Many novels use contrast images of the land or surroundings to contribute to the central meaning of the work. In Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms the foil images of Italy and Switzerland help shape the theme of the book which is the cruelty of war and what it does to people. The descriptions of the two countries, Italy and Switzerland, are greatly different and represent two types of places.

On one hand, Italy is a site of cruelty and death. Here is where all of the war and fighting takes place throughout the novel. The front and plains in Italy are described to be where all the death and disaster happen to the armies and the volunteers. Henry and the other men even were wounded with not even being in battle. They w

ere just eating some cheese and drinking some wine when they were bombed. Here many of the people lost hope and moral because of the death surrounding them. Rinaldi even told Henry that "this war is killing me, I am very depressed by it." A major even told Henry "It has been bad. You couldn't believe how bad it's been. I've often thought you (Henry) were lucky to be hit when you were." This shows how death and the war affected everyone making them dejected and downhearted. It got so bad Henry even decided to escape from the Italian army and leave the front to escape to Switzerland. On the other hand, Switzerland is a place of peace and hope because no fighting took place here. Switzerland was neutral during the war so it was a perfect place to escape the cruelty of war.

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 526
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)