Farwell To Arms

Many novels use contrast images of the land or surroundings to symbolize the central meaning of the work. In Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms the foil images of Italy and Switzerland help symbolize the theme of the book, which is the cruelty of war and what it does to people. The descriptions of the two countries, Italy and Switzerland, are greatly different and represent two types of places. On one hand, Italy symbolizes …

…peaceful place to escape the harshness of war and regain an optimistic view of life. Hemingway used contrasting images of the surrounding lands to symbolize the main theme of the novel. Italy symbolized death, disaster, and the brutality of a war, while Switzerland represented peace, hope, and the comfort of safety from war. These foiling contrasts demonstrate how cruel a war can become. Works Cited Hemingway, Ernest. Farwell to Arms. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1929.