英语本科毕业论文-Analysis of Symbolism in A Farewell to Arms.doc

齐齐哈尔大学成人高等教育本科生毕业设计（论文）Analysis of Symbolism in A Farewell to ArmsChapter I Introduction to the Novel1.1 Background of the Author 1.1.1 Life of Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)Hemingway was generally regarded as spokesman for the Lost Generation. He was famous for his novels and short stories written in his spare, laconic, yet intense prose with short sentences and very specific details. Almost all his stories deal with the theme of courage in face of tragedy. They reveal mans impotence and despairing courage to assert himself against overwhelming odds.Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinios. At his adolescence, he attended and graduated from Oak Park High School. After America entered the World War I, Hemingway volunteered to serve as an ambulance driver with the American Red Cross. Shortly after reaching the front lines, he was wounded in the legs and transferred to a hospital in Milan where he met a nurse.In 1929, Hemingway drew upon his World War I experience s for his second novel, A Farewell to Arms. Its tragic love story was again an enormous artistic and commercial success after The Sun Also Rises (1926).Hemingway also witnessed and felt the Spanish Civil War and World War II for himself. All of these experiences provided him with continuous source of writing. Hemingway committed suicide on July 2,1961, by placing the barrel of a twelve gauge shotgun in his mouth and pulling the trigger.Hemingway was productive all through his life. His popularity continued to grow even his death.1.1.2 Literary Writing of Hemingway Hemingway created many famous works, including:Three Stories and Ten Poems (1923)In Our Time (1925)The Sun Also Rises (1926)A Farewell to Arms (1929)Death in the Afternoon (1932)Green Hills of Africa (1935)The Fifth Column (1938)For whom the Bells Tolls (1940)Across the River and into the Trees (1950)The Old Man and the Sea (1952)Hemingway was a myth in his own time, and a myth in American literature. He was a glamorous public hero of sorts whose style of writing and living was probably more imitated than any other writers in human memory. Many of his works won success in both literature and commerce. Especially the publication of The Old Man and the Sea was both a popular sensation and a major literary achievement. For all these literary achievements, Hemingway won the Nobel Prize in 1954.1.2 Brief Information about the Novel1.2.1 General Content of the Novel Frederic Henry is an American ambulance driver in Italian army. Initially Frederic doesnt feel that he will be affected by this war that has nothing to do with him. He lives a hedonistic lifestyle, focusing on his pleasures, drinking and sex. Catherine Barkley is a nurse at a nearby British hospital. After meeting Catherine and getting to know her , he does not feel that he will fall in love with her at first. He merely wishes to become involved with her as if in a game like bridge, but a game in which one makes moves by making statements rather than with cards.At the front, Henry was wounded in both of his legs and was sent to an American hospital in Milan. Because of an excess of nurses at the front, Catherine is being sent there as well. Catherine arrives at the hospital and Henry professes his love for her. From then on, Catherine works the night shift and they have sex with each other every night. At the end of the summer, Henry gets a letter from the army, which calls him back to the front. Frederic is changed by the war. He returns to the front and finds conditions much changed. Things have not been going well for the Italians during his absence. The war has become darker and more threatening, and when Frederic is caught up in the chaotic retreat of the Italians from Caportto, he has a narrow brush with death. When he approaches the military police, as they are executing Italian officers at the bridge over Tagliamento. Henry escaped by jumping into the river and finds Catherine in Stresa. Being warned that the Italian officers are planning to arrest him, the next morning Henry takes Catherine who is in pregnancy to escape to Switzerland, where the couple lead a happy life without the disturbance of the war. But because of the approach of the date of Catherines childbirth, they move to a new town near the hospital. At the hospital, Catherine gives birth a dead baby and finally she dies, too. Henry is alone, in the world.1.2.2 Thematic DiscussionThe novel concerns itself primarily with the development of Hemingways philosophy of life, which will be explained here. The story focuses on Henrys discovery of this philosophy, and all the main characters of the novel serve largely as foils to Henrythey are caught in different stages of their developing the philosophy.Hemingway, and indeed many of his existential peers, believed that the universe is unordered one. There is no God to watch over man, to dictate codes of morality or to ensure justice. Instead, the universe is different (sometimes even hostile) to mans plight. In the book, this indifference is best exemplified by the waran ultimately futile struggle of man against man. There are no winners in a war at all, and there is no reasoning behind the lives which are taken.Chapter II Introduction to Symbolism2.1 Definition of SymbolismSymbolism in its broad sense is the use of one object to represent or suggest another; or in literature, the use of symbols in writing, particularly the serious and extensive use of such symbols.For example, John Bunyan built all of his The Pilgrims Progress on Symbolism: the story of mans progress through life to heaven or hell as told through the adventures of Christian, Faithful, Mr. Worldly Wiseman, and others who symbolize man in his various guises. Colerideges The Rime of the Ancient Mariner took advantage of symbolism throughout: mankinds universal journey into despair and wickedness and then back to repentance, and wholesomeness of spirit. It is a distinctive feature of the novels Hawthorne, notably The Scarlet Letter and The Marble Faun , and of Melville , whose Moby-Dick is probably the most original work of symbolic art in American literature .Symbolism is also the distinctive feature of the works of Hemingway.2.2 OverviewEverything has its own history. When and where does it come from, meanwhile where does it go to? All of these are the curiosity of itself as well as of by-standers. To symbolism, we also have this curiosity. In next part, you will understand the origination, the further development, some comprehension of symbolism, you can know some symbolic images and characters, too. 2.2.1 Origination of the SymbolismSymbolism originated as a literary movement .Its beginnings are often ascribed to the publication of Charles Baudelaires poems Les Fleurs du Mal (Flowers of evil) in France in 1857.As suggested by Baudelaires title, symbolism explored the darker, more introspective aspectof human emotions through mythical or religious themes and reveled in dreamlike or allusive imaginary.2.2.2 The Further Development after the Origination Subsequent theoretical developments in nascent field of psychology fed the movements obsession with erotic, turbulent, or suffocating content and heightened its fixation on the femme fatale, an iconic fin-de-siecle image of the destructive women, which many artists took as their subject. Among those credited for influencing the symbolist idiom are the French painters Gustave Moreau and Pierre Puvis de Chavannes, both recognized for their intentionally ambiguous yet evocative images. While these artists styles differ, each was reacting to Naturalism and the concomitant beliefs in positive and materialism, pursuing instead what art historian Robert Goldwater has called a philosophical idealism. They in turn inspired a younger generation of artists to make work that was more spiritual and mysterious, and which is usually characterized by flattened forms, nonrepresentational color, and undulating lines. While symbolism is most often associated with French writers and artists, the movement had a widespread reach, eventually encompassing figures from Belgium to Poland, and included artists such as Jean Delville, Ferdinand Holder, Fernand Khnopff, and impacted to varying degrees the careers of artists as diverse as Paul Gauguin, Gustav Klimt, Edvard Munch, Odilon Redon, Auguste Rodin, and Giovanni Segantin.2.2.3 Some Comprehensions about Symbolism Symbolism is a “visible object or action that suggests some further meaning in addition to itself, ”according to Kennedy and Gioia (902)Symbolism is “something you can see that has taken on meaning beyond itself ” (Guth, Rico 578)When you think of a symbol, think of something tangible, something you can touch with your hand, something you can see with your eyes, something you can hear with your ears .If the things cant be known by certain sense, you can eliminate it from consideration as a symbol . When we look at symbolism in literature, we are looking at those tangible items that suggest a meaning itself represents.Kennedy :|“In literature, a symbol might be the word flag or the words a black cat crossed his path or every description of flag or cat in an entire novel , story ,play or poem” ( Kennedy ,Gioia 902)Conventional symbols have a customary effect on us, provoking responses to items that we share in common. For example, the cross is a symbol of Christianity, and the rose is a symbol of love. However, in literature, a symbol can come to mean that which the author or writer associates with the item. Examine this poem by Robert Frost. Its on Page 910 of the seventh edition of Kennedy and Gioias Literature: The Road Not Taken (by Robert Frost) Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both. And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth; Then took the other , as just as fair, And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that the passing there Had worn them really about the same, And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black! Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back. I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I I took the one less traveled byAnd that has made all the difference.What symbolism do you find in this poem, if any? If you arrived at the conclusion that the “road” in the poem represents two choices, you are understanding what it means. When you are searching for symbols, dont read symbolism into the poem so that every concrete word is a symbol. The writer of the poem does not intend for you to understand every or many items as symbolic.Usually, an item is symbolic if it is repeated often and if it has a meaning lager than itself.A black bandage around an athletes arm represents a loss of a player, and flipping the bird may express some form of anger at another individual.2.2.4 Symbolic ImagesA symbol may be good or evil, depending on its context, and author is quite free to developing the context to convey a particular symbolism. For example, the tree is usually a symbol of lifebut not if you use it as the place of carrying out the sentence of death by hanging.Here are some images and their most common symbolic meanings:Garden: nature ordered to serve human needs (paradise is a Persian word for garden)Wilderness: nature hostile to human needs.River: life, often seen as ending in death as the river ends in the sea.Flower: youth, sexuality; red flowers symbolize death of young men.Fire: light, life or hell and lust Sky: heaven, fate or necessityBridge: link between worlds, between life and deathPastoral animals: ordered human societyPredatory animals: evil; threats to human order2.2.5 Symbolic CharactersDifferent types of characters recur so often that theyre required their own names. Here are some of the most common:Eiron: One who deprecates himself and appears less than he really is: includes most types of hero (Ulysses, Frodo, Huck Finn) .The term “irony” derives from eiron.Alazon: An imposter, who boasts and presents himself as more than he really is; subtypes include the braggart soldier (General Buck Turgidson in Dr. Strangelove) and obsessed philosopher-mad scientist (Saruman, Dr.Strangelove) Tricky slave: Heros helper (Jim in Huckleberry Finn; Gollum in the Lord of the Rings)Helpful giant: Heros helper; in harmony with nature (Ents in TLOR; Chewbacca in Star Wars)Wise old man: Heros helper; possessor of knowledge (Gandalf, Obi-Wan Kenobi)Buffoon: Creates a festive mood, relieves tension (Sam, Gamgee, Mercutio)Churl: Straight man, killjoy or bumpkin (Uriah Heep)Fair maiden: symbol of purity and redemption (Rowena) or of repressed sexuality (any member of Ice maidens)Dark woman: symbol of lust & temptation (or of natural sexuality)Heros double: Represents the dark side of the heros character (Geds shadow in Wizard of Earthsea)Chapter III Symbolism in “A Farewell to Arms”3.1 The Analysis of Symbolism Based on the Summary of the Plot 3.1.1 Chapter 1-53.1.1.1 Summary of the Plot of Chapter 1-5The novel opens with a description of artilleryladen troops marching through the rains of later summer and autumn .One of these mean is the American Frederic Henry, an ambulance driver. Henry is currently in Italian army, at the Italian front during World War I. The main action of these first few chapters begins when Henry returns from winter leave in early spring. His roommate, Rinaldi, is enamored of a British nurse, Catherine Barkley, at a nearby British hospital. Rinaldi convinces Henry to visit the hospital with him and Henry finds himself attracted to Catherine. A few days later, Henry comes back to see Catherine and the two kiss.3.1.1.2 Analysis of the Symbolism in Chapter 1-5Hemingway makes use of some very important symbolism even as early as the first paragraph, he sets up two symbols: the plains and the mountains which will be conflict throughout the story. Hemingway represents the plain as dangerous miserable, dry and barren. The mountains, on the other hand, represent safety, happiness, and good health. The military action that Frederic Henry witnesses takes place on the plain, and his escape, through the cleansing, baptismal ritual of jumping into the river, reaches its end in the secluded mountain chalet with Catherine. But when Frederic must take Catherine out of the mountains and back down to the city below to the hospital where she is to give birth, disaster appears again. Death and dying take center stage in the opening pages of A Farewell to Arms. Although these pages are set in a plain “rich with crops,” rain will serve as a symbol of death. And so our narrator reports that “ in the fall when the rains came the leaves all fell from the chestnut trees and the branches were bare and trunks black with rain. The vineyards were thin and barebranched too and all the country wet and brown and dead with the autumn ” The narrator also tells us that the rain was followed by disease. The opening chapter is an important one, introducing many major motifs to be developed later. In the chapter, war and death are juxtaposed against nature and life. There are trees, but they are coated in dust and the leaves fall off because of it. The thick, green leaves not found on the trees are instead used by the troops to conceal guns in the trucks. The clean and swift-moving river water is juxtaposed against images of rain and mud as well as slow-moving troops. The image of fertility is compared to soldiers carrying artillery in front of their bellies The situation here is bleak. The chapter sets up a tired mood, with troops trudging incessantly through the mud. It is also soured by irony: “At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera. But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army.” The description of “ a permanent rain ” is intended to create a feeling of helplessness. The “only” in the second sentence conveys a sense of the wars scope. The tiredness of the war is mirrored by the troops themselves. The narrator begins the second chapter with the comment that “the next year there are many victories.” That is all. It is blunt and detached, as if the victories no longer matter and no body knows what they are fighting for. Later, a shell explodes in front of Henry and instead of reacting emotionally, he simply describes the smell of the explosion: one of “blasted clay and stone and freshly shatter and flint.”3.1.2 Chapter 13-173.1.2.1 Summary of the Plot of Chapter 13-17 Frederic Henry is the first patient to be sent to the American hospital even the doctors has not yet come. After a few days, though, the doctor arrives and immediately begins to remove shards of metal from Henrys leg. One piece of metal is particularly deep and surgery is required. Three surgeons arrive to discuss when the operation should be performed, but Henry refuses to accede to their recommendation to wait six months. Another surgeon, Dr. Valentini, is called in, who declares that Henry is fit to be operated upon the next morning. The operation is then carried out successfully. Meanwhile, Catherine has arrived at the hospital and Henry confesses his love for her. From then on, Catherine works the night shift and they have sex with each other every night.3.1.2.2 Analysis of