Analysis of some selective topics from "A Farewell to Arms"

 

 

 

Question: 01.a) From your reading A Farewell to Arms, estimate Lieutenant Frederick Henry as a typical Hemingway Code Hero.

                                                Answer to the Quest. No: 01 (a )

                                                    “Man is the player born,

                                                 Life the game will kill him.”

              A code hero is Hemingway’s hero who stands on a plateau of spiritual ruin. His life can be examined through the lens of existentialism, nihilism, absurdity, and wounded idealism. Though he cannot win anything from the debris of the war, he braves to see dreams and continues to find the meaning of life.

              Hemingway has created Henry with all the characteristics of a code hero. Henry is surrounded by the orb of the ‘CODE’- valor, endurance, honor, sympathy, and dignity. He abandons all the encyclopaedic techniques such as the total personality of a hero, social acquaintances, past life, family etc.

A code hero has certain characteristics:

è A code hero is a victim of the situation.

è He can endure all the sufferings.

è The Platonic ideal of courage is not cherished by a code hero.

è Nothing is expected by the code hero from the war.

è He believes in the principle “Action speaks louder than words.”

 

Now, we will analyze Henry as a code hero with textual references:

1)      The control of situation on Henry’s life:

Henry is torn between the urge of spirituality and the pull of bestial instincts. He says, “I wanted to go to Abruzzi. But I had gone to no such place but to the smoke of cafes, and nights when the room whirled and you needed to look at the wall to make it stop, nights in bed, drunk.” He furthers his incapability to go against the situation by saying, “I am afraid of Him in the night sometimes.” Brian Murphy’s book 81 Days Below Zero records the survival story of a soldier in the frozen land of Alaska after the Second World War. The survival in a frozen land does not refer only to physical trouble but also to the frozen state of mind metaphorically. So, people fail to cultivate their sense of ethics in the war. Here, we can quote some lines from the poems of W. H. Auden.

 

·        “What all school children learn,

Those to whom evil is done,

Do evil in return.” (September 01, 1939”)

·        “That girls are raped, that two boys knife a third.” (The Shield of Achilles”)

Henry is not an exception. The war compels him to drink excessively and visit the whorehouses.

 

2)      Henry’s grace under pressure attitude:

Henry always maintains a calm composure amidst the angst of the war. This attitude is highly obvious during the retreat. When the other drivers are baffled by the confusion and rumor of the huge retreat, Henry maintains a stable temperament and observes the whole situation keenly. He says to others regarding the rumor, “They weren’t Germans. There can’t be any Germans over there.”

3)      Team-spirit:

Achilles is a great warrior and known for his own vigor. It is said,

                        “Before my time is done,

                          I’ll look down on your corpse and smile.”

Hemingway’s code hero Henry is an exception. He never tries to win any acknowledgement for himself. Rather, he shows sympathy for others and maintains a team-spirit always. He is severely wounded by a bombardment in the trench and says, “My knee wasn’t there.” But he tries to help Passini forgetting his own wound.

During the retreat, he thinks of the comfort of other drivers. A conversation is given below:

Piani: I am so sleepy. I want to sleep. What are we going to do, Tenente?

Henry: We will change the oil, grease them, fill them up, then take them around.”

Passini: Then do we start?

Henry: No, we will sleep for three hours.

Bonello: Christ, I’m glad to sleep.

 

4)      Practical sense:

 Henry is a man of courage and action. But he is not indulges only by these virtues. He also thinks of the basic needs. He says to Gino, “It is very bad for the soldiers to be short of food. An army travels on his stomach.”

 

5)      Dignity and stoic attitude:

Henry’s dignity is always maintained as a code hero since he is a man of action. When he is admitted into the hospital, he says, “I’m not sick, I’m wounded.” But he is not like Achilles. He is not interested in the glory or decorations of the war. Achilles says,

                            “Mother tells me,

                             That two fates bore me onto the day of death.

                             If I hold out here and I lay siege to Troy,

                             My journey home is gone, but my

                             Glory never dies.

                             If I voyage to back to the fatherland I love,

                             My pride, my glory dies.”

Henry continues to fight. But he abandons the war because he thinks that there is no point of losing life for the meaningless war and vain pride.

 

6)      Constant search for the meaning of life:

Henry can be analyzed from the perspective of existentialism. According to Jean-Paul Sartre, human beings are not made of God. So, they are not made for any purpose. Human beings define themselves by creating their own purposes by themselves though they are “bodily trapped”. In the book The Moviegoer, of Walker Percy, Binx and his cousin Kate set out to find the true purpose of life amidst the oddities.

Henry is not an exception. He is not a mere ambulance driver. He also searches the meaning of life and dreams for a better life with his beloved. He says, “I know where I stand. I am like a ball-player that bats two-hundred and thirty and knows he‘s no better.”

            To sum up, it is clear that Hemingway has adorned his protagonist will all the characteristics of a code hero which has made him a more realistic shade and everyone can connect themselves with Henry because our life is also like a war.

 

       Question: 01. c How does Hemingway use the ‘Iceberg Theory’ in A Farewell to Arms? Provide citation from the book while analyzing his prose style.

                                            Answer to the Quest No: 01 ( b )

                        

                              

                                                     “Simplicity

                                 Is the ultimate

                                 Sophistication.”

-Leonardo da Vinci

 

           The story of Sheikh Saadi teaches us that being simple does not mean being hollow. Rather, all the great literary figures of the world- Franz Kafka, John Clare, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Henry David Thoreau have put emphasis on the simplicity of life. Since, we write from life and call it literature and literature lives because we are in it, the style of unfolding the depth of literature should be simple and lucid. The great literary figure Francis Bacon initiated his aphoristic style to justify Shakespeare’s famous line- “Brevity is the soul of wit.”

            Papa Hemingway has also broken the tradition of following the Baroque style of Victorian era. He has developed his own style of writing the ‘Iceberg Theory’ or ‘Theory of Omission’. The principles of the ‘Iceberg Theory’ are given below:

1)      It focuses on the surface elements without discussing the deeper meanings.

2)       The true meaning should not be evident in the surface story. Rather, it should lark through the inner layers.

3)      Readers should fill the omissions with their meanings and understandings.

  Textual references to support the ‘Iceberg Theory’:

 In chapter 02, Henry says, “The forest of oak trees on the mountains beyond the town was gone.” Nothing is told about the causes of the disappearance of the forest. The readers will find out the causes.

A similar example can be found in chapter 9 when Henry says, “My knee wasn’t there.”

 Hemingway has adorned this theory with limited but expressive words.

          The other features of Hemingway’s prose style are:

1)      He has put more emphasis on the use of  “verbs”.

2)      The use of gorgeous “adjectives” is deliberately avoided by him.

3)      Repetition of the same words, phrases, or contents is also noticeable in his works.

4)      Hemingway has craftily made the use of short sentences and long sentences according to the situation.

5)      He has also made an extensive use of the conjunction “and”.

6)      The vast use of irony and dramatic irony is highly noticeable in his works.

   

 

 

 

         Hemingway developed his writing style in such a precise and clarified manner when he had been working as a journalist.  He learned how to be economical in showing expressions. He laid stress on “speaking” with facts and objected groundless concoction in writing.  Interestingly, Hemingway’s writing style, themes, plots, characters etc. are shaped not only by his profession but also his personal life and inner psychology. Consequently, we can trace his autobiographical elements in his compositions.

 

      Now, I will discover how Hemingway’s writing style discloses the truth of human life through metaphorical implications:

 

è Deliberate avoidance of gorgeous adjectives:

Hemingway was broken inside due to the suicide of his father, conflict with his mother, failure in love with the nurse. So, he felt no importance of using high-flown adjectives to describe any situation. As a result, neither Henry nor Catherine use any ornamental adjective to express their love. Rather, almost all the adjectives have negative connotations. Some examples are given below:

·        Henry says, “I was always embarrassed by the words “sacred”, “glorious”, and “sacrifice” and the expression in vain.”

·        To describe the retreat, the soldiers use the adjective “gigantic”. They say, “How gigantic the retreat was.”

 

è Emphasis on using verbs:

There goes a famous saying, “Actions speak louder than words. Words cost nothing. Actions cost everything.” Hemingway’s life is full of adventurous actions. As a journalist, he covered the war between Greece and Turkey. Then, he joined the war and severely wounded. But he did not let the war devour his spirit. Though the war psychologically shook him, he lived his life fully by hunting, bullfighting, drinking, fishing etc.  Henry, too, is a man of action. Though he maintains a stoic attitude toward the war, he continues to fight. He joins the army even after being wounded. He proves that he is a man of instant action when he shoots an engineer during the retreat. The engineer refuses to help Henry when his car get stuck into mud. So, Henry shoots him.

 

è Repetition:

Our life cycle is always repetitive. In the novel The Great Gatsby, we can get a clear description of Gatsby’s ‘SCHEDULE’. It includes:

                           

 

         

                   Rise from bed                                                 6.00 A.M.

                  Dumbbell exercise and wall-scaling               6.15-6.30 A.M. 

                  Study electricity etc.                                       7.15-8.15 A.M.

                  Work                                                               8.30-4.30 P.M.

                  Practice elocution and poise                           5.00-6.00 P.M.

                  Study needed inventions                                 7.00-9.00 P.M.

 

The routine is for Gatsby’s self-improvement. Still, he repeats the same thing again and again. As our life is a repetitive cycle, Hemingway uses “repetition” in his writing. Some textual evidences are given below:

·        “I know, you are the good Anglo-Saxon boy. I know you are the remorse boy, I know.” (Rinaldi)

·        “But you will have a better time. Even with remorse, you will have a better time.” (Rinaldi)

·        No, we never get anything. We are born with all we have and we never learn. We never get anything new. (Henry)

 

è The use of irony and dramatic irony:

Hemingway uses the device irony as a weapon to invade the war. So, the use of irony is evident from the very beginning.

Example 01:

In the beginning, Henry says, “At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera. But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army.”

 

Example 02:

During the retreat, some soldiers say, “We are going home. The war is over.” This is one of the biggest ironies because nobody will go home. The war has made everyone’s destiny to be buried.

 

Example 03:

Henry uses dramatic irony to refer to the chauvinistic attitude of the young officers. He says, “They were all young man and they were saving their country.” Henry also uses irony to indicate to the aggressive behavior of the officers. He says, “The questioners had that beautiful detachment and devotion to stern justice of men dealing in death without being any danger in it.”

 

è Stream of Consciousness:

This technique tries to capture the natural flow of a character’s extended thought process often by incorporating unusual syntax, incomplete ideas, rough grammar. Sometimes, it includes repetition to indicate the tumultuous psychology of the characters. This technique is pivotal when Henry thinks about Catherine’s death. He says, “But what if she should die? She won’t die. But what if she should die? She won’t die. She is all right. But what if she should die? She can’t die.” Henry is repeating the same line again and again because the matter of Catherine’s death is taunting him.

 

è The use of “and”:

Hemingway has used the conjunction “and” several times to emphasis on the connection of life which was smothered during the war.  He has expressed a subconscious wish to form a society of brotherhood.

Examples from the text:

Example 01:

“I was not made to think. I was made to eat and drink and sleep with Catherine.” (Henry)

Example: 02

“It kills the very good and very gentle and very brave.” (Henry)

Example: 03

“Rolls and jam and coffee”.  (Catherine)

 

           Hemingway is highly popular for his terse, succinct, and deep writing style. There are many aspects to dig his style to enhance our knowledge and understanding. It will work as an ample façade to get an overall idea about the war and its brutal effects. (word no. 1123)

 

Question: 02

                                             Answer to the Quest. No: 02

 The Priest and Rinaldi:

 Carl Jung holds the idea that “Religion is the system to heal psychic illness.” He strongly believes that one can bring the unconscious under control with the help of spirituality and it is furnished by each individual’s own religion. On the other hand, Freud brings religion under minute scrutiny and censures it by proposing that religion imposes its own rules on everyone and compels people to suppress their desires in the book The Future of an Illusion.

 In the novel A Farewell to Arms, the Priest can be compared to the bird Albatross in the poem “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner.” He upholds the logic of Jung. He always tries to reawaken the frozen ethical sense of the people as the Albatross has tried to show direction to the still ship. He advised Henry to visit Abruzzi. In the hospital, he says to Henry, “You should love Him. What you tell me about in the last nights. That is not love. That is only passion and lust. When you love, you wish to sacrifice.”

 On the other hand, Rinaldi upholds the logic of Freud. This character is a surgeon in the Italian army by profession and the perfect representative of the wartime disillusionment. Hemingway has shown all the impacts of the dark effects of the war on a soldier’s soul. In Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front, the protagonist Paul joins the war inspired by the fervor of patriotism. But his experience leaves him disillusioned. He says, “The attacking lines of the enemy infantry are men like us. But the shells, gas clouds, and flotillas of tanks bring corroding and shattering death without any feeling.” The war trench is like Satan’s residence which resists soldiers like Rinaldi to cultivate morality. So, he has constantly mocked the Priest, questioned his masculinity, talked about Henry’s decoration, and girls. He is helpless in front of the biting of sensual pleasure. He says to the Priest, “Priest wants us never to attack. Don’t you want us never to attack?” Moreover, he says to Henry, “I will give the address of places in Naples. Beautiful young girls accompanied by their mothers. Ha! Ha! Ha!”

Rianldi and the Priest can be compared to the two contrasting figures Plato and Aristotle in the portrait of The School of Athens. Though Rinaldi tries to defame the Priest every time, the Priest does not revolt. He hopes that the war will come to an end very soon.   

Question. 02

                                         Answer to the Quest. No: 02

Catherine’s Hair:

                                   “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder.”

                                                                            -Plato

   The beauty of hair has been worshipped by the literary figures times and again. Alexander Pope says, “Beauty draws us with a single hair.”  Similarly, in the novel, Catherine’s hair epitomizes positivity and realm of love where Henry wants to be lost again and again. He compares it with “waterfall” and describes it as “wonderfully beautiful hair.” Ironically, war does not determine what is right or what is wrong. So, Catherine’s hair does not work as a symbol of beauty anymore in front of the cataclysm of war. In the novel Sons and Lovers, Mr. Morel cuts William’s golden curls because the monster of industrialization has snatched his power to cherish beauty. Similarly, Catherine’s hair is treated as a sign of fragility afterwards in the novel since none can become successful to fulfill their dream of making a world of romance in a war-stricken world.

 

Question: 03 a)

  “I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glory, and sacrifice and the expression in vain.”

                               

                                            Answer to the Quest. No: 03  ( a )

    “I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glory, sacrifice, and expressions in vain.”

             This excerpt has been taken from the novel A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway has expressed his repulsion for the war through Henry in this speech.

          That tragedy of war is it uses man’s best to do man’s worst. Hemingway joined the war and witnessed the casualties with his own eyes. He says, “When you go to war as a boy, you have a great illusion of immortality. Other people get killed, not you. Then when you badly wounded for the first time, you lose the illusion and you know it can happen to you.”  So, war destroys everything and it can never be a solution for anything. That’s why, Hemingway has tried to tell us that war does not deserve to be worshipped with the ornamental words like “sacred”, “glory”, and “sacrifice.” Henry meets the boy Gino who is a patriot and thinks that war is sacred. However, the names of the places and roads have dignity to Henry. War has no dignity to him

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