A Farewell to Arms: Symbolism

Symbols are considered to be an artistic device. The writers do not convey their thoughts in cheaper words but they use symbols to foreshadow and make their language rich and impressive. A Farewell to Arms depends heavily on Hemingway’s symbolic technique to convey the subjective condition of his characters.
         The very title of the novel is itself symbolical. The title bears two-fold symbolic meanings. The hero in the novel bids farewell not only to the war but also to the arms of the woman he loves. He bids farewell to war because he is disgusted with it. But he also bids farewell to the arms of his beloved woman because she has become a victim of her cruel fate.
          Throughout the novel, Hemingway uses water and river as metaphors. Hemingway uses river as a symbol of rebirth. When Henry is arrested and fears that he will be executed, he jumps in the river. When Henry emerged from the river, it was as if he was reborn.
       Hemingway uses rain to symbolize loss or the coming of bad things to the narrator’s life. Some times when rain is present when Henry has to leave Catherine and return to the front, during the tragic retreat, when Henry’s car breaks down, when they are captured by the Battle Police and he is driven to desert, and when Catherine gets sick and dies. This is certainly true that every time when it rains, they have problems in their lives.
       Besides water and rain symbols, the other symbols do play their roles in the novel. Mountains symbolize love, dignity, health, happiness, and the good life. On the other hand, the low-lying plains serve as a symbol of indignity, suffering, disease, death and destruction. Catherine herself becomes the symbol of home, happiness, security, and comfort.
        In addition to these weather images, Catherine’s hair serves as one of the symbols of isolation and seclusion. During their sweet nights in Milan, Catherine lets down her hair and lets it cascade around Frederic’s head. This lovely description of hair that reminds Henry of being enclosed inside a tent or behind a waterfall stands as a symbol of the couple’s isolation from the world and serves as a sort of security blanket for Henry as he thinks himself sheltered from Italian authorities.
      Hemingway’s use of symbols and metaphors is always sublime and subtle. But this does not mean that his symbolism is tinged with obscurity or ambiguity. Rather his idiomatic expressions and under-statements are quite clear and far from being incomprehensible. (421)