is evident in the story is the Caporetto retreat, which is the basis of for the entire portion of the book, and achieves furnishing of the action (Hutchison 5). Further, this moment of retreat is relayed in a subtle weaving of narration and description of the horror and confusion that took place, which makes the reader vividly see the retreat. Nevertheless, the novel is barely the work of a pacifist, as the events such as killing of the engineer is merely an inevitability of war, and the war an inevitability of the senseless and cruel world. As a result, what Hemingway is trying to claim is that war is purely a consequence of the murderous, dark extension of the society that does not prioritize preservation of true love, as well as acknowledge and protect it. Evidently, from the story Farewell to Arms, the war is just about the background of the actual story, as the real story that captivates the readers is the relationship that develops between Henry and Catherine. Though this starts as a game of destruction, it quickly develops into real and beautiful love that even see the two abandon their duties and escape to Switzerland with the hope of living happily ever after. It is unusual for such a love story to be brewed in an event of war, but interestingly, the war cultivates deep feelings and emotions that bring the two together to form a solid love. However, their love is a mixture of idyllic, poetic, and tragic story. This is because the love though strong and beautifully does not last long, as Catherine dies of hemorrhage after giving birth to a stillborn baby. Nevertheless, the author portrays several things in a society in the event of war, most of which are in relation to love, or influence the love witnessed between the two heroes. For instance, the experience of pain brings Catherine and Henry together, and in the end, they become solid lovers. Similarly, the author brings out the relationship between love and religion whereby the priest’s devotion to God influences Henry’s love to Catherine. Additionally, the author explores how illusion and fascinations play a significant role in developing love between two people. Finally, the author portrays the griming reality of war with a subtle weave narration that presents horrific tales of war, but not to the extent that the reader finds himself/herself weeping. Nevertheless, Hemingway suggests that the war is largely an inevitable consequence of the dark and murderous extension of the society that fails to embrace peace and love. Works cited Baker, Carlos. Hemingway: The Writer as Artist. Princeton University Press, 1992. Print. Donaldson, Scott. New Essays on a Farewell to Arms. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1990. Print. Gibson, Walker. Tough, Sweet, and Stuffy: An Essay on Modern American Prose Styles. Bloomington & London: Indiana University Press, 1966. Print. Hemingway, Ernest. The Complete Short Stories of Ernest Hemingway. 1998. Print. Hutchison, Percy. "Love and War in the Pages of Mr. Hemingway." The New York Times 29 September 1929. Web. Monteiro, George. Critical Essays on Ernest Hemingways a Farewell to Arms . G. K. Hall & Company, 1994. Print. Robert, Lewis. A Farewell to Arms: The War of the Words. New York: Twayne, 1992. Print. Unger, Leonard. American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1974. Print. Read More