A Farewell to Arms: Difference between revisions

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{{work}}
{{work}}
{{Unmarked Spoilers}}
{{Infobox book
| title = A Farewell to Arms
| original title =
| image =
| caption =
| author = Ernest Hemingway
⚫
| central theme = [[War Is Hell]]
| elevator pitch = A [[Romance]] set in [[World War I]].
| genre = [[Military and Warfare Literature|War novel]], [[Realism]]
| publication date = 1929
| source page exists =
| wiki URL = https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Farewell_to_Arms
| wiki name = Wikipedia
}}
[[Ernest Hemingway]]'s second novel, written in [[Point of View|first-person]] narration, published in 1929, and [[Write What You Know|semi-autobiographical]].
[[Ernest Hemingway]]'s second novel, written in [[Point of View|first-person]] narration, published in 1929, and [[Write What You Know|semi-autobiographical]].


Frederic Henry, a volunteer American ambulance driver, serves in Italy during [[World War I]]. Whilst abroad, he meets British nurse [[Shallow Love Interest|Catherine Barkley]] and [[Hello, Nurse!|becomes attracted to her]]. He gets a chance to consummate his attraction to her after being wounded at the front and [[Florence Nightingale Effect|shipped back to hospital]]. By the end of the summer, Catherine is three months pregnant. Once healed, Frederic returns to the front just in time for it to collapse and the Austro-Hungarians to come pouring through; he, like the other officers, are rounded up by the "[[Secret Police|battle police]]" and [[You Have Failed Me|executed for the defeat]]. Frederic escapes through some quick [[Badass|Bad Assery]] and reunites with Catherine, whereupon the two escape to Switzerland in a rowboat. There they maintain an isolated but idyllic existence until Catherine goes into labor. The baby is stillborn. Catherine hemorrhages and dies. The end.
Frederic Henry, a volunteer American ambulance driver, serves in Italy during [[World War I]]. Whilst abroad, he meets British nurse Catherine Barkley and becomes attracted to her. He gets a chance to consummate his attraction to her after being wounded at the front and shipped back to hospital. By the end of the summer, Catherine is three months pregnant. Once healed, Frederic returns to the front just in time for it to collapse and the Austro-Hungarians to come pouring through; he, like the other officers, are rounded up by the "[[Secret Police|battle police]]" and executed for the defeat. Frederic escapes through some quick [[Badass|Bad Assery]] and reunites with Catherine, whereupon the two escape to Switzerland in a rowboat. There they maintain an isolated but idyllic existence until Catherine goes into labor. The baby is stillborn. Catherine hemorrhages and dies. The end.


Hemingway was [[True Art Is Angsty|not a happy man]].
Hemingway was [[True Art Is Angsty|not a happy man]].


Besides many characters being based on [[Write Who You Know|people the author knew]], this novel is useful to Hemingway scholars as it provides the first incarnations of the famed Hemingway "code hero" (known to modern tropers as the [[Marty Stu]], or perhaps the [[Broken Ace]]). Frederic Henry is [[The Stoic]], relates to the world in a largely physical manner, he has trouble not being a [[Jerkass]] sometimes, and he suffers from a certain amount of [[Testosterone Poisoning]] in that his thoughts revolve around girls and drink. [[Main Characters]] in Hemingway novels would continue in this vein throughout most of his body of work.
Besides many characters being based on [[Write Who You Know|people the author knew]], this novel is useful to Hemingway scholars as it provides the first incarnations of the famed Hemingway "code hero". [[Main Characters]] in Hemingway novels would continue in this vein throughout most of his body of work.


The novel is considered one of the great classics of American fiction, and chances are that if you attended an American high school, you read it there. (This just highlights one of the downsides of Hemingway's "[[Beige Prose|iceberg theory]]" of fiction: it relies on [[Subtext]], which, depending on your age and/or maturity level, you might not get.)
The novel is considered one of the great classics of American fiction, and chances are that if you attended an American high school, you read it there. (This just highlights one of the downsides of Hemingway's "[[Beige Prose|iceberg theory]]" of fiction: it relies on [[Subtext]], which, depending on your age and/or maturity level, you might not get.)


{{tropelist}}
----
* [[The Alcoholic]]: Frederic is a heavy drinker.
=== Provides Examples Of: ===
⚫
* [[Beige Prose]]: Hemingway's [[Signature Style]] of describing scenes with as few words as possible is very apparent in this novel.

* [[Book Ends]]: The story being and ends with rain (the novel's [[Arc Symbol]]) and death.
* [[Alcohol Is Poison]]: discussed.
* [[Crapsack World]]: The book has a very pessimistic viewpoint. In the end, after [[Too Good for This Sinful Earth|Catherine's death]], Frederic narrates humanity's breaking point:
⚫
* [[Beige Prose]]: Hemingway's [[Signature Style]]. ([[Tropes Are Not Bad]].)
{{quote|The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.}}
* [[Checkpoint Charlie]]
* [[Death by Childbirth]]/[[Downer Ending]]: Catherine dies after her miscarriage.
* [[Crapsack World]]
* [[Important Haircut]]: Frederic grows his beard in Switzerland.
* [[A Date With Rosie Palms]]
* [[Florence Nightingale Effect]]: Catherine falls in love with Frederic while tending his wounds.
* [[Death By Childbirth]]
* [[Revised Ending]]: The 2012 [[Limited Special Collectors' Ultimate Edition|Hemingway Library Edition]] of the novel features 47 different endings that the author rejected.
* '''[[Downer Ending]]'''
* [[Second Love]]: Catherine has a history with a dead fiance.
* [[Important Haircut]]
* [[Screw This, I'm Outta Here]]: Frederic deserts the Italian army after being sentenced to death.
* [[Florence Nightingale Effect]]
* [[The Stoic]]: Frederic Henry relates to the world in a largely physical manner, he has trouble not being a [[Jerkass]] sometimes, and his thoughts revolve around girls and drink.
* [[Shallow Love Interest]]
* [[Too Happy to Live]]: Frederic and Catherine would have had a great future as a couple, if not for her early death.
* [[Spot the Imposter]]: subverted.
* [[Train Escape]]: Frederic deserts the Italian army, saving himself from execution, by jumping down a running train.
* [[Too Happy to Live]]
* [[War Is Hell]]: There is nothing [[War Is Glorious|glorious]] about Hemingway's depiction of war. It alternates between long moments of inactivity and complete chaos.
* [[Train Escape]]
⚫
* [[War Is Hell]]


{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:School Study Media]]
[[Category:School Study Media]]
[[Category:A Farewell to Arms]]
[[Category:A Farewell to Arms]]
[[Category:Literature]]
[[Category:Literature of the 1920s]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Farewell to Arms, A}}

Latest revision as of 01:02, 11 May 2024

WARNING! There are unmarked Spoilers ahead. Beware.

A Farewell to Arms
Written by: Ernest Hemingway
Central Theme: War Is Hell
Synopsis: A Romance set in World War I.
Genre(s): War novel, Realism
First published: 1929
More Information
The Wiki Rule: Wikipedia
v · d · e

Ernest Hemingway's second novel, written in first-person narration, published in 1929, and semi-autobiographical.

Frederic Henry, a volunteer American ambulance driver, serves in Italy during World War I. Whilst abroad, he meets British nurse Catherine Barkley and becomes attracted to her. He gets a chance to consummate his attraction to her after being wounded at the front and shipped back to hospital. By the end of the summer, Catherine is three months pregnant. Once healed, Frederic returns to the front just in time for it to collapse and the Austro-Hungarians to come pouring through; he, like the other officers, are rounded up by the "battle police" and executed for the defeat. Frederic escapes through some quick Bad Assery and reunites with Catherine, whereupon the two escape to Switzerland in a rowboat. There they maintain an isolated but idyllic existence until Catherine goes into labor. The baby is stillborn. Catherine hemorrhages and dies. The end.

Hemingway was not a happy man.

Besides many characters being based on people the author knew, this novel is useful to Hemingway scholars as it provides the first incarnations of the famed Hemingway "code hero". Main Characters in Hemingway novels would continue in this vein throughout most of his body of work.

The novel is considered one of the great classics of American fiction, and chances are that if you attended an American high school, you read it there. (This just highlights one of the downsides of Hemingway's "iceberg theory" of fiction: it relies on Subtext, which, depending on your age and/or maturity level, you might not get.)

Tropes used in A Farewell to Arms include:

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry.

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