English Literature - American Literature

2. WHAT’S UP WITH THE
TITLE
‘A farewell to Arms’

3. REASONS TO SAY
‘A farewell to Arms’

4. 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

5. 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."

6. ‘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.

7.  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

8. ‘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.

9. 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

10. 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

11. Conclusion
Title of George Peele’s Poem
As 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

12. REASONS TO SAY
“A farewell to Arms”

13. 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.

14. 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.

15. The French military cemetery at the Douaumont
ossuary, which contains the remains of more than
130,000 unknown soldiers.

16. Emergency military hospital during the Spanish flu
pandemic, which killed about 675,000 people in the
United States alone. Camp Funston, Kansas, 1918.

17. British 55th Infantry Division soldiers, blinded by tear
gas during the Battle of Estaires, 10 April 1918.

18. Austro-Hungarian troops executing captured Serbians,
1917. Serbia lost about 850,000 people during the war, a
quarter of its pre-war population.

20. Thanks for being with me