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Symbolism In Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms

1031 Words5 Pages

Preston Irby
Period B
A Farewell to Arms
1/29/18

In the novel, A Farewell to Arms, there are many examples of symbolism. The most important examples of symbolism in this novel are war, alcohol and weather. These symbols stand out to me the most because they showed up multiple times in this novel. The author of this book Ernest Hemingway made war, alcohol and weather reoccur in this book and I was able to find the deeper meaning. All of these symbols have their own true meaning.

Alcohol is the most occurring symbol in the book. I feel like alcohol is connected to the war. Fredric started to drink heavily after the war. I think he was drinking heavily to cope with his trauma after the war. Even in the present day soldiers drink excessively …show more content…

The war is where Passini death occurred. Frederic was also suffering in the war because he had a leg wound and because of the war he became and alcoholic. Catherine’s ex husband died in a war and that brought a lot of pain and suffering into Catherine’s life. The war between the Germans and Italians brought mental pain, Fredric called it the “the rotten war” because of all the mental suffering he went through. The war made Frederic pick up a habit of drinking because that’s how he coped with …show more content…

There was a lot of symbols throughout this novel but these symbols were the most important and the ones that stood out the most to me. These symbols made me get a understanding of what the true meaning of this book is. To me A Farewell to Arms basically shows us the harsh reality of war and how people suffer and and all the pain soldiers go through. It also shows up that there is also hope even in the toughest situation. I can make that assumption by these 3 symbols. War, Rain and Alcohol are all connected with depression, pain, and suffering. The snow gave the book the hope. The book also taught me that even through your own war, even if you feel defeated, to always have a little bit of

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