On Symbolism of A Farewell to Arms

Gui Ling

【Abstract】The success of a novel mainly lies in its characters and themes.The use of a lot of symbols and images is a tool which can better highlight the major theme of the novel as well as the protagonists inner world.This article mainly analyzes symbolism integrated with the skill of contrast used on nature and some supporting characters in the novel.

【Key words】A Farewell to Arms； symbolism； contrast

1 Introduction

New York Times valued A Farewell to Arms as “new romanticism of literature” （1） for this novel，if without any other analysis，can be simply understood as a love tragedy like that of Romeo and Juliets.

The love story，with background against First World War，happens between Frederic Henry，an Italian American lieutenant，and Catherine Barkley，a British nurse.The central male character is thinly self-portrait，but the best way to know better this story is the knowledge of the major themes and the leading characters through understanding a series of symbols and images with prophetic meanings.

2 Nature and Its Symbolic Meanings

“Symbols are objects，characters，figures，or colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts.” （2） In the novel，Hemingway uses the changeful weather of nature to symbolize the unpredictable changes of life and the world.

2.1The rain

Rain serves as a potent symbol of something ominous and disastrous，of death，and of the inevitable disintegration of happiness and beauty in life.At first，Hemingway draws two contrastive pictures to suggest the overwhelming destructive force of the rain：It is in the late summer，without rain，the river，plain，and mountains could clearly be seen，while in the rain，everything becomes wet and gray.Hemingway then widely splashes gray color：in the rain，there are “grey” motor-trucks，splashing mud on the road； the mainly troops with “grey” leather boxes wet by the splashed mud，which primarily keynotes the fundamental key of the whole novel with grief.The meaning of rain is deepened when it runs through the developing plot.When Henry and Catherines love games turns into true love，they start to feel the approaching of something unfortunate.Catherine is afraid of rain innately，and she prophetically associates rain with what may result in ruin things for their love.At last，misfortune does eventually come to the lovers：It is always raining during Catherines parturition，and she dies of childbirth.The last image of the novel is that，after bidding a farewell to Catherine，Henry goes out and leaves the hospital and walks back to hotel in the rain，which echoes that of the beginning.So we can see that dripping rain frequently found from the beginning to the end fills the whole novel with an air of wet and gray，heavy and sad.

2.2 The sun

We can also find some details about the description of the sun，the opposite symbol with the rain in the novel.The depictions of sun are put together，mainly from chapter 13 to chapter 16.From chapter 13，Henry，wounded during the bombardment，is sent to the hospital of Milan，where he meets Catherine again.Henry believes he will really love Catherine this time，and the fact shows that he does.Then they spend a very happy summer together.At the end of the novel，even when Henry clearly knows that Catherine is on the verge of death，he can still hold that there is a flash of hope：Walking on the street，he sees the sun is trying to come through the cloud，and he then repeatedly curses the universe，the strong shouts come again and again from the bottom of his heart，“she cant die.” （3）That shows his belief of love.

Therefore，the sun appears in the novel as a flash of hope，a kind of human touch in the cold world，as well as an image symbolizing hope，glory and purity in life.

3 Characters and their Symbolic meanings

3.1 Catherine -- a symbol of eternal love

At the beginning，Catherine starts her love to Henry only to avoid pain from the death of her fiancé.When they soon fall in love with each other，she seems to be more rational than Henry，for she reminds Henry that their budding love is a lie.Even when Henry emphasizes his love to her again and again，she does not sweep off her feet by his love declarations.But no one dares to suspect her loyalty to Henry，the following things done by her strongly display her unswervingly loyal love：Being pregnant，on a storm night，she is brave enough to risk the rain and row to Switzerland with Henry； Laying on the operating table，she has struggled against death for many hours because of difficult labor，after which she still shows her fearlessness towards death and faith to love，“Ill come and stay with you nights.” （4） For this reason，Catherine becomes the most unforgettable image symbolizing strength and optimism，which also signifies that love will sometimes be most probably to exceed death.

3.2 Some other minor characters and their symbolic meanings

In addition，we should never neglect the portraits of some other minor characters，no matter they are praised or not by Hemingway，serving as distinct contrast in the novel.For instance，Rinaldi，Henrys close friend，one of the type of characters celebrated in Hemingways fiction，in which he dominates an array of symbol of vigor，masculine competence and kindness，while Ettore Moretti，an American soldier from San Francisco and Gino，met by Henry in Bainsizza，whose way of patriotism are despised by Henry，the mail protagonist.

4 Conclusions

The dominant themes of the novel are war and love，but what touches us most is the feeling of loss.Henry is certainly one speaker of the whole “lost generation” in the suffering of the war，while Catherine Barkley a beautiful，romantic，brave and loyal lady，who stands for true love，extricates Henry from the idleness of the world.Thereupon，we can see Hemingways genius in applying symbolism with contrast to reveal the implication of his works.

Notes：

（1） YangHenda.Biography of Hemingway.Ρ146

（2） Brian Phillips，David Hopson.Todays Most Popular Study Guides A Farewell to Arms.Ρ38，

（3），（4） ErnestHemingway.A Farewell to Arms.Ρ224，Ρ223

References：

[1]YangHenda.Biography of Hemingway.Changchun Press，1995.2.

[2]Scott Donaldson.The Cambridge Companion to Ernest Hemingway.Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press，2000.12.

— Michael Reynolds.A Farewell to Arms：Doctors in the House of Love：109-127.

[3]Ernest Hemingway.A Farewell to Arms.世界圖书出版社：西安，2000.1.

[4]Ernest Hemingway原著.Brian Phillips，David Hopson导读.ZhangGuojing，XiaZhi翻译.Todays Most Popular Study Guides A Farewell to Arms.天津科技翻译出版公司，2003.9.