Study Questions &
Essay Topics
Study Questions
1.
A Farewell
to Arms is one of the most famous war novels ever written.
Unlike many war stories, however, the novel does not glorify the
experience of combat or offer us portraits of heroes as they are
traditionally conceived. What is the novel's attitude toward war?
Is it fair to call
A Farewell to Arms an antiwar
novel?
2. Discuss
the various ways in which characters seek solace from the pains
of a war-ravaged world. In the end, what does the novel suggest
about such comforts?
3. Discuss
Frederic Henry as a narrator. Assuming that, as a character, he
is writing his story many years after living it, how does he convey
its sense of extreme immediacy?
Suggested Essay Topics
1. A Farewell to Arms is
a love story as well as a war novel. Discuss the role of love in
the novel: how does love affect the characters' perceptions of war?
How does the war shape the characters' love story?
2. F. Scott Fitzgerald considered
Catherine's character the weak link in A Farewell to Arms. With
attention to Catherine's values and motivations and to the way Hemingway
portrays her character, do you agree with Fitzgerald's opinion?
Why or why not?
3. What is the role of foreshadowing
in A Farewell to Arms? How might Hemingway's subtle
signaling to the reader that Catherine will die in childbirth change
the way the reader approaches the final chapters?
4. Critics often discuss Hemingway's
fiction as a celebration of a specific type of manhood. What kind
of man does A Farewell to Arms celebrate, and how
does Hemingway achieve this effect?
