"Tragic Form" in Farwell to Arms "Hemingway has fashioned a new form of tragedy in which the hero acts not mistakenly but supremely well, and suffers a doom which is not directly caused by his actions at all" (Merill 572). Ernest Hemingway's work of fiction also known as Farwell to Arms, continues to be a controversial topic amongst many critics of wither or not it is truly a tragedy. Merill's main argument for it being a tragedy is Frederick Henry has no control over his fate and his life is meant to be a tragedy. The author of "Tragic Form in Farwell to Arms", Merrill believes this to be true and even quotes Ernest's own words: "The fact that the book was a tragic one did not make me unhappy …show more content…
In addition, his believe is that the characters don't have much control over their fate, as this defines a tragedy. Merill confirms this by pointing out, "Hemingway insists on the tragedy of life itself, not merely the insanity of war" (Merill 576). Merill suggests by this that Heming way himself, viewed life as a tragedy and that it is likely he envisioned his novel as a tragedy as well. Provided, this is accomplished by disassociating Fredrick from any past parental guidance, as Merill points out: "Fredrick is so reticent about his family that even Catherine must finally ask have you a father?" (Hemingway 161). Without a solid family foundation, it is often times difficult for Fredrick to make rational decisions and we see him get into situations where he is blown in war because he is eating a piece of cheese. It is a possibility that without ever abiding to his parents guidance, Fredrick never learns the consequences for his actions and is more subject to tragedies. By this, the author meant, since Fredrick didn't pay much attention his parents or their advice, that in result, the probable seemed unavoidable to him. A good example of the probable is Catherine's death. If there is anything that the reader will recall it is how obvious some of the clues are in Farwell to Arms that it is in fact a tragedy. The author of the …show more content…
If there was one thing that I learned it was that Ernest Hemingway actually revalorized the traditional formula for a tragedy. Traditionally, the formula was that a "a hero may be flawed in knowledge or character-depending on one's reading of the Poetics-but his downfall must derive from this "flaw" (Merill 572). To my knowledge, Ernest changed this formula by proving that the hero's knowledge doesn't have to be flawed so much as his actions that reflect him. Fredrick Henry, for example from Farwell to Arms is flawed not because he isn't aware of his background but he is unaware that his decision to marry Catherine would resulted in her dying and him having to deal with her death. In addition, Frederick is flawed in his actions because he wants the best of both worlds, his lover (Catherine) and war. Fortunately, over time Fredrick is able to get over it: "After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain" (Hemingway 332). In the least we see that Hemingway's concept of love or "faith," as I mentioned earlier, saves Fredrick. Frederick's faith in Catherine even till her death taught him how to become strong without her. This is the thing that truly differentiates Farwell to Arms from other tragedies; in the end the characters do not crumble when their worlds collide, they learn how their actions caused
In many works of Literature, a character comes forth as a hero, only to die because of a character trait known as a tragic flaw; Hamlet from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, Okonkwo from Achebe’s Things Fall Apart, and Winston Smith from Orwell’s 1984 all exhibit that single trait, which leads, in one way or another, to their deaths. These three tragic heroes are both similar and different in many ways: the way they die, their tragic flaws, and what they learn. All three characters strongly exhibit the traits needed to be classified as a tragic hero.
A tragic hero has the capacity to suffer and, because of an error in judgment, will experience a dramatic transformation that evokes a profound pity.
In The Heath Anthology of American Literature, Volume II. Edited by Paul Lauter et al. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath and Company, 1991: 1208-1209. Hemingway, Ernest. A.
Hopeless Suffering in A Farewell to Arms Near the end of A Farewell to Arms Ernest Hemingway has Fredrick Henry describe the time he placed a log full of ants on a fire. This incident allows us to understand a much larger occurrence, Catherine's pregnancy. Combined, both of these events form commentary on the backdrop for the entire story, World War One. After he finds out his son was stillborn, Lt. Henry remembers the time when he placed a log full of ants on a fire.
Ernest Hemingway has the tendency to use his heroes in some unheroic ways. At first the hero may seem obvious, but later on it is discovered that the true hero is not who it seems to be. In A Farewell to Arms Hemingway uses the true hero to guide the main character into becoming a hero, but fails miserably.
Throughout this novel, Frederick Henry's behavior matures to the code hero in which Hemingway desires to be.
While Frederic Henry may be the main focus of the novel, we cannot forget that Catherine Barkley is the original Hemingway Code Hero that helped Henry mature to the hero he is at the end of the novel. Without Catherine’s heroism, Frederic Henry would still be an immature ambulance driver that frequents brothels without much meaning to his life. Catherine forces him to grow up and face the world, and that is why she deserves her title as a Hemingway Code Hero.
A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is a story about love and war. Frederic Henry, a young American, works as an ambulance driver for the Italian army in World War I. He falls tragically in love with a beautiful English nurse, Miss Catherine Barkley. This tragedy is reflected by water. Throughout the novel Ernest Hemingway uses water as metaphors. Rivers are used as symbols of rebirth and escape and rain as tragedy and disaster, which show how water plays an important role in the story.
The Cambridge Companion to Ernest Hemingway; edited by Scott Donaldson; Cambridge U. P.; New York, NY; 1996
Religion played a significant role in Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. The attitudes that the character had towards the war and life were closely associated with their views on religion. Due to extreme circumstances of war, moral standards were obscure for the characters. Almost everything related to the war violated the normal code of morality, which led many to feel disenchanted. Those who viewed the war as senseless had no faith in God or religion. For the character of Fredrick Henry it was clear that his faith in God was a subject of conflict. Henry was a character that understood religion, but did not love God. His love for Catherine was the most religious feeling that he had. Though Fredrick Henry lacked faith in God, he comprehended the power and control that God has.
...cause the Hemingway Hero does not speak about his beliefs often, he just shows them. He does not glamorize death with hopes of an after life. Frederic Henry just takes death for what it is. While Henry is fearful of the unknown, he is not afraid of the process of death because he has lived his life exactly the way a Hemingway Code Hero would want to.
Hemingway relied mostly on his morals throughout his time in the war, suggesting his dependency on his Superego and the strength of his consciousness. Hemingway acted primarily based on his Superego and moral reasoning, even going as far as volunteering for the war on the Italian front and staying in battle despite an injury that gave him medical leave (Piep). Hemingway created the novel’s main character, Frederic Henry, to embody a large part of his moral standards regarding the war: both Americans volunteering on the Italian front, willingly working as ambulance drivers, and even returning to the war despite threats to their health (Prescott). Despite their similarities in moral standards, Hemingway and Henry are most similar in terms of their large dependencies on their Superego for decision making.
“A Farewell to Arms Essay – A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway.” Twentieth Century Literary Criticism 115 (1929): 121-126. JSTOR. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
There are many challenges a person must embark when becoming an adult. In Chapter 12, one of the concepts specifies the young adulthood for women and the different challenges they might go through. It is inevitable that a woman must embark on the transitional period of adolescence to young adulthood. This is a time for self-growth and identifying with others. A young woman during the young adulthood cycle must crucially make important choices regarding family, marriage, work, and lifestyle before she has matured to her full potential. For many decades, it was normal for a young woman to marry out of one household and into another. There was not a lot of opportunity for self-growth given that she would start a new family after leaving her very own. However, in middle and upper-class families, women usually had the opportunity to live alone before marrying and starting a family.
The title of the novel itself implies Henry's despair and emptiness. He says farewell to "Arms" as weapons and also, to Catherine's "arms." He loses everything, but he lives. The rich and complex characters of Hemingway's novel, Henry and Catherine, very well illustrate Hemingway's modernist views. The pressures of war tear away the initial impressions the reader had of those two and transform them into completely different characters.