Literary Analysis Of A Farewell To Arms By Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway’s classic American novel, A Farewell to Arms is the story of the first-hand account of Frederic Henry, a man who served in World War I and fell in love with a nurse named Catherine. Hemingway utilized several techniques to manifest the theme of war and love with the ultimate result of death. The author fostered the characters through an emotional journey of highs and lows as death constantly hovered over them. Hemingway had to capture the concept of death correctly and impose the overall theme, which is why the ending was rewritten forty-seven times. Hemingway’s distinctive writing style centered around the dark perspectives of the 20th century, which sparked much controversy and criticism. The constant reminder loomed amongst

Hemingway’s alternate endings give insight into what he was thinking and what words were the right ones. He was conscientious with how he wanted the message to be embodied and articulated. Critics argue that A Farewell to Arms should have ended another way, with a happy ending perhaps that captures another side of the author’s writing. The truth is that there was no better way to capture Hemingway’s true personality through the characters if he did not write it himself. In the New York Times article, “A Farewell to Arms with Hemingway’s Alternate Ending” Patrick Hemingway himself said that “but it is absolutely true that no matter how much you analyze a classic bit of writing, you can never really figure out what makes talent work.” No one but Ernest Hemingway himself can explain why he wrote the ending the way he did. There are rumors and hints as to why he did, but there is always one clear message portrayed through the novels. Hemingway did not live a happy life, but to the world he appeared to be; his ultimate message was that happy endings do not exist. If there is love, there will be pain. With death, there will be pain, and death is