WHAT’S UP WITH THE

TITLE

‘A farewell to Arms’

REASONS TO SAY

‘A farewell to Arms’

TITLE

Though there are many different ways to analyze

the novel in terms of interpretations

Critics are basically in agreement that there are 3

straightforward interpretations of the title.

1. "Arms" as arms or weapons used in wars

2. “Arms" as arms of human beings.

3. Title of a Previous written Poem

TITLE

First 2 are from the dual meaning of the word

"arms.“

Third interpretation refers to a poem, written

by George Peele in the 1500s, called "A Farewell

to Arms."

‘Arms’ as Arms & Weapons

We can analyze the title using the word "arms."

Since the book spends much time describing the

horrors of World War I, the title can be seen as a

plea to the world to say "farewell" to wars and the

weapons we use to fight them.

Since Frederic leaves his post as ambulance driver

for the Italian army, and then flees with Catherine to

Switzerland to avoid being arrested for desertion, the

title can refer specifically to Frederic’s "farewell" to

the weapons of war when he decides to end his

personal involvement with it.

When Frederic says "farewell" to the Italian

army, he also says hello to the lover’s arms of

Catherine. When she dies, he must say farewell to

those arms as well.

Catherine’s death also parallels the death of a

soldier in battle. When Frederic is transported in

the ambulance, the wounded soldier above him

has "hemorrhaged" and the blood drips on

Frederic.

Catherine too dies of "hemorrhage," though her

wound comes from her battle with childbirth.

‘Arms’ as Arms of Human beings

‘Arms’ as Arms of Human beings

Looking at the parallel between Catherine and

the soldier helps us remember how much love

exists between Frederic and the men he

encounters in the war.

In addition to saying farewell to Catherine’s

loving arms, Frederic says farewell to the loving

arms of many of these men in the novel.

If Hemingway did refer to the poem intentionally, it’s an

ironic homage for sure. The poem was written to Queen

Elizabeth and is a lament that the poet can longer serve the

queen by fighting in battles.

While the novel presents a romantic view of war, in that the

fact of war intensifies the characters’ relationships, some of

the characters wound themselves in terrible ways to keep

from facing the horror of the battlefield. The fighting itself is

not romanticized, but instead presented starkly and

realistically as something nobody in their right mind would

be sad to stop doing.

Title of George Peele’s Poem

After seeing that contradictions, we don’t think this is quite

what Hemingway had in mind.

Also, because the novel is written in the past tense as

Frederic’s memory of both World War I and of Catherine,

the title can be a comment on the paradoxical way that

Frederic is dealing with the trauma of both such

experiences.

To deal with such intense pain and loss, he relives it through

remembering it and telling it. By preserving the events in a

narrated memory, he can try to say "farewell" to the arms of

pain that bind him, and perhaps make things hurt a little bit

less. He also honors the loving arms behind the pain by

giving them a place in remembered history.

Title of George Peele’s Poem

Conclusion

Title of George Peele’s PoemAs far as The Title is concerned, the Title of Peele’s

poem doesn’t look like the Hemingway’s intentional

act and the ideas don’t match too in both works.

‘Arms’ as Arms of Human beings

‘Arms’ as Arms & Weapons

REASONS TO SAY

“A farewell to Arms”

World War-1

Killings – More than 9 million soldiers, sailors, and flyers

and another 5 million civilians--involved 28 countries. It left

at least 7 million men permanently disabled. The war also

brought vast social consequences, including the mass

murder of Armenians in Turkey and an influenza epidemic

that killed over 25 million people worldwide

Economically the war severely disrupted the European

economies and allowed the United States to become the

world's leading creditor and industrial power. cost more

money--$186 billion in direct costs and another $151 billion

in indirect costs--than any previous war in history.

STATISTICALLY

Allied Forces

Military dead:

5,525,000

Military wounded:

12,831,500

Military missing:

4,121,000

Total:

22,477,500

Central Powers

Military dead:

4,386,000

Military wounded:

8,388,000

Military missing:

3,629,000

Total:

16,403,000

Ultimately, more than 70 million military personnel,

including 60 million Europeans, were mobilized in one

of the largest wars in history.

The French military cemetery at the Douaumont

ossuary, which contains the remains of more than

130,000 unknown soldiers.

Emergency military hospital during the Spanish flu

pandemic, which killed about 675,000 people in the

United States alone. Camp Funston, Kansas, 1918.

British 55th Infantry Division soldiers, blinded by tear

gas during the Battle of Estaires, 10 April 1918.

Austro-Hungarian troops executing captured Serbians,

1917. Serbia lost about 850,000 people during the war, a

quarter of its pre-war population.

Thanks for being with me