Themes in Ernest Hemingway's “A farewell to the arms”

Introduction

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the themes in Hemingway's novel “A farewell to arms”. This paper enlightens the themes in the novel and discusses the meaning of each theme. Hemingway is an author who prefers reality rather than fantasy (Carlos, 27). This behavior of Hemingway can also be illustrated through the novel “A farewell to arms” because in this novel the whole story revolves around the scenario of World War I and does not comprise a happy ending. The main characters of this novel are Henry and Catherine who are deeply in love (Hemingway, 24). Throughout the story it can be realized that Henry and Catherine are willing to sacrifice everything to run away from way in order to live a peaceful and happy life. However, the novel ends with a tragic death of Catherine at the time of childbirth. This paper will focus on discussing the themes used in the play and their purpose.

Literature review

War

The incident of “A Farewell to Arms” happened in Italy in the era of World War I; hence the characters of the characters of the book are inspired by the situation of war. Majority of the characters ranging from Henry and Catherine to the armed forces and the owners of the stores are philanthropist (Hemingway, 36). Everyone among these characters supported Hemingway's vision. According to Hemingway's vision never supported the idea of war and considered it a ridiculous squander of life. However, there are few characters that agree with the idea of war. These characters are presented as zealots. These characters showed disappointment from the military police, like the loyalist of Italy Gino. In views of Henry, the situation of combat is an essential vice and he diverts himself by using alcohol or sexual intercourse. In the end of novel it can be interpreted that Henry's familiarities with war have induced him to agree to the fact that war is a basically unfair act of violence and he searches for the ways to flee from the atrocity with Catherine (Hemingway, 48).

Love and Loss

This theme discusses Henry's hatred towards the concept of love. Henry considers himself rigid and do not want to fall in love. However, despite of his projected sarcasm about love, Henry falls in love with Catherine. At the other hand of the story, Catherine is a girl who has been deprived of love and compassion (Hemingway, 58). It is revealed that Catherine wants love more than anything in the world. In novel tells that every time Catherine falls in love she loses him. It is revealed in the start of the novel that Catherine's lost her previous boy friend in war. In the novel the concept of love is well connected with the concept of loss. In this novel the darker side of love is shown rather than the brighter side and it continues till the end when Henry loses Catherine as dies during childbirth (Hemingway, 67). Actually, the unbelievable strength of Henry ...