Hemingway, one of the most brilliant novelists in the history of the western literature, is famous for his symbolism. In the novel A Farewell to Arms, he applied the symbolism under different scenes, which endows rain, snow, mountain, plain, and water with different kinds of implication to highlight the ruthless, sad, miserable and desolate atmosphere of the war and discloses the people's depression, helplessness and desperation in the war. In addition, the characters also have the strong symbolic meaning. Therefore, this paper mainly analyzes the symbolic meanings of the mountain，plain，rain，snow and the characters in the novel，and interprets their significance and value in the appreciation of the novel.
Key words: symbolism; landscapes; weather; emblematic people
Ⅰ. Introduction………………………………………………………………1
A. Brief Introduction to the Plot……………………………………….......1
B. The Definition of Symbolism……………………………………….......1
Ⅱ. Symbolic Meaning of the Landscapes………………………………........2
A. Symbolic Meaning of the Mountain………………………………….....2
1. Mountain of Happiness…………………………………………........2
2. Mountain of Family………………………………………………......3
B. Symbolic Meaning of the Plain…………………………………………..3
1. Plain of Destruction…………………………………………………...3
2. Plain of Death…………………………………………………………4
Ⅲ. Symbolic Meaning of the Weather……………………………………........4
A. Symbolic Meaning of Rain………………………………………….........4
1. Rain of Despair………………………………………………………..5
2. Rain of Death…………………………………………………….........5
B. Symbolic Meaning of the Snow…………………………………………..6
1. Snow of Dream………………………………………………………..6
2. Snow of Peace……………………………………………………........7
Ⅳ. Emblematic People………………………………………………………….7
A. Symbolic Meaning of Catherine………………………………………….7
B. Symbolic Meaning of the Priest…………………………………………..8
Ⅴ.Conclusion……………………………………………………………….......8
Notes……………………………………………………………………….......10
Bibliography……………………………………………………………………12
I. IntroductionA. Brief Introduction to the Plot
Ernest Hemingway was one of the most famous writers of the world in 20th century whose writing career spanned thirty-five years. As a writer, he was creative and talented, and his gifts to the 20th century’s world literature were numerous. A Farewell to Arms, a love story, draws heavily on Hemingway's experiences as a young soldier in Italy. It tells the story of Lieutenant Frederic Henry－a young American ambulance driver serving in the Italian army during World War I. Henry falls in love with the British nurse Catherine Barkley. Since he is wounded at the front by a trench mortar shell, she looks after him in the hospital during his recuperation, and their relationship develops. His recuperation and romance with the now pregnant Catherine ends abruptly when Henry must return to the front. Henry narrowly escapes death at the hands of fanatical Italian soldiers, who are executing officers separated from their troops during the Italians’ disastrous retreat following the Battle of Caoretto. He finds Catherine, and after a sojourn in an Italian resort, the couple flees to Switzerland on the eve of Henry's arrest for deserting. In Switzerland, they live in harmony until the tragic end of her pregnancy, during which both she and the child die. Much has been said about the prose style Hemingway used and a great debate has been waged over whether the novel is about machismo and the sex object—Catherine Barkley. However, A Farewell to Arms is not a novel glorifying war. Instead, it is a tragic love story whose farewell is from war to love.
B. The Definition of Symbolism
In A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway used symbolism to analyze the novel, and in the dictionary, symbolism has five meanings: 1.The practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects, events, or relationships. 2. A system of symbols or representations. 3. A symbolic meaning or representation. 4. Revelation or suggestion of intangible conditions or truths by artistic invention. 5. The movement, theory, or practice of the late 19th-century Symbolists.
Symbolism is an especially evocative kind of image, which uses concrete image to show the abstracts. That is, a word or phrase referring to a concrete object, scene, or action also has some further significance. For example, roses, mountains, birds, and voyages have all been used as common literary symbolism. It is usually too simple to say that a literary symbol “stands for” some idea as if it were just a convenient substitute for a fixed meaning; it is usually a substantial image in its own right, around which further significances may gather according to differing interpretations.
Ⅱ. Symbolic meaning of the Places
The mountain and the plain are two important images in the story. They form a sharp contrast which stands as basic structure of the whole novel. The mountain is a symbol of peace, happiness, family and love while the plain is a symbol of destruction, death and war.
Symbolic meaning of the Mountain
Mountain of Happiness
At the beginning of the story, Earnest Hemingway presents a mobile picture in which thousands of people are moving and acting .It not only starts the story, but also sets the basic tune, a destructive tune for the whole novel .And moreover, it arranges a series of important imagines for the later development of symbolism.
“In the late summer of that year we lived in a house in a village that looked across the river and the plain to the mountain .In the bed of the river there were pebbles and boulders .dry and white in the sun, and the water was clear and swiftly moving and blue in the channels .Troops went by the house and down the road and the dust they raised powdered the leaves of the trees.”﹙Chapter 1﹚
The first sentence of the paragraph of in the novel puts the readers in a house from whose window he car look across the river and plain to the mountains in the distance .Maybe the readers have not realized it , but the mountain and the plain have appeared softly .The second sentence draws reader’s attention from the mountain to the river and produces a feeling of clear , dry ,wide and full of sunshine .The river extends finely ,under the dealing of the author until it is connected with one of the important symbols—the mountain ,a symbol of happiness.
Mountain of Family
“Nearby was a beautiful little village. The mountains that surrounded it added even more to its beauty. Catherine and I both felt wonderful. Everything seemed perfect, even the rain.”﹙Chapter 32﹚
When they lived on the mountain, they have a happy period. They established a home on the mountain. Lived on the mountain they are far from war and death, they are just stay with each other. The mountain is just a symbol of family. It represent a peaceful and happy life.
Symbolic Meaning of the Plain
