An Archetypal Study Of A Farewell To Arms

A Farewell to Arms is one of the best novels concerning the Great War. At the same time, it is also a novel of love, which is called as Hemingway’s Romeo and Juliet. It tells a truth of the Great War in Italy,disillusion of heroism, and the collapse of religion. It narrates a tragedy of the young generation in the first years of the twentieth century and is about how their quest for religion and certitude fails. This thesis will study their failed quest in the novel from the archetypal approach. The protagonists, Catherine and Henry, live in a barren world, filled with deaths, fragments, and nothingness. They try to rebuild the center of their world and rebuild an Eden in the isolated Montreux, but finally they fail it.Hemingway makes the novel a tragedy mostly by portraying demonic world, two sinful characters, and their failed quest. Hemingway builds up a demonic world by the archetypal images of dust and rain,which have been symbols of death since the time of Genesis. The two images occur repeatedly along with bloodshed and death from the very beginning of the novel. The gloomy atmosphere convinces the reader that the end must be a tragic one. The tragedy is not only associated with social background, but also connected with the two main characters’ flaws in their personality. The archetypal characters of Catherine andHenry are Eve and Cain. As representatives of seduction and murder,they cannot be redeemed. In the same way, Catherine and Henry cannot be saved, let alone rebuilding an Eden. They quest for an Eden in the time of war, and their quest is an incarnation of what the lost generation desire for at that time. Catherine’s death signifies that individual love and escapism can only provide transient comfort. Paradise cannot be rebuilt in isolation from society. Escapism cannot solve anything.The tragedy of the two protagonists is inevitable. For one thing, the society is a demonic one. For another thing, they have flaws in their character. Lastly, their solution is against the social attribute of human.Their failure shows that the Garden of Eden cannot be rebuilt in a total isolation from society. All their problems can only be solved in society.Hemingway’s intension is to express his respect for human’s graceful courage in front of difficulty, torture, and death. He also presents his disagreement with the attempt to rebuild Eden outside of society.