Essay on "Farewell to Arms: War's Grip on Ordinary People"

Essay 4 pages (1916 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

'It's by Marvell. But it's about a girl who wouldn't live with a man'" (154). There may be another explanation for Catherine's rejection of "seize the day" part of the poem. And Henry may have recited the poem strictly because Catherine has hesitated to make love to him. She has said she thinks of herself as a hooker as she looks into a mirror in their hotel (152). He is irritated that he can't have sex with her whenever he wants to, and this may be why he recited the poem.

Question Four

Obviously Henry is scarred deeply by the war, the opposite of what he was at the beginning of the novel. He now knows that honor and glory and courage and all those good words that writers and patriots express about the war are hogwash. He in fact sees himself as a "criminal" because he deserted the army (251). He does know that he could be shot dead because he is a traitor, a deserter, and he tries to disentangle himself from the conflict and from his guilt, but he tells Catherine (298): "Sometimes I wonder about the front and about people I know but I don't worry. I don't think about anything much," he continues, but the reader knows he is hiding behind his cliches and platitudes. The fact that he has a reunion with Catherine, a sweet sexual sojourn, gives him a double sense of guilt because those who were killed in battle will never be enjoying that intimacy again, and even those alive in the war are not lucky enough to enjoy what he has had pleasure doing.

Throughout Catherine's struggle with childbirth, he sees the ultimate absurdity of humans killing each other in war. "They killed you in the end. You could count on that. Stay around and they would kill you," he s
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aid (327). It is almost a foreshadowing of Catherine's upcoming demise, and really the only courage that Henry could envision was not from war but from the fight that Catherine put up to have her baby. He cries after her death because he couldn't save her life and he saw himself as "a fake doctor with a beard" (319). Her body becomes a statue: "It was like saying goodbye to a statue. After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain" (332) -- as once again Hemingway uses rain to symbolize… READ MORE

Quoted Instructions for "Farewell to Arms: War's Grip on Ordinary People" Assignment:

A Farwell to Arms: Essay Topics

Write an essay of 1000-1200 words on one of the following topics. The best essays will make frequent reference to the text to support their argument but will avoid overly long quotations. They will also be written in clear, grammatical prose after having been carefully proofread. Make certain your final version has been double spaced and has been produced in a readable 12-point font.

Please make use of M.L.A. format for the essay (and include a Works Cited). It is suggested that you not use secondary (i.e. outside) sources, but if you do, you should make certain that they have been properly acknowledged. Plagiarized papers will receive a grade of 0. Students should familiarize themselves with “What Students Should Know About Plagiarism” which has been posted on Blackboard.

Late papers will be penalized at the rate of 5% per day and will not be accepted one week after the due date.

1. “The old Lie: Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori.” –Wilfred Owen

On the basis of the evidence of the novel, would Frederic Henry have agreed with Owen?

2. Consider how the seasons function in the novel. Are certain seasons associated with certain kinds of actions? How do the seasons support (or contrast) these events? Make certain you make frequent and specific reference to the text.

3. While saying goodbye to Catherine in Milan, Henry quotes the following lines from Marvell’s poem, “To His Coy Mistress”:

But at my back I always here Times winged chariot hurrying near.

As Catherine notes, the poem does not apply (at least superficially) since it is “about a girl who wouldn’t live with a man.” How does Marvell’s poem (with its carpe diem theme and discussion of things amatory) apply to Hemingway’s novel? Make certain you make frequent and specificreference to the text.

4. Henry claims that “Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene beside the concrete names of villages, the number of roads, the names of rivers, the numbers of regiments and the dates.” Discuss how his experiences of war have led him to reach this conclusion. Make certain you make frequent and specific reference to the text.

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