Trina Duong
Ms. Reeves
APEL 3
June 15, 2016
Critique
A Farewell to Arm by Ernest Hemingway is a romantic novel about an American ambulance lieutenant, Frederic Henry, and his love interest, an English nurse, Catherine Barkley. This takes place during World War I, in which the war has a significant impact towards the relationship of Henry and Barkley. My first impression of the novel is that it was nothing how I expected it to be. Given its context and title, I expected the novel to be mainly about World War I and how it impacted Henry’s life. Hemingway’s introduction to the novel was very unique. He introduced the story with their position and current stage in the war. This is what led me to believe that the novel was going to be based mainly
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The novel was written during the late 1920s, in which some of the word use and sentence structures were odd, but expected due to it’s outdated time. For example, “All the country wet and brown and dead with the autumn.” (10) The war was mentioned briefly throughout the text to provide context and and background of the novel. However, when the war was mentioned, Hemingway used many legitimate descriptions of the the war, the smells, and the feelings during the time, which gave the novel a lot of realism. For example, “In the fall when the rains came the leaves all fell from the chestnut trees and the branches were care and trunk black with rain.” (4) Hemingway’s use of imagery allowed me to have a better understanding of the war during the time. His realistic descriptions showed the depression and resentment attitude towards the war during the …show more content…
This image symbolizes the entire novel, because the whole story mainly revolves around Henry and Barkley’s intimate relationship and how it was affected during a time of war. I found the novel interesting at first, however as it began to get further into the relationship of Henry and Barkley, it started becoming boring as events in their relationship were being repeated and were becoming more and more predictable, taking away the surprise factor. The novel was written in first person, which made it more interesting to read, because it showed the point of view of Lieutenant Henry, from his thoughts to his actions. His writing also contained strange patterns, which was followed with either very short sentences or very long run on sentences. His writing style in this novel really enhanced the point of view. It allows for a more raw and in depth thoughts into the mind of a retired veteran, portraying it as a diary almost. Throughout the novel, not much insight was given about many characters, expect for Lieutenant Henry and Catherine. The novel mentioned about Henry’s background, but not much about Catherine's, however she’s the main character. I felt disconnected to Catherine, because since she’s one of the main characters, and was one of whom the whole novel was based upon, we didn’t learn much about her which I found to be very lacking. I also found her attitude quite annoying, there wasn’t much
This drawing represents when Montag got mad that he read poetry to Mildred 's friends, which is a BAD IDEA! The importance of this is that when he read the poetry, the reaction to the ladies showed that books could be bad or good. With this event, it was what lead up with Montag ending up at his house. Also, the importance of this event is that we know why the society hates books by the reaction of Mrs. Phelps and Mrs. Bowles. The poem made Mrs. Phelps cry and made Mrs. Bowles mad at Montag.
In contrast, Henry is “embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, and sacrifice and the expression in vain”5. Hemingway has set up this contrast in order to exaggerate his dismissal of the romanticized military hero. Like Remarque, he prefers instead to discuss war honestly with “the concrete names of villages,... names of rivers, and the numbers of
Jack London 's writing is harsh poetry. He describes scenes in such detail. Reading his work makes you picture how the scenes look in your head. He shows a deeper meaning in the events of his stories(Napierkowski). The point of view of the story is third person limited omniscient.
Hemingway’s symbolism in Hills Like White Elephants Ernest Hemingway among the best of authors of his time, uses a quite different approach to his writings. His style to of writing is often vague and unclear. Hemmingway only gives a bit of content about the story, and the rest is hidden or missing entirely. The audiences are therefore forced to read more carefully and piece together the story. The style of writing he uses is known as the iceberg theory.
In the short story “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway, there is a relationship unfolding, a complex relationship difficult to understand. The relationship is revealed by a conversation between a man and a woman, a topic of conversation that people rarely discussed in the period that the story was set. After researching interpretations, it is consistently said “She is pregnant, and he wants her to have an abortion” (Weeks 76), to which I agree that this conversation is about abortion. With the man seemingly pushing the topic and the girl hesitant and questionable, it is unsure as to the result of their conversation. However, it is my belief that she chose to follow her heart and not get the abortion.
In “Soldier’s Home,” Hemingway convey’s the recurring theme of the story through the literary device repetition. “Besides he did not really need a girl”(Hemingway 2) and “You did not need a girl”(Hemingway 2) are examples of repetition used in the story to emphasize the struggle the main character has
This reflects the optimistic view of the author on life and possibilities, even despite the darkness and problems that people get over. In this concern, the author tries to show his readers that the nature is the best means to find peace and to renew ones energy needed for the rest of our lives after negative events occur. The nature in this story is not stable and changes, the landscapes also change. However, the nature depicting with its calmness, softness and beauty is still the opposition to war and to burn village in the first part. All in all, Hemingway believes that nature really provides the chance for a person to get the second
Due to the fact that the classic Hemingway hero is so easily recognizable it was very easy to relate the main character in the movie to that of
In The Sun Also Rises, Ernest Hemingway writes about a woman and her struggles with herself and life. As Ernest Hemingway progresses through the story his writing style contributes to a lot of unknowns. Hemingway writes in such a way that he makes everyone really think and analyze the book to fully understand it. As people read through the chapters Hemingway places specific events in such a way that they understand who this woman is. Hemingway begins by telling you about other characters before he mentions Brett to make you aware of the time and lives of the other characters.
Summing up Ernest Hemingway’s life in a few words, as was his preferred literary style, is difficult. The author passed through various stages of fame and used his fortune to travel the world, never staying inactive for very long. His whole life could provide the material for a book as interesting as the ones he wrote, and it is clear these works were influenced by his extensive personal experiences. Hemingway’s enlistment in World War I was the inspiration behind A Farewell to Arms, and he later recounted his service in the Spanish War in For Whom the Bell Tolls. Current events also played a significant role in Hemingway’s writings, as is evidenced by To Have or Have Not, in which a man struggles to support his family amidst the Great Depression.
Weather has long played an important role in literary works. Not only does it establish a sense of gloominess, but it can also have many hidden meanings, be it good or bad. Ernest Hemingway, however, takes a much different yet darker approach in his piece, A Farewell to Arms. Thomas C. Foster’s chapter on the importance of weather gives many insights to what effect rain has in a literary work. For one, rain may bring men together in “uncomfortable circumstances” (Foster 71).
Using symbolism, he was able to give certain items a different yet hidden meaning all through the novel. The symbol that I am going to focus on is the weather being used to foreshadow negativity and positivity. Some people already see rain as something that can be gloomy, sad, and depressing, but other people also enjoy it. Hemingway made sure that the way he was using rain would be seen as depressing and saddening. The very first use of the symbolism of weather is found near the beginning of the novel.
Hemingway uses this story to exhibit emptiness and how overwhelming the uncertainty of life can be, which is similar to the emotions of the Lost Generation. Being apart of the Lost Generation, Hemingway writes this story with the intention of showing the struggle to find meaning in life and something to fill the emptiness one may
Lieutenant Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley are the protagonists of Ernest Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms. Although there aren’t any other characters in the majority of the novel, there are a few that make an appearance every so often, like Rinaldi, The Priest, Helen Ferguson and Miss Gage. For the sake of this paper I will only be looking at the minor character Helen Ferguson, who is close friends with Catherine. Helen, who is often referred to as Ferguson or Fergy, is the voice of reason in regards to Henry and Catherine’s relationship.
Love is a feeling we all search for and desire. This need leads us to force this emotion at times when we may not truly feel it. Because of this, it is often difficult to tell if our love is genuine or out of necessity. In Ernest Hemingway’s novel, A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley begin a complicated relationship during World War I. Amongst the pain and and loss of the war, it is unclear at times to understand if their love is authentic or purely a way for them to cope.