How Does Hemingway Use Weather In A Farewell To Arms

A Farewell to Arms is a novel by Ernest Hemingway which takes place in Italy during World War I. Readers learn of the character Frederic Henry and his lover, Catherine Barkley. Throughout the entire novel, Hemingway uses nature and weather in symbolic ways to gain the attention of readers. One of the greater symbols is the rain. Most people would agree that rain means life and that it does not have a negative symbolic use, but Hemingway uses rain as a symbol for death and despair. During the story, it would start to rain, foreshadowing a death of a character or multiple. Readers who observe this will become aware that someone was bound to die. Hemingway uses this symbol to shape the tone of his story. The tone in this story gives the readers the thought that …show more content…
No words are said from him when he walks out, but it is told that he walks back to the hotel. Readers can observe that this ending is not only a peaceful and calming conclusion, but a depressing and devastating end as well. The ending of All Quiet on the Western Front ends with the death of the main character, Paul Bäumer. When Paul dies, it is said that “ his face had an expression of calm, as though almost glad the end had come” (Remarque 140). This can closely relate to the end of the A Farewell to Arms, as both characters experience a form a death. Henry experiences Catherine's death and walks off in a calm state into the rain, and Paul experiences his own death while in a calm peaceful state. Both characters show that you cannot escape war. Paul's mental state had deteriorated while on the front and the war had taken what was normal to him. Henry and Catherine were also victims of war as they tried to escape it, but were forever separated in the end. These moments between the characters relate to the overall meaning of the story as they show the true effects of war on a