AOW 27

A Farewell to Arms

Final Post

Character: The primary character, of course, is protagonist Fred. With him, for the last part of his journey, are the ambulance driver. Hemingway portrays them as socialists who do not care for the war or their part in it, but eagerly await the end so they may return home to their food and wine. One is shot, the other runs away, and at the end the third is abandoned. The other protagonist is Ms. Barkely, who cares only to please Fred and become thin and beautiful for him so that she may better serve him, but dies giving birth to a stillborn child who neither of the parents wanted.

Setting: Like other famed authors emerging from the ruins of WWI, the setting of this book is neither noble nor beautiful. It does not talk of fantastic travels or great adventures in Italy. Rather, it focuses on bloodshed, cold rivers, dead bodies, abandoned villages and dirt roads. The final leg of Fred’s journey is anything but pleasant as he loses most of his companions, gets lost in mud filled roads, travels along with hundreds of now homeless villagers, and is almost killed. Only Switzerland, the nation not in war, seems peaceful and beautiful.

Plot/Conflict: The war is ending, and the Italian army has begun to shoot officers.Fred and his ambulance driving companions get lost on a muddy side road and can’t seem to free the car, so they continue on foot. One man gets shot, one leaves to become a willing prisoner in the German army, and the third gets left behind when Fred must jump in a river to flee execution by the Italian army, as he was an officer and had a foreign accent (he is American). Injured, he jumps on a train and finally makes it to his beloved nurse. They are together for a short while, and Fred must hide as he is not a deserter from the Italian army and can be killed/arrested at any time. They then flee to Switzerland, where she dies in childbirth.

POV: Third person from Fred’s eyes.

Theme: There is no clear winner in war, as all people ultimately loose what they hold dear. The greatest damage of war occurs off the battlefield.

Literary Elements: The detached tone and prose of the writing, coupled by an objective third person view of the horrors of war (not on, but off the battlefield) puts war in a very bad light. In a time of literature that glorified battle, this writing was meant to shock the reader without playing with their emotions. The writing was sparse, to say the least, lacking metaphors, adjectives, emotions, and details. It was a reflection of what was left after the war.