Essay on Ernest Hemingways A Farewell to Arms - Hopeless...

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, Catherines 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. After sitting for a moment, the log began burning. When it started to burn the ants came out of the log. They ran back and forth across the log, first towards the flames, then away. Eventually most of them fell into the fire and burned. A very small†¦show more content†¦Nothing bad has happened yet, but the outcome is inevitable. As Fredrick says of the labor, this was the price you paid for sleeping together(320). Once the labor begins, in their own way both Fredrick and Catherine begin to run back and forth between the fire and the cooler end of the log. In Catherine this takes the form of labor pains, which come and go repeatedly. Fredrick goes back and forth between the pain of the hospital and the calm of the cafe. Both are seeking release from their pain by the birth of their child. In the mean time, both struggle mechanically. In an attempt to escape the pain, Catherine is repeatedly given gas. At one point Fredrick says he cant give her any more because it might kill you(322). It is possible that the effects of the gas weakened Catherine to the point that she dies. In this way the gas is like the water thrown on the log. At first it seems like it will help, but in the end it is just another way to die. At the end of the book Catherine has burned up in the fire, while Fredrick wanders away burnt and flattened like one of the ants that escaped the flames(327). This same pattern is seen in World War One itself. Before World War One Europe had been relatively peaceful. But, like the fire under the log, forces such as Nationalism had been building that would eventually cause an explosion. This is seen in the ubiquitous Powder Keg analogy. Once the war began theShow MoreRelatedThe Struggle of Life and War in Ernest Hemingway’s Writing 1071 Words   |  5 PagesErnest Hemingway was one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century. His simple style, lucid depictions, and relatable narratives propelled him into a world of literary fame. These unique attributes are inimitable; Hemingway relates to the reader on a deeper level that even the best imitators cannot achieve. For this and many other reasons, critics praise Hemingway for the indefinable work of an exceptional writer. One of his most well-known novels, A Farewell to Arms, is notorious for its