A Farewell to Arms - Paper Essay Example

A Farewell to Arms is the story of Fredrick Henry, an American ambulance driver who is serving as a lieutenant on the Italian side in World War I. This novel is considered a classic to readers everywhere due to it’s extensive use of elements such as nature to enhance the story, a common technique used by Ernest Hemingway. (Cirino) Nature, more specifically rain, plays a huge role in the development of the overall plot and structure of the novel. With rain, Hemingway presents the cruel reality of war and its effect on everyone involved. Even from the start of the novel A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway uses rain frequently to portray the themes of both destruction and tragedy, such as rain foreshadowing a death. This over repetition allows for rain to express emotions and tones the characters do not. Throughout the novel, rain accompanies intended feelings of emotions expressed by the author. The weather sets the mood for the novel, and a change in the weather immediately changes the whole mood for that scene. (Owens-Murphy) Even in the beginning of the novel Hemingway uses this to hint that rain is always connected to death, saying, “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.” (P. 4)Hemingway wastes no time connecting rain to negative feelings such as sickness and death. (Young) Just as rain is a cycle that comes and goes, the author hints that human life is the same, a pattern of continuous death. This symbolic theme is repeated over and over in the novel. Obviously, Hemingway used his personal feelings about the war and how it left the people of his generation affected. Catherine and Henry are two characters that have opposite views that come together to form one. Henry being naive and new to the environment, originally believes that the war is right and not that bad. On the other hand, Catherine has had experience in the war and has seen