FREE ESSAY ON HEMINGWAYS GREATEST HITS

HEMINGWAYS GREATEST HITS

One of the best novels of Ernest Hemingway is A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway takes much of
his life story line to his novel. A Farewell to Arms is the typical classic story that
can refer to Romeo and his Juliet placed against the odds. In this novel, Romeo is
Frederick Henry and Juliet is Catherine Barkley. Their love affair must survive the
barrier of World War I. The background of war-torn Italy adds to the tragedy of the love
story. The story starts when Frederick Henry is serving in the Italian Army. He meets his
love in the hospital after he gets injured from the mortar attack. A Farewell to Arms is
one of the best American novels because of the symbolism, the exciting plot and the
characteristic of the main character, Lieutenant Henry.
The symbolism in A Farewell to Arms is very much apparent. For example, In the book,
Twentieth Century Interpretations of A Farewell to Arms, Malcolm Cowley focuses on the
symbolism of rain. He sees rain a frequent occurrence in the book, as symbolizing
disaster (Malcolm, 54-55). He points out that, at the beginning of A Farewell to Arms,
Henry talks about how things went very badly and how this is connected to At the start of
the winter came permanent rain. In the book, Miss Barkley afraid of the rain because she
has a nightmare and she sees death in the rain. She says, Sometimes I see me dead in it,
which she is referring to the rain as a death. It is raining the entire night when Miss
Barkley is giving childbirth and when both she and her baby die (Malcolm 54-55).
Most of the reader fined out that A Farewell to Arms is fun and excited to read.
Hemingway makes the language very easy to understand and it is suitable for all ages.
Agnes W. Smith, the editor of Mr. Hemingway Does It Again says, A Farewell to Arms...is
Hemingway's greatest works...it is glowing modern love story, a story of emotion that is
so true it is like an intense personal experience(Stephens 78). Walter R. Brooks the
editor of Behind the Blurbs also says ...warmth, of actuality of closeness that only your
own personal experiences have for you. It was so real to us that we felt, as we do
ordinarily in our own life (Stephens 81). Hemingway popularity does not stop in the
United States, but explodes across over sea to the European country such as Germany. Many
of the critics such as Klaus Mann, Max Dietrich, and Hans Falada give him a big welcome
support (Kvam 92). 
A Farewell to Arms is the first Hemingway novel to be reissue after World War II (Kvam
92), and the majority of German critics believe that A Farewell to Arms is the best novel
up to date (Kvam 93). According to Papajewski,
According to Papajewski, The book was generally acclaimed by readers of all ages; the
aspects of the novel which constituted to its wide spread success... were not only its
political implication, but also its captivating love story and the powerful tragic
ending...the blurb on the Seinberg-Verlag's edition in 1948 proclaimed that over 100,000
copies in the German language had already been sold (Kvam 92-93)
Thomas Mann, a well known critics mention A Farewell to Arms as, It is one of the most
beautiful, carefully restrained modern love stories...[It is] a genuine, manly book, a
masterpiece(Kvam 92).
In A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway introduces Lieutenant Henry as an American Soldier in
the Italian Army during the World War I. Henry works as a paramedic and he is the only
few of the American in the Italian armed force. Lieutenant Henry has an interesting
characteristic because although, he is in the war, but his attitude refused to be
involved. For example, ...he drinks with the officers and talks with priest, and visit
the officer's brothel, but all contact he keeps deliberately on a superficial level. He
has rejected the world. (Johnson 135) Henry truly isolates himself from the war and he
does not think he desires to be parts of the war. However, Henry is not a Barbarian at
all, during the war, Henry had study the architecture in the Italy when the war begin.
Henry make an Ironical remarks about sculptures and bronze; his reflections and
conversation contain allusion to Samuel Jackson, Saint Paul, Andrew Marvel, and Sir
Thomas Wyatt (Johnson 135). Lieutenant Henry knows that he is the war and he fully
understands how crazy the war is and how life and death can be take away in any second,
but instead of being paranoid, he isolates himself from the war. This avoidance of real
relationships and involvement do not show an insensitive person, but rather someone who
is protecting himself from getting involved and hurt. It is clear that in all of
Hemingway's books and from his own life that he sees the world as his enemy. Johnson
says, He will solve the problem of dealing with the world by taking refuge in
individualism and isolated personal relationships and sensations (Johnson 134-136). Henry
drinks, smoke, party, travel and fall in love; Henry has an interesting characteristic
because the way he behaves himself during the war.
A Farewell to Arms is one of the best novels of Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway takes much of
his life story line to his novel. A Farewell to Arms is the typical classic story that
can refer to Romeo and his Juliet placed against the odds. Frederick Henry is an American
who serves as a lieutenant in the Italian army to a group of ambulance drivers. The story
starts when Frederick Henry is serving in the Italian Army. He meets his love in the
hospital after he injured from the mortar attack. A Farewell to Arms is one of the best
American novels because of the characteristic of the main character, Lieutenant Henry,
the symbolism, the exciting plot.
Bibliography
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