Foreshadowing and its Relationship to the Theme of A Farewell to Arms

Foreshadowing and its Relationship to the Theme of A Farewell to Arms【abstract】the technique of foreshadowing helps to escalate the anti-war theme into a higher relief in a farewell to arms.【key words】ernest hemingway, foreshadowing, a farewell to armsernest hemingway was a writer who liked to experience life at first hand. he had experiences with war. in world war i, he volunteered to serve in the war and returned gloriously as a hero from the front with many wounds.(1)his experience gave him a full taste of the brutality and cruelty of the war. maybe it is because of this, that ernest hemingways anti-war sentiments are so strong in a number of his novels. in 1929, he published a farewell to arms, a book which marked a milestone among the anti-war novels which appeared after world war i.in the novel, frederic henry- the protagonist- is an american volunteer medical worker serving as a lieutenant in a front ambulance team in italy. what he sees of the war at the front soon disgusts and disillusions him about the war and he wants to escape it. while at the front, he meets with a british nurse, named catherine barkley. his acquaintanceship with the nurse evolves into love later. as the war goes on , frederics disillusionment grows and so he regards his love with catherine as a “peaceful harbor”where he can forget about the war. frederic finally deserts the front and together with catherine he manages to get to switzerland where they believe they can realize their dream of escaping the war. however switzerland, though physically not disturbed by the war, is no ideal place for the two protagonists. frederic can not forget the war. newspapers and other things remind him of the war. and tough they escape the war itself, they never manage to escape the doomed misfortune: catherines dies following hemorrhage as a result of difficult labor. catherines death not only puts an end to their love, but also drops frederic back to isolation and despair and helplessness. through the tragedy of love, hemingway shows us the cruelty and mercilessness of the war. as a love tragedy, some critics compare a farewell to arms with romeo and juliet , believing that the former is not simply a love tragedy in the ordinary sense. the novel itself is a vivid representation of ernest hemingways denunciation of war and all its brutality and cruelty. through the scenes of bloodshed and death, the senselessness of the war and the bureaucracy of the army, we can see the gradual changes of feelings towards the war and the efforts of many soldiers to seek a way out of the war though it is represented chiefly by frederic henrys efforts to make a separate peace after he becomes disillusioned by the warernest hemingway has described his writing as an iceberg floating in the sea. the shown part, which is only one-eighth of the iceberg is what he writes and what readers read;the part of the iceberg below the water is what he wants to convey and what the readers feel. his principle of iceberg makes some of his works quite subtle and hard to understand. however, a farewell to arms is quite clear in its anti-war theme. hemingway himself experienced all kinds of hardships and nightmares in his war years. the war taught him a lesson: he was deceived by those who ruled; he had not fought for the safety of world democracy as he had been told. through the story of frederic henry, ernest hemingway expressed his anti-war theme in the novel. under his pen, the war is described as the cause of all disaster and human misfortune. people cant escape but suffer the disasters produced by war. hemingway shows the war in its true color and achieves the aim of expressing his anti-war theme through his portrayal of bureaucracy, disaster, suffering and death. in doing so, ernest hemingway makes frequent use of the technique of foreshadowing. the technique not only makes plot development quite clear and neat and language economical but also escalates the anti-war theme into an even higher relief. michael renolds notes,”there is no major piece of action in the novel that has not been properly foreshadowed.”and in the novel, we find that this is the case.with foreshadowing, ernest hemingway establishes a system of sending messages i a hidden way. by following the system a reader does not see but feel the flow of information that helps to enable him to anticipate the result of some event in the novel. and the development is always surprisingly in conformity with his anticipation. thus a sense of inevitability is created. the reader is not born with the ability to work out the “logic” according to which the novel is pushed forward. rather he is given the instinct, the feeling to make the guess, by ernest hemingway, through the technique of foreshadowing. to make the technique work, ernest hemingway uses various means: (a). omens like rain (rain can also be categorized as symbol: the differentiation is not so exact and neat.), mist or objects that have something to do with the protagonists are doomed to experience; (b). a protagonists presentiment of comment, which is sometimes his response to the surroundings, sometimes expressions of inner activities, is used in such a way as to convey some special meaning; (c). symbols are employed as carrier of thoughts that are always philosophical and help the reader to guess the plot development;(d).ernest hemingway also makes use of the structure of the novel. through structural changes, he gives the reader enough hints as to what will follow after a certain event; (e).description of the surroundings also serves with the same effect of foreshadowing. so, all told, in terms of the ways in which ernest hemingway uses the techniques of foreshadowing, there are five categories, all of which contribute to convince the readers that the destructive nature of war is inevitable and peoples misfortune is unavoidable-the anti-war ideas that hemingway wants to drive home to his readers.in a farewell to arms, the readers are very familiar with the bad weather which is characterized by the rain and mist. rain is very important to hemingway. in the book it rains intermittently from the every beginning to the end. it is safe to say that there is no important event during which there is no rain. te continual rain always accompanies disaster and misfortune. when there is rain, something bad is expected. we see the massive soldier retreat without order in the rain after the defeat at caporetto; we also see frederic henry and catherine barkley part with each other in the rain; we witness frederic henry and catherine barkley escape to switzerland in the rains; we also witness death falling on catherine in the rain and henry leaving the hospital for his hotel in rain , ect. to put it humorously, rain seems to be tears of god. when god, seeing the damaging and cruel war, is so sad that he breaks into tears, people will benefit from the tears tragically. in hemingways world rain dominates. but it doesnt dictate in such a way as to leave no room for good weather. truly there are intervals of sunny days but the point is that the interval of sunny days is so short and rare that food weather is only a transient and rear phenomenon for the protagonists. weather changes form bad to good and from good to bad very naturally. everyone accepts this as common knowledge. but hemingway links the change in weather with the change of fate and luck for the protagonists. the change in fate is no stranger than that in weather for ernest hemingway. he makes good use of the change in weather to convey special hints to the readers. when he comes to fine weather, hemingway always elaborates fully the happy and romantic love between frederic and catherine without hesitation. whether the weather is good or not has direct connection with the development of the subject. as fine and sunny days are so few and transient, so the happy and romantic love between frederic and catherine will not last too long. through the rain, the readers are able to see the strongly foreshadowed tragedy of the protagonists, though the protagonists themselves dont see the point. thats also why frederic does not feel anything unusual about the saint anthony mascot. but the readers do feel something unlucky about it. thus before frederic henry is wounded in the leg we know that this is impending because it is foreshadowed. cather gives frederic a saint anthony medal as he leaves “for a show up above plava” (p.35). saint anthony is “a patron of lost causes” as michael reynolds sees it, and the medal is intended to protect frederic, but it turns out to be the opposite because frederic henry gets wounded instead. the saint anthony falls short of catherines original purpose .here we have a rather ironic foreshadowing. there seems to be no intrinsic “cause-and-effect” connection between the saint anthony mascot and frederics wound and moreover, it would be absurd and superstitious to connect these two separate things together. in other words, we ca never regard the saint anthony as the direct cause of henrys subsequent wound. however, we do have a natural response to the development of the novel from catherines presenting the saint anthony up to frederics wound. between the two events there are no deliberate efforts by the author to establish a sure logical relationship to show the foreshadowed impending wound in frederics leg. but we are ironically led to anticipate tat frederic will be wounded in the fighting up above plava when the saint anthony is presented to give him a sense of being blessed by the medal and by catherine herself. so what we have is frederics wound as a subsequent and foreshadowed event though not as a consequent result. ernest hemingway has frederic wounded on purpose. this serves not only to stress the cruelty of the war but also to foreshadow the protagonists doomed fate in the future plot development when he is wounded psychologically.in the novel, after frederic escapes the persecution at the bridge at tagliamento, he comes to find catherine. in order to find a quiet and peaceful land far from the war, they flee to switzerland. but in war time, switzerland, though a neutral country is not free from the influence of war and is not an ideal place for the two protagonists. this is foreshadowed through their disappointment at the roadside caf after they enter switzerland. before they enter switzerland the two protagonists think highly of it. “if were in switzerland lets have a big breakfast. they have wonderful rolls and butter and jam in switzerland.” (p.197.) when he is dreaming about the breakfast, henry never thinks of the trouble that they are to experience even in switzerland. but then they get a bit disappointed as we can see in the following conversation between the protagonists and the hostess:rolls and jam and coffee. catherine said.im sorry, we havent any rolls in war time.bread theni can make you some toast.i dont mind there not being rolls , catherine said.i think about them all night. but i dont mind it. i dont mind it at all.(p.199)rolls might be a reward for the two protagonists after rowing a whole night. but they are not satisfied in this respect. this might be a let-down for the two pro-tagonists who expect so much and think everything in switzerland is so ideal. when a night-long effort in rowing to switzerland can not satisfy their first need rolls, can it bring them to the realization of their dream? here their misfortune in switzerland is strongly foreshadowed. in the novel whether it is “rain” or “the saint anthony” or “the rolls”, it is used as an omen to foreshadow something. and this forms the first category of the technique of foreshadowing.in a farewell to arms, ernest hemingway also uses the dialogue between the characters to suggest coming events. this becomes obvious if a reader reads carefully enough. michael reynolds notes that catherines pregnancy as the result of her happy nights with frederic in milan hospital room is strongly foreshadowed. i also see the point myself while reading the book. just before henry gets the operation on his leg by the easygoing dr. valentini, a conversation goes on between the two men:whos the pretty girl?.cant that girl talk italian? she should learn.what a lovely girl! i could teach her. i will be a patient here myself.no, but i will be a patient here myself. no, but i will do all your maternity work free. does she understand that? she will make you a fine boy. a fine blonde like she is. thats fine. thats all right. what a lovely girl(p.75.)dr. valentinis words offer enough room for a foreshadowing. the readers are invited to following the logic of his words and the result of their reasoning must be that catherine will be pregnant. if there is any doubt about this, then it will be removed when we come to chapter 21 in which catherine tells frederic that she is pregnant:im going to have a baby, darling. its almost three months along. youre not worried, are you? please dont. you mustnt worry.all right.is it all right ?of course.i did everything. i took everything but it didnt make any difference.(p.101)so the foreshadowing of catherines pregnancy is fulfilled. in a similar manner, the reader shall have little difficulty in anticipating catherines death since they are now correctly anticipating catherines pregnancy. financed by this reasoning, they are expecting the realization of the foreshadowing of catherines death. for in chapter 19, catherine and frederic are talking about their love when its raining cats and dogs outside and catherine reveals her fear of the rain:youre not really afraid of the rain, are you?not when im with you.i dont know.tell me.dont make me.tell me.no.tell me.all right. im afraid of the rain because sometimes i see me dead in it.(p.93.)the rain continues mercilessly and makes the world sad and dismal. and the dialogue serves as a foreshadowing heralding the eventual tragedy of the love between frederic and catherine. then in chapter 40, the readers are once again given a hint in this respect when frederic himself expresses his presentiment which i quote:when there was a good day we had a splendid time and we never had a bad time. we knew the baby was very close now and it gave us both a feeling as though something were hurrying us and we could not lose any time together.(p.220)here it does serves as a presentiment of what will take place unfavorably to the protagonists. they have the feeling that time is limited for both of them. something bad is coming. then the time for the test of this foreshadowing comes when catherine is sent to hospital to give birth to the baby. unfortunately catherine dies of the difficult labor, leaving frederic forlorn. catherines foreshadowed death could have been avoided if the equipment and conditions of the small hospital had been adequate. and the equipment and the skill or the doctor and nurses of the hospital could have been adequate if there had been no war so that the two protagonists didnt have to flee to the small town. then technique of foreshadowing not only gives us enough hints about her death but also, through the in3evitability of her death, gives us a better understanding of the cruelty of the war.the third category of foreshadowing used in a farewell to arms is through various symbols. the most typical and most obvious symbol is the title of the novel itself: “a farewell to arms .” it has two dimensions in meaning: firstly, a farewell to weapons and therefore the war; secondly, a farewell to the embrace of love. the two dimensions mingle to suggest the subject of the novel: disillusioned with the war, frederic tries to forget it in love but he loses his beloved catherine in the end. another example appears in chapter 41. catherine is sent to hospital and frederic is told to have his meal. for the first time he feels unexplainable loneliness resulting from his fear that there might be trouble with his catherine who is “narrow in the hips”.(p.208) then hemingway uses some symbols in the following:i drank this glass, paid and went out. outside along the street were the refuse cans from the houses waiting for the collector. a dog was nosing at one of the cans.what do you want? i asked and looked in the can to see if there was anything i could pull out for him; there was nothing on top but coffee grounds, dust and some dead flowers.there isnt anything, dog. i said(p.223)the passage leans on us an impression that “there isnt anything” in this world, strongly foreshadowing the loneliness frederic is to suffer. frederic is inwardly making a comparison between himself and the dog. the dog, symbolizing frederic, is looking for something in the refuse cans, symbolizing the world in which frederic lives, but what the dog can get is only disappointment as the only thing left for him is “coffee grounds and dust”, symbolizing the death of beauty and romance. the use of symbols suggests the upcoming eternal loneliness that frederic is to suffer after catherine dies. like the dog, after frederic deserts the war, he hopes to find a place where he ca have a home and a meaningful life with catherine. but what he gets is disappointment. the only thing awaiting him is the danger of catherines difficult labor which, because of the incompetence of the medical personal, results in the death of the baby and the mother too. and through the image showing the dog sniffing hopefully at the waste and dead flowers, we can foresee that death is awaiting catherine and the baby and loneliness is awaiting frederic.there are many other symbols in a farewell to arms , for example, frederics comment about courage(p.178) and the ants burnt on the log(p.232), also help to foreshadow the tragedy of frederic and catherine.the fourth category of foreshadowing is by structural change. roughly speaking, the five parts of the novel can be simplified as: book i, frederics wounds (nightmare of war); book ii, the milan affair(happy);book iii, the caporetto retreat and frederics desertion (nightmare of war); book iv and early part of book v, deal with love and happiness again as in milan; and book v, tragedy at the end. this is what a reader can notice and if he is careful enough and studies the relations among the five parts a little, he will find this true as a pattern: first there is a disaster caused by the war (henrys wound in book i) followed by a period of happiness (milan affair) and then another disaster (the retreat and desertion) and then love and happiness are resumed ( in book iv and early book v ) before disaster ends the novel tragically in book v. this pattern is meant to be a tragic form by ernest hemingway. after frederic is wounded, he is sent to milan where he and catherine enjoy themselves. but before the protagonists can enjoy their full capacity, they are separated and frederic is to experience the hardships of the caporetto retreat and is almost killed. following this, however, is the lovers escape, and happiness in switzerland, which we are sure, will be short and will also be followed by tragedy. the structure changes make it possible for the readers to anticipate what will follow next for the protagonists and also make the tragedy of the two protagonists even more touching.the fifth method of foreshadowing is through description of the surroundings anticipates the events that are to take place. right at the beginning of the story we are shown a bleak and desolate scene: everywhere it is dusty and fallen leaves cover the ground; the late autumn wind blows cold; rain falls in early winter; cholera spreads out with the rain, which causes seven thousand deaths. the war has not started yet, but much damage has been done to the army. the inauspicious signs create a gloomy atmospher