Rain and Death in Ernest Hemingway's "Farewell to Arms"

A detailed Summary of Rain and Death in Ernest Hemingway's "Farewell to Arms"

From the first chapter to the last word, Ernest Hemingway's "Farewell to Arms" is saturated with rain and other images of water. In the story, rain is typically the omen of death. The usage is significant since rain is typically employed to symbolize fertility and life. Despite the foreboding associated with rain, Hemingway uses other forms of water to symbolize positive events.

Rain has been used in literature since classical times to symbolize fertility and life. "Rain has a primary symbolism as a fertilizing agent. It represents a descent of the heavenly influences and symbolizes penetration, both as fertility and spiritual revelation." (home.html). Hemingway's use of rain as a prominent symbol of death is ironic; rain is not employed to create and nourish, but rather to destroy and ruin.

In the first chapter, Frederic Henry, describes life in an Italian village he lives in during the summer. It is World War I, and troops and cars with officers frequently go by on the road - dusty at first, then wet during autumn - to fight in the nearby mountains. When the winter begins, it rains incessantly and brings with it cholera, and 7,000 men in the army die of it. The image of the winter rain is particularly significant, as it connects rain with an adverse type of fertility that bears death and destruction.

Hemingway also uses frozen water, in the form of snow, to symbolize happiness. Throughout the course of the novel, the onset of winter snow brings an end to the fighting providing the soldiers and support staff with relief and happiness. In Chapter 39, Henry and Catherine are happie

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Approximate Word count = 539
Approximate Pages = 2 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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Rain and Death in Ernest Hemingway's "Farewell to Arms"

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