Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms

In Ernest Hemingway's novel, A Farewell to Arms, rain is used to symbolize and represent, principally, war, death, and love. After establishing the significance of rain in the first chapter, the reader instantly takes note. At the mention of rain in other scenes, the reader is wrought with strong feelings, usually of war, death, or love. Throughout the novel, Hemingway places rain in with many of the most important scenes, which the reader then connects by means of relating one scene to another, by the similarity of the presence of rain. One of the primary associated feelings with rain is war and disease. The first time that rain is mentioned regarding war and disease is at the end of the first chapter, after Frederic gives a brief description
of what the war is like. In the closing sentence of the first chapter, Frederic says "At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera. But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army"(Hemingway, 4). Instantly, feelings or sadness, death, decay, and war are presented, and are portrayed with rain present. Hemingway again uses rain in context with war when he describes the scene in which Frederic is temporarily paralyzed. In this scene, the first battle described, "you could hear the smaller noise of the brick and dirt raining down"(52). By associating rain with war and disease, Hemingway is able to present the association of rain with much more dreadful things, such as cholera, a terrible disease, and the way a battle scene appears. The symbol rain is also used in representing and associating with death.
Catherine's fear of the rain is revealed in one of the novel's most important scenes. The mood is already set when its stated that "Outside the rain was falling steadily"(126). A dark mood is set and Catherine states "I'm afraid of the rain because sometimes I see me dead in it" then later states "And sometimes I see you dead in it"(126). Although Frederic comforts Catherine, a heavy, somber feeling blankets to mood and creates strong feelings of gloom. The final scene in the book, and also the final scene in which rain is related to feelings of death is after Catherine and the baby both die. One of the scenes most heavily laid with sadness, misery, and depression ends with Frederic saying "After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain"(332). Again, rain is used to symbolize loss, tragedy, failure, and death and how they are connected to Frederic's
life. The final usage of rain is to represent love, but done so with a contrastive technique, almost as to display the lack of rain, and associate with happiness and joy.
In a light tone, Hemingway describes the village of Abruzzi, where "it was clear cold and dry"(13). The mood is much lighter then if Hemingway had mentioned that of rain. Instead, he contrasts it to create a lighter, more joyful atmosphere. The same morning that Catherine and Frederic meet, Frederic describes the day as being "a lovely spring morning… and "a feeling of dryness in the nose that meant the day would be hot later on"(16). On the day when Frederic meets Catherine, and it is inevitable (and foreshadowed) that they will fall in love, a complete lack of rain is displayed. By contrasting heavy, dark scenes with rain, to scenes filled with happiness, joy, and delight, the strong contrast between love and war and death is
exhibited. Hemingway's utilization of rain in A Farewell to Arms is key in understanding and acquiring the feelings associated with principal parts of the book. It serves as a component in the expression of numerous characters in the novel, it foreshadows major events such as Catherine death, and sets the mood for the most important parts of the book, and many others. In general, the symbolism of rain expresses almost every emotion, feeling, state, and mood in the novel.