A Farewell to Arms †Use of Weather Essay

A Fare considerably to Arms is a gripping original that tells the humbug of an American soldier, Frederic heat content, in Italy during The Great War who is torn between his duty as an officer and the retire of his life, a nurse named Catherine. In the refreshing, Ernest Hemingway brilliantly uses nature to symbolize and foreshadow certain cores in the lucifers difficult journey to escape the war and be with each other. Rain, s straightway, lakes and rivers all represent all issue, safety, or freedom for the two.Rain clearly symbolizes loss, death and tragedy in the story. This is established very quickly, as in chapter one enthalpy states that, At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came epidemic cholera in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army (4). Right away, the reader should overcharge up on the symbolism of loss. After Henry falls in love with Catherine, the night he has to leave her to go back to the front there is fog tha t turns into a cold rain. As the novel progresses, rain foreshadows many a(prenominal) other events such as the German offensive and massive Italian retreat, in which many Italian soldiers are killed. It also foreshadows the loss of Henrys own unit.The sidereal day that Henry and his men are to retreat, Bonello mentions the wine they are drinking and Aymo replies, To-morrow maybe we drink rainwater (191). The next day Aymo is actually killed and Henrys unit falls apart. The big example of rain foreshadowing loss occurs at the end of the story. When Henry and Catherine are at their lodge in the mountains, the night they decide to touch on to the town for the baby, it starts to rain. Once the baby comes, it rains and Catherine, as well as the child, die. This was clearly indicated as Catherine once said, Im afraid of the rain because sometimes I see me dead in it (126). Rain is emphatically one of Hemingways most prevalent tools for foreshadowing in this story.Snow is used in the novel as a symbol for safety and security. It acts as a temporary cease to the fighting and bloodshed, as Henry states, looking out at the snow falling slowly and heavily, we knew it was all over for that category (6). It also represents safety when Henry and Catherine are in their home up in the mountains, completely surrounded by snow, where the war would not reach them nor the battle police to arrest Henry. It was because of thisknowledge, how the snow brought an end to the fighting, that many people were hoping it would come once rumors of an adversary offensive were surfacing because snow would make it difficult for the enemy to fight and advance. When Henry returns to the front, the major says, I dont view they will attack now that the rains have started. We will have the snow soon (165). Because the snow would be coming soon, the Italians didnt believe that an offensive was coming and were thus caught completely off guard when it did. In that way, snow symbolizes safety i n the story.Symbols for freedom in the novel are natural waterways. Twice, Henry is able to escape war by either a river or a lake. During the retreat, many officers in the Italian army were being beatified for the armys embarrassment and shot. Henry, being an officer, was pulled to the side and put in a line to be shot. Not allowing himself to be killed, Henry, ducked down, pushed between two men, and ran for the river(225). He sprang into the river and was eventually able to get out downstream.He was then able to find new clothes and was completely free from the army, the river being his liberator. Once reunited with Catherine, they extend at a hotel on a lake. One night he is awoken by the barman who warns Henry that he is going to be arrested in the morning. They quickly conceive a plan for Henry and Catherine to gull the lake to Switzerland to freedom. All goes well with their plan and the couple are able to escape the country and live well in Switzerland, natural waterways freeing them from trouble for the second time.Hemingway uses nature perfectly to symbolize and foreshadow events in the story. With a mention of rain, snow, or a river or lake, the reader is able to get an idea of what an event might mean, or what events may occur, whether it be loss, safety, or freedom.