A Farewell to Arms Summary and Critical Analysis Essay

Ernest Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899, in suburban Oak Park, IL, to Dr. Clarence and Grace Hemingway. Ernest was the second of six children to be raised in the quiet suburban town. His father was a physician, and both parents were devout Christians. Hemingway had an aptitude for physical challenge that engaged him through high school, where he both played football and boxed. Because of permanent eye damage contracted from numerous boxing matches, Hemingway was repeatedly rejected from service in World War I. Hemingway also edited his high school newspaper and reported for the Kansas City Star, adding a year to his age after graduating from high school in 1917. After this short stint, Hemingway finally was able to participate in World War I as an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross. He was wounded on July 8, 1918, on the Italian front near Fossalta di Piave. During his convalescence in Milan, he had an affair with a nurse, Agnes von Kurowsky. Hemingway received two decorations from the Italian government, and he joined the Italian infantry. Clarence Hemingway had been suffering from hypertension and diabetes. This painful experience is reflected in the pondering of Robert Jordan in For Whom the Bell Tolls. In addition to personal experiences with war and death, Hemingway’s extensive travel in pursuit of hunting and other sports provided a great deal of material for his novels. Bullfighting inspired Death in the Afternoon, published in 1932. In 1934, Hemingway went on safari in Africa, which gave him new themes and scenes on which to base The Snows of Kilamanjaro and The Green Hills of Africa, published in 1935. In 1950 he published Across the River and Into the Trees, though it was not received with the usual critical acclaim. In 1952, however, Hemingway proved the comment â€Å"Papa is finished† wrong, in that The Old Man and the Sea won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953. In 1954, he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. On July 2, 1961, he died of self-inflicted gunshot wounds. He was buried in Ketchum. â€Å"Papa† was both a legendary celebrity and a sensitive writer, and his influence, as well as some unseen writings, survived his passing. In 1964, A Moveable Feast was published; in 1969, The Fifth Column and Four Stories of the Spanish Civil War; in 1970, Islands in the Stream; in 1972, The Nick Adams Stories; in 1985, The Dangerous Summer; and in 1986, The Garden of Eden. Hemingway’s own life and character are as fascinating as in any of his stories. On one level, Papa was a legendary adventurer who enjoyed his flamboyant lifestyle and celebrity status. However, deep inside lived a disciplined author who worked tirelessly in pursuit of literary perfection. Being married before or after doesn’t effect the child physically or delays its birth. Marriage in this sense is the outward form of their love. Marriage in the physical sense before or after the fact means nothing as with Catherine’s early comment of â€Å"I couldn’t be any more married. † Henry and Catherine surely learned that they were in love no matter married or not. Having a ring on the finger doesn’t make the love any stronger it just a psychical representation of their love. Henry ignores the temptations of the outward forms of religion, love, and symbols as he achieves becoming authentic. The conclusion of â€Å"A Farewell To Arms† with all its death is marked by a rebirth. Henry looses his child and his lover. He finally achieves the status of being authentic in the final scene â€Å"It was like saying good-by to a statue. After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain. † Henry prior to Catherine death was seeking hope. During Catherine’s final hour Henry prayed to God once more only to go unanswered:Please, please, please, dear God, don’t let her die. Dear God, don’t let her die. Please, please, please, don’t let her die. God please don’t make her die. I’ll do anything you say if you don’t let her die. You took the baby but don’t let her die. That was all right but don’t let her die. Please, please, dear God, don’t let her die. He now knows all the things around him are false. Henry now knows the true forms of religion,patriotism, and love are empty forms of hope. He know knows that any hope must only comefrom within. Henry is now an authentic in that â€Å"He walks quietly back to the hotel in the rain. † andknows that only he can shape his destiny.