Symbolism of Water in A Farewell Arms Elie Gardner ith “Tne tenonay-placea presence of water thoughout Ems Hemingyay's novel A Frew to Arms in te fom ofan nd evesisw symbol ofboth death and new Ie, cating a contrasting theme droughout he plot hat realy impacts dhe relationship between Frederic Henry and Catherine Bark, the vo main characters, Water canbe seen a symbol af des inthe fist few pags ofthe book, where the story is set nthe mide of World War 1 eth Henry inoduced 4s an Aman ambulance diver inte alan anny. Hemingway closely connects war wih tbe symbolic presence of ran, and thoughout the plot, Frederic Henry experiences the effets ofthe ‘wor hough nes and sepsation frm he ches he loves. Asthe plot contin, Henry fale in love with Catherine, a nurse inthe army, and he then find mel in the midst of confer erween love nd war In conrastto the symbol of death, Hemingway also uses he presence of verso epresen new leas Henry escapes fom his apr by jumping nto aver ane as Catherine and Hey escape wo Switertand to star a neve fe there However, isnot unl the end of he story that both Henry and Catherine fll unerstand he impossibly of hove tm the mist of rss Henry walks ome in he an ater seeing Catherine lve forte ste, Hemingway, orefre ses wate to exemplify the ever presen confer between lve and war shoughout A FForewellt9 Arms tough rivers" representation of new if, bar ultimately, though an's symboiation of eat. iy, vers are diplyed asa symbol of hope and new if es several of the characters tse vers 45a means escape, For example, ater Henry seen cared apd is sur wo be executed ef abe to jump io a ver and swim safes Not only di the ver aloe hin «scape death and ve in feedom, but he was also given anew perspective of what ly matered ater aching land, and it propelled him leave behind his ty to fightin the war and instead pursue is love of Caen. Adonai, after hearing har Henry is about to be amested because ths absence in be war he and Caen escape to Switzestand by rowing boat cross a ake, Notonly ae they able to avoid being aes by crossing the lake, bu they ar alo able 1 ook forward anew fen Switesan. Tel tne n Sizesknd sweet and pet, rl cmass ‘wth heir previous ves inthe mis ofthe panfl wa. Based on these xo examples in the Bock, ins clear that Hemingway sed water symbolize a means of escape fom the ongoing war begin a new ie fll of hope ad love However altiough waters described a a pathway tov and new Ife, Hemingway also tes ino emphasize the hemos of war andthe vesting deaths. In he opening scene of henovel, Hemingway writes, “..when the rains came the leaves all fell from the chesmut trees and the branches were bare and he nk lack with ah” (Hemingway 1929), This quot signifies that. ‘he an reste nthe th of ees, anel a he coming war woul ily cause he dts of ‘many’ men. fat ths paniclarain comes eect before sven fousend men ae kil bythe fsa nes cholera ater in he tr tins most contac. eres f bates which use hein o rete fom Caporeto Deaths abo pred bythe symbolism of water won Henry'seosvorket Ayn, sys, “Tomorow maybe we dink awe” (Hemingway, 1906) andthe nex a's shor by Rllan solr andes. All these examples futher emphasize the nportance ofan he overall ctr ofthe war adhe inpt thas on each chat the po Specialy invoWing he eovonsip beeen Henry and Cerne, Hemingway’ makes ters smbotem of des oblous in Catherine's ntement to Hey, “Um afd ofthe ln,