A Farewell To Arms By Ernest Hemingway Analysis - 1087 Words

In 1914, one of the worst wars in history started -- World War I. During this time, Italy suffered about 460,000 to 650,000 casualties of both military soldiers and citizens. Most of the people in Italy did not want to fight, but their lives were endangered as if they had no value or purpose. In the novel, A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway explores the hardships of the war through an ambulance driver in World War I referred to as Lieutenant Henry. Lieutenant Henry sees and experiences many things in his war experience, but overall comes back to the same realization: there is not much meaning in life. Throughout the novel, Hemingway teaches the reader that life is meaningless through the character’s relationships with each other, their†¦show more content†¦Even if a man is injured, the officers will still send him out into the war as soon as he can walk and hold a gun again. Men are thrown into battle with no way to change their situation, making the effort to live pointless. To recapitulate, life’s meaningless is represented through characters’ relationships. An additional way Hemingway shows the meaninglessness in life is with the characters’ views on the war. First, the ambulance drivers’ views on the war prove that life has no meaning. Passini, one of the ambulance drivers, says â€Å"‘When people realize how bad it [the war] is they cannot do anything to stop it because they go crazy’† (41). He points out that the war is despised by everyone, yet no one can rectify its corruption; they just have to deal with the war. After fighting an unwanted war, it takes the meaning of life away and life becomes pointless. Another reason that life is without purpose is that the priest has very little hope for the war. The priest says, â€Å"‘I had hoped for something†¦ now I don’t know’† (137). The priest is normally the most hopeful and sacrosanct person in a town, but the war is so bad that even he has a hard time holding onto faith. No one has hope for this war, showing that the m eaning in having faith is completely gone. A final reason life is so meaningless is that soldiers are willing to harm themselves to escape the war. AllShow MoreRelatedAnalysis On The Farewell Of Arms By Ernest Hemingway1101 Words   |  5 PagesThe book I chose to do my analysis on was A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway in 1929. It has a first person narrative and is told by American ambulance driver Frederic Henry who finds love in the form of a nurse named Catherine Barkley all while the first world war is happening in the background. The story almost serves as a biographical piece on Hemingway himself as many of the events and experiences in it are inspired by real life ones that affected him. He did fight in World War 1Read MoreA Farewell To Arms By Ernest Hemingway Analysis747 Words   |  3 PagesSchmidt †¢ A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway (born on July 21,1899 and died on July 2,1961) He was raised in Chicago, and he moved to Paris after marriage. Hemingway contributed to literature during his time by writing for his high school newspaper and later became a journalist for Kansas City Star. He also became a companion of a lot of successful writers with Gertrude Stein teaching him. (â€Å"Ernest Hemingway† Biography.com) †¢ Original publication- September 1929 (â€Å"Ernest Hemingway† BiographyRead MoreA Farewell To Arms By Ernest Hemingway Analysis1694 Words   |  7 Pageslives the way they wish they could. One example of this is in Ernest Hemingway’s novel, A Farewell To Arms. The brave World War One ambulance driver, Frederic Henry, shares many traits with the esteemed author. It’s almost like he’s the Batman to Hemingway’s Bruce Wayne. Hemingway often wrote from experience, whether it was drawing upon his experience at a bullfight or even writing about his time spent on the Italian front (Ernest Hemingway Biography ~ World War I 1). He shares several experiencesRead MoreAnalysis Of Ernest Hemingway s A Farewell Of Arms 1369 Words   |  6 Pagesof courage, glory, and selflessness. A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway, is a recollection of his war experiences. The protagonist, an American Lieutenant named Fredric Henry, struggles to find the middle ground between his affair with the beautiful and radiant Catherine Barkley and pursuing heroism in the Great War. The lovers’ lives are turned upside-down once they realize they are infatuated with each other. Like Lieutenant Henry, when Hemingway was â€Å"serving at the front, he was woundedRead MoreAnalysis Of Ernest Hemingway s A Farewell Of Arms 1219 Words   |  5 Pageswar cannot overcome the bond between lovers. However, Ernest Hemingway c ontrasts this version of war and love in his novel, A Farewell to Arms. He utilizes his past experiences in World War I to illustrate warfare from the perspective of a soldier on the front lines. His novel portrays romance in a negative light, showing an alternative result of love, rather than the clichà © â€Å"happily ever after† endings. In A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway suggests that love can only serve as a temporary haven inRead MoreAnalysis Of Ernest Hemingway s The A Farewell Of Arms 988 Words   |  4 PagesA Farewell to Arms - Modernism In the A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway incorporates a literary style known as Modernism. Literary Modernism, or Modernist literature, had its origin in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The horrors of World War I perceived, were taken into consideration by Modernists as the prevailing assumptions about society were reassessed. Thinkers such as Sigmund Freud began questioning the rationality of mankind. Hemingway includes perspectivism, impressionism, andRead MoreNot Only Did The Effects Of War Negatively Influence Henry’S1282 Words   |  6 PagesNot only did the effects of war negatively influence Henry’s actions, the theme of tragedy and the horrors of war also influence the entire Italian Army. For example, in Moddelmog’s literary analysis, the author refers back to novel to discuss the temptations that are depicted by Hemingway to give an accurate representation of the daily lives of the soldiers and the author hints at a justification for their actions: â€Å"It might sound sordid, but during war who can blame soldiers for seeking pleasurableRead MoreThe Sentimental Education of Frederic Henry (Hemingway’s Other Possible Title)975 Words   |  4 Pages Ernest Hemingway’s protagonist Frederic Henry says A Farewell to Arms with a double meaning. The novel title is word play reflective of first, Frederic’s desertion of the war. His second farewell is to the arms of his beloved, Catherine Barkley after her death in childbirth. Wandering stoically through life, looking for some natural progression, Frederic lets one circumstance lead him to the next. At first, Frederic exhibits the hedonistic aspirations of a college fraternity pledge, motivatedRead MoreCoping with War: A Comparison Between Slaughterhouse Five and A Farewell to Arms1630 Words   |  7 PagesEarnest Hemmingway once said Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. (Ernest Hemingway: A Literary Reference) War is a gruesome and tragic thing and affects people differently. Both Vonnegut and Hemmingway discus this idea in their novels A Farewell to Arms and Slaughterhouse Five. Both of the novels deal not only with war stories but other genres, be it a science fiction story in Vonnegut’s case or a love story in Hemingway’s. Despite all the similaritiesRead MorePsychoanalytic and Femisnist Theories in A Farewall to Arms by Ernst Hemingway2059 Words   |  9 Pagesâ€Å"A Farewell to Arms† written by Ernest Hemingway in 1929 attracted much critical acclaim and theoretical interpretation helping to understand the author’s message to the readers the overall importance of the literary work in the world. The events of the novel took place during the First World War in Italy revolving around Frederic Henry, an American ambulance driver working for the Italian Army and being wounded on the front. Another very important character in the novel was Catherine Barkley, the