Farewell to Arms -- Hemingway

¶ … Farewell to Arms -- Hemingway

The narrative in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms has been carefully studied and critiqued by numerous scholars and authors, not just because of the iconic legacy of the author but because its structure is rich with literary examples. The novel follows the steps of classic narrative structure by using the tools of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution / denouement. This paper points out those features of the Hemingway novel and delves into how the narrative steps add to the strength of the novel.

A Farewell to Arms

Hemingway is of course a giant in American literature and he knows how to draw readers into his stories. In A Farewell to Arms his narrative is not simply one single voice leading the reader through the plot, but instead, to the reader it represents a number of voices, depending on the conflict and the characters and depending on how deeply the reader is engaged with the story. It has been suggested that Hemingway wrote five short stories and tied them together into a compelling novel. But they work very well together, whether he intended that or not.

The exposition in A Farewell to Arms is Hemingway's style of introducing to readers the setting (the Italian countryside in war), the character conflict and an incident that could be said to launch the action, to set the stage for the characters to struggle and conflict with each other and with their setting. Frederick is the soldier with duties to fulfill, but his love for Catherine pulls him in two different directions. Hemingway has build this exposition into the story to add tension and anticipation. When Frederick is injured in the war, it becomes the activating incident, and hence it sets up the possibility for Catherine to be his nurse (her finance died so she can't nurse him any longer) and for them to become lovers. In other words, the exposition sets the stage, gives readers the basic scene and tensions.

In the middle of the novel, the two chapters (in Book III), 28 and 29, are heavy war segments of the novel, and they represent rising action. Catherine and Frederic, the injured soldier that is her lover, do not appear as a couple in these chapters. Henry does appear in his military role though. Hemingway juxtaposes the characters that do appear in those two chapters expertly; they are two sergeants from the Italian army, rough and tumble engineers, and two sisters that are said to be virgins, and they are quite delicate. This part of the novel rises for the reader because it stresses the difference between good and evil, between dark and light in terms of values and morality.

A sense of rising action also is shown as Frederick falls in love with Catherine and begins to see what a great life he could have with her. The reader is hopeful that this relationship can become strong and that within the context of a bloody war, there can be a sweet subplot that will ease the tensions. When Catherine becomes pregnant and Frederick is called back to the war, once again Frederick is being pulled and tugged by two desires, continuing the rising action. It is love vs. war and duty, an effective use of rising action.

The climax in Hemingway's story -- that moment when the main characters (including of course the protagonist, Frederick, who is also the narrator), have to decide which way they are going to go -- occurs when Frederick takes action during the Caporetto retreat. It is the climax and turning point in the novel because he is making his decision about whether to continue in the miserable war, or to stay with his lovely woman Catherine. Frederick shoots the Italian sergeant because the sergeant had deserted his unit, but ironically Frederick has made his climactic decision and he deserts as well. Clearly Frederick has become totally disheartened by the madness of this war; bravery on the battlefield can't possibly match the warm glow of his love for Catherine.

Readers experience the falling action in any novel after the climax has been reached. In the Hemingway novel, Frederick and Catherine have a lovely time in the Italian town of Stresa; this is in effect his reward for making the decision he did in the climax. He fishes, he has quality time with Catherine, and the relationship is a delight even though Frederick knows he could be executed for desertion of he is located. The resolution in A Farewell to Arms comes in a tragic way as Catherine and her baby are dead. This is not a happy ending, and while resolution means the denouement (how it ends), it doesn't mean the ending has to be pleasant. After all, war isn't pleasant and Hemingway wasn't about to paint a rosy picture of two lovers stealing off for a wonderful life together after his depiction of the gross, horrific and bloody realities of WWI. In this case, the tragic resolution of the story is not just the death of Catherine and her baby (the symbol of the future), but the loss of love, the end of love, is the tragic resolution.

Outline

ONE: Exposition

a) the reader is introduced to the war setting / scene of WWI in Italy

b) the conflict is presented between characters, the stage is set for struggles

c) Frederick is shown as the soldier with duties that he tries to carry out, and Catherine