Review on A Farewell to Arms.docx

Review on A Farewell to Arms.docx

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ReviewonAFarewelltoArms

ReviewonAFarewelltoArms

Comparedtoother9thor10thgradebooks,theEnglishusedinthisbookisnottoodifficult,butmanyofthehistoricalandculturalreferenceswillrequireadditionalresearchifyouwanttofullyunderstandthem.

ErnestHemingwayisknownforhisdistinctivewritingstyle,anunusuallybare,straightforwardproseinwhichhecharacteristicallyusesplainwords,fewadjectives,simplesentences,andfrequentrepetition.Neverthelesshispowersofdescriptionarenotdiminishedbyhistakingcaretochoosesuchsimplelanguage.Takealook,forexample,attheopeningparagraphofAFarewelltoArms.

Inthelatesummerofthatyearwelivedinahouseinavillagethatlookedacrosstheriverandtheplaintothemountains.Inthebedoftherivertherewere...

AFarewelltoArmsfocusesonarelationshipbetweenanAmericanofficerfightingfortheItalianarmyandaBritishnurseduringWorldWarI.ItthereforecoverstwoofthemostcommontopicsinWestern（andperhapsallof）literature:

loveandwar.Thebookprovidesafirst-personaccountoftheGreatWar,whichisacriticaleventinWesternhistory,anditdiscussessomeoftheperceivedculturaldifferencesbetweenAmericans,Italians,Britons,Austrians,andGermans.Moreover,forthoseofyouespeciallyinterestedinwriting,thisbookisfamousforitsdirect,impassivewritingstyle.

Hemingway'sstraightforwardwritingstyleusuallykeepsthegrammarsimple.However,thisalsomeansthatthebooksometimesdescribesimportanteventsinveryfewwords,soitiseasytomisssomethingimportant.Moreover,thebookmakesmanyreferenceswithoutanyexplanation—forexample,referencestoEurope,Europeanlanguages,andwarvocabulary—whichmaymakeitdifficulttounderstandwithoutlookingtheseuponyourown.

TheAnalysisoftheIcebergPrincipleandUnyieldingManinHemingway’sWorks

TheIcebergTheory（alsoknownasthe"theoryofomission"）isatermusedtodescribethewritingstyleofAmericanwriterErnestHemingway（July21,1899–July2,1961）.HemingwayisbestknownforworkssuchasTheSunAlsoRises,AFarewelltoArms,andTheOldManandtheSea.

Hebeganwritingasajournalist,andinthe1920shewasstationedinParisasforeigncorrespondentfortheTorontoStar.Throughwritingasajournalist,helearnedtheimportanceoffocusingonlyonthatwhichwasbeingreported,thoughotherimportantmattersmightlurkinthebackgroundorbelowthesurface.Heomittedthesematters.

Asawriterofshortstorieshehonedhiscraftandcreatedasurfacestoryfromwhichoftenthemainstorywasomitted,orwasmerelyhintedat.Themeaningofapieceisnotmeanttobeimmediatelyevidentfromthesurfacestory,becausethecruxofthestoryliesbelowthesurface.Criticsbelievehisicebergtheory,ortheoryofomission,incombinationwithhisdistinctiveclarityofwriting,createdadistancebetweenhimselfandthecharactershecreated.

ThefamousAmericannovelistErnestHemingwaywaswell-knownforoneofhisparticularstyles:

IcebergPrinciple.Heoncedrewananalogybetweenhisworksandtheicebergfloatingonthesea.Onlyone-eighthwasonthewaterandtheotherpartcouldn’tbeseen.Hemingwaythoughtthathiswritingwasjustliketheiceberg.Hesimplydescribedthescenery,theaction,orthedialogueanddidn’tgiveanycommentary.Thatis,hepresentedthereadersone-eighthoftheicebergandleftalargespaceforthemtoimaginewhattheseven-eighthspartleftshouldbelike,includingthesetting,thebackground,thecharacteristicsofcharacters,therelationshipsbetweentheheroesandothercharacters,eventheending.Whathetriedtoachievewas“thevividpictureobtainedthroughthedirectcommunicationsbetweentheeyesandthereferenceandthatbetweenthereferenceandthereaders”.Forthispurpose,hedeletedtheexplanations,theinquiriesandthecomments;heeliminatedthesuperfluouswords,andonlykepttheconcise,refinedlanguage.Heregardeditimportantforawritertogivethereadersenoughspacetoimaginebythemselves.Hebelievedthatawriterknewwhathewaswritingabout,hecouldomitsomedetails,and,ifthewritingwasgoodenough,thereaderscouldfigureoutwhatthewriterhadomittedinhiswriting.

Hemingwayisoneofthegreatestwritersinthe20thcentury.Hecreatedacharacteristicwritingstylewhichiswell-knownastheIcebergTheorytoday.Heexplainedthistheoryinthisway:

“Ifitisofanyusetoknowit,Ialwaystrytowriteontheprinciple

Howisthe"icebergprinciple"usedinHemingway'sworks?

AnswerHemingway'stheoryofomissioniswidelyreferredtoasthe"icebergprinciple."Heexplainsthisprincipleinchapter16ofhis1932book,DeathintheAfternoon.Essentially,theprinciplestatesthatbyomittingcertainpartsofastory,awriteractuallystrengthensthatstory.Thewritermustbeconsciousoftheseomissionsandbewritingtrueenoughinorderforthereadertosensetheomittedparts.Whenthereadersensestheomittedparts,agreaterperceptionandunderstandingforthestorycanbeachieved.Let'sapplyHemingway's“icebergprinciple”totheendingsofsomeofhismostfamousworks.AttheendofTheSunAlsoRises,JakeBarnesandBrettAshleycontemplatealifetogether.AttheendofAFarewelltoArms,FredericHenrywalksbacktohishotelaloneintherain.AttheendofForWhomtheBellTolls,RobertJordanawaitshisimpendingdeath.Thefateofthesecharactersisneverdirectlystated.Hemingwaydoesn'ttellthereaderthatJakeBarnesandHemingway’sIcebergPrincipleinTheKillers

Hemingwaypioneeredanewstyleofwritingthatisalmostcommonplacetoday.Hedidawaywithallthefloridproseofthe19thcenturyVictorianeraandreplaceditwithalean,clearprosebasedonactionratherthanreflection.Healsoemployedatechniquebywhichhewouldleaveoutessentialinformationofthestoryunderthebeliefthatomissioncansometimesaddstrengthtoanarrative.Itwasastyleofsubtletywhichcontrastedgreatly（andinawayenhanced）thethemeshewroteabout...war,bloodsportslikebullfightingorboxing,crime,etc.Itishardtofindanyonewritingtodaywhodoesn'toweadebtofinfluencetoHemingway.

TheIcebergTheoryInTheOldManAndTheSea.ThispaperismainlylooksintotheHemingwayIcebergTheory.HemingwayIcebergTheory,nowisgenerallyadoptedbywritersaroundtheworld,wasfirstcreatedbyErnestHemingway.Anditmakeshisworksuniqueandhelpshimconveyhisideaseffectivelyintheworks.“TheOldManandTheSea”,whichisamasterpieceifHemingway,typicallyshowshowtheIcebergTheoryisappliedintheworksofHemingway.Byanalyzingsomeexamplesofemployingtheicebergtheoryinthisnovel,thereaderscangetabetterunderstandingoftheIcebergTheoryandtheimportantroleitplaysinHemingway’sworks.

HemingwayisfamousforhisIcebergPrinciple,thatis,topresentthestorywithsimplesentencesanddialoguesandleavealargespaceforreaderstoexplore,toreflect.Itwasjustliketheiceberg,whichhadonlyone-eighthpartonthewaterandseven-eighthspartunderthewater.ThisessaydiscusseshowtheicebergprinciplewasusedintheshortstoryTheKillers.Itanalysesthecharactersrespectively:

thetwokillers,George,NickandSam.Italsopenetratesthroughthenatureofthesociety.ItshowsthatwecandeeplyunderstandHemingway’sworkswiththehelpoftheIcebergPrinciple.

Let'sapplyHemingway's“icebergprinciple”totheendingsofsomeofhismostfamousworks.AttheendofTheSunAlsoRises,JakeBarnesandBrettAshleycontemplatealifetogether.AttheendofAFarewelltoArms,FredericHenrywalksbacktohishotelaloneintherain.AttheendofForWhomtheBellTolls,RobertJordanawaitshisimpendingdeath.Thefateofthesecharactersisneverdirectlystated.Hemingwaydoesn'ttellthereaderthatJakeBarnesandBrettAshleywillneverbetogether.Instead,itis“prettytothink”thattheycouldhavehadadamnedgoodlifetogether.Hemingwaydoesn'ttellthereaderwhatliesinstoreforFredericHenryafterheleaveshisdeadloverinthehospital.Doeshiswalkaloneintherainrepresentemotionalfreedomordevastation?

RobertJordanissurelytodieattheendofForWhomtheBellTolls,butHemingwayleavesthereaderwiththeimageofJordan's“heartbeating”againsttheforestfloor.

InHemingway’sshortstoryTheKillers,wecanseehisIcebergPrinciplebeingapplied.Inthisstory,conversationisthemostimportantelementandthemostimportantsourceforthereaders’imagination.

Hemingwaydislikeddiscussionsregardingthesymbolisminhisworks.Theicebergprinciple,”however,byitsverynature,invitessymbolicinterpretationsandIthinkHemingwayacknowledgedthisinhisownsubtleway.FraserDrewoncequotedhimassaying:

“Nogoodwritereverpreparedhissymbolsaheadoftimeandwrotehisbookaboutthem,butoutofagoodbookwhichistruetolifesymbolsmayariseandbeprofitablyexploredifnotover-emphasized.”

Hemingway'sicebergtheoryhighlightsthesymbolicimplicationsofart.Hemakesuseofphysicalactiontoprovideaninterpretationofthenatureofman’sexistence.Itcanbeconvincinglyprovedthat,“whilerepresentinghumanlifethroughfictionalforms,hehasconsistentlysetmanagainstthebackgroundofhisworldanduniversetoexaminethehumansituationfromvariouspointsofview”.

Hemingwaybelievedthatifcontextorbackgroundhadbeenwrittenaboutbyanother,andwrittenaboutwell,thenitcouldbeleftoutofhiswriting.OfTheOldManandtheSeaheexplains:

“Inwritingyouarelimitedtobywhathasalreadybeendonesatisfactorily.SoIhavetriedtodosomething