Chapters 1-2 of A Farewell to Arms serve as exposition, introducing the novel’s major motifs, such as rain and religion, and major characters, such as Frederic (the narrator), Rinaldi, and the priest. In both cases, World War I provides the backdrop for these opening scenes. Discuss the impact of the war on the natural landscape and the men. Is there any common ground between the how the two (nature and men) “relate” to the war?
*if you don't know WWI very well...google it! do some background reading!
I think the first chapter serves as a juxtaposition to Chapter 2, because the Chapter 1 seems to describe the beauty of the landscape, and I think soldiers entered into this war with hopes and dreams, and their own ideas about the war would be like. I think no matter what, nothing can prepare a person for the horrors of war, and how destructive it is on a person's soul. I think Chapter 2 serves to show that eventually, all the beauty described previously ends up being cut down and destroyed by the war, and that's indicative of what happens to a soldier after experiencing war. I think neither nature nor humans comprehend warfare, and the devastation it wreaks.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of juxtaposition...I see it even within the chapters - i.e. the beauty of nature contrasted with the unnatural destruction of war/cyclical "death" brought about by seasons. And Ch. 2 does the exact same thing with the men and their attitudes toward religion in particular (baiting the priest). War wreaks havoc on all facets of existence - natural and spiritual. Good thoughts! :)
ReplyDeleteMary, period 6 -I actually think that chapters one and two show how people and their surroundings react to the horrors of war and how everything is destroyed. I think that chapter two actually shows how people become cold and empty from exposure to the destruction of war. The officers in chapter two are extremely cold to the priest and yet the priest, who has had less to do with the war than the others, still believes in religion and remembers the beauty of his homeland. The priest has had very little contact with the devastation war brings in comparison to the officers.
ReplyDeleteObviously, the beginning chapters serve to introduce characters. Focusing on religion, the first two chapters show that the majority of people in the Italian Army are either against religion or are too afraid to speak out against those who criticize it. It also shows that Lt. Henry does not have a certain view one way or the other, as he does not speak against the major and soldiers who laugh at the priest, but nor does he join them. Meanwhile, it characterizes the priest as a very tolerant and understanding man since he simply absorbs their remarks, and is still kind to Henry and recommends Abruzzi for his trip. Furthermore, Henry obviously cares for the priest as he feels regret for not visiting Abruzzi. Just establishing the obvious.
ReplyDeleteFor a long while now, something's been bothering me and it all has to do with the last two sentences of the very first paragraph in Ch. 1. Apparently, Hemingway has gone a bit overboard with repetition. Really, he repeats at least nine nouns or verbs twice; all in two sentences.
ReplyDeleteIn all fairness, the intensive use of repetition more or less symbolizes a typical routine for the army. Walk, shoot, invade/ rescue, walk further, repeat. It's all a process of war, and thus the dust might represent the exhaustion left in the soldiers’ tracks, since dust is usually associated with the aging or rotting of nature.
Then again, I might be unintentionally erroneous but oh well. Literature is art, and art is always debatable.
The war has left the landscape of Italy destroyed and desecrated. The men are almost in a sense ambivalent about the war; they see it as their duty but it has left them lifeless and insipid. There is common ground between the nature and men and how they relate to the war, much like their environment the men are broken and destroyed on the inside, spiritually, mentally, and physically.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the view that chapter one and two describe the landscape to show the destruction of war because though two years take place, only autumn and winter are really described, when everything is brown and grey and "dead with autumn". But it is not just the landscape dying; Frederic also briefly describes the miserable conditions the soldiers face in autumn and winter: being muddy and wet, carrying ammo like a pregnant woman's belly, and cholera. Spiritually, the men are dying too, like others have said, mocking the priest, the major losing his religion because of a book, the lieutenant believing in the Free Masons, and so on. All this is the result of war.
ReplyDelete