Historical Context of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms
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- Опубліковано 10 лип 2024
- A Farewell to Arms is one of Hemingway’s best works. In this video I break down some of the censorship, historical background, and themes from Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. This includes a discussion of why the book was banned in Boston and Italy.
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Thanks for the review. I must read this book.
I don’t believe art and literature from the past should be judged by today’s standards. For generations, art and literature were accepted as products of their historical context. Why can’t people of today do the same?
I think that its hard for people of the present to appreciate cultural artifacts insitu of a given time period because there is no precedent for contextual education. The world I live in is different than my parents and grandparents. I understand my forebears. I know where they came from and I know where they wanted to go. Do I agree with their beliefs and views of the world, no. But, I understand why they believe what they believe.
The racial slurs aren’t so bad, they’re said in jest between two soldiers that are clearly good friends, there’s no poisonous intent. But some of the ways the female love interest is presented and her motivations are disturbing to read today. But I guess that’s the reality of 1920s social life, you would expect the characters to internalise the cultural norms of the times.
@@alvisinger112 the racial slurs aren’t so bad. 🤡 Are you black? Who are you to make that decision for black people. No surprise though. Sounds about white
This is my favorite book by him. The ending is excellent/heartwrenching
Like yourself, I was flabbergasted when I read this book. I have read it thrice so far and it gets better with time, like wine. The style is transfixing. Everything is accurate, I think. Nothing really racist, or misogynistic on it, or any of the terms we today often use without thinking. Our current mainstream mentality is as narrow-minded than that of Hemingway's age (if not more). He was being as truthful as he could be; about love, sex, war, the Italians, the time, the places, everything. More than about fascism, which would come to the surface after WWI, the novel talks about the spreading of free-masonic mentality (so to speak) in Italy, a new form of secularism, attacking religion and tradition in the name of progress (a book against the church titled 'the black pig' is mentioned). Hemingway is so wise; he never takes sides. He loves freedom, of course, indulges in promiscuity, like the rest of the men, but never quite dismisses the priest there, who although shy and a little boring, serves as the last gatekeeper of morality, an antidote for the officers' sexual misbehaviour (the priest baiting scenes, as they come out of the brothel, are so real and so brilliant). The sexual freedom that war and chaos gives way to, has its consequences, and Hemingway leaves us in no doubt about it. Etcetera, etcetera.
I mentioned these underlayers because they are rarely or never mentioned. But the style of writing, the execution, is the real hero, it steals the show. You don't just read this book; you live with it and in it. The love story is beautiful and (spoiler alert) tragic. It's life.
I finished this novel this evening at a Starbucks in Grove City, OH. I was blown away by the ending. RIP Catherine Barkley
***SPOILERS*** One of my fav parts was the juxtaposition of the scene where the main character shoots and kills the engineer, contrasted with the scene of the mock trials of officers a couple chapters later. When the main character shoots and kills the engineer, who is ultimately proven right in that the vehicle was unsalvageable and they needed to be moving on, my immediate reaction was to support the main character and justify the killing. "I guess it's war, and the engineer was disobeying an order..." Then when the main character was being led to the mock trial, of course I was still on the main character's side. But then I got to thinking: The soldiers holding the mock trials are the ones fighting and dying at the order of their officers-officers who spend their time partying and prostituting. There are hints throughout at the resentment the soldiers feel toward the officers, like the scene with the soldier who has discarded his hernia truss and the references to the literal decimation (random killing of every tenth man) of an Italian unit as punishment for desertion. The soldiers probably feel exactly like our main character in that they have no emotional attachment to the war or the idea of victory. But unlike our main character, the soldiers are forced to fight. If they have an injury like the man with the hernia, they do not get medical leave at a hospital in Milan, like our main character. They do not get to spend most of their time drinking and womanizing, like our main character. If a soldier refuses to fight, he will be executed and his family back home will be arrested. Given all of that, it seems less surprising that when the army fell into chaos, some of the soldiers would feel justified in wantonly murdering the officers. And what's more, by the time of the mock trial, our own main character is actually guilty of cold blooded murder. Anyway, today it's kind of a cliche that we root for the main character, even when the main character is in the wrong. But if this would have been a newer technique in Hemmingway's time?
Excellent analysis
It was not new; consider Shakespeare, for example. Consider the Bible.
not going to lie this comment enlightened me to a lot of context within the story. it’s not that i did not see this level of justified resentment toward the officers among the lower ranks, it’s that i was too fixated on frederick henry’s story. this puts a lot of things into perspective; things that i was too distracted to understand. i hated the men who enacted the mock trials, but now i see how much easier this henry had it than the grunts who were essentially human shields (in a simple sense of course, i know he almost had his leg blown off)
There's a section in there that I think is one of the most honest and also heartbreaking/brutal lines I've ever come across in fiction:
"If people bring so much courage to this world, the world has to kill them in order to break them. So of course it kills them. The world breaks everyone, and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good, and the very gentle, and the very brave impartially.
If you are none of those, rest assured, the world will kill you too, but there will be no special hurry."
Such a nice thing to wake up to, a Bookritique video about Hemingway, a truly great writer. Concerning the question of how much the real Agnes is like the fictional Catherine, Catherine would be Hemingway's perfect version Agnes, the relationship more torrid, the ending more poignant (no "you're still a kid" breakup, but gone forever before the fights start, a memory to hold onto for all his life)...writers do that stuff all the time, Dante's Beatrice, the woman who he goes into to the Inferno to see and guides him through Heaven to meet God was a woman he met twice, 9 years apart!
As for whether we should hold artist to the values of today, I think that's hardly fair...who knows what is going to be acceptable tomorrow? Both "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" and "Blazing Saddles" are anti-racist, but they depict racism in it's ugly glory using its ugly language, so they offend people (as racism should, right?)...it's like art can show ugliness as well as beauty, and in the most casual way (which is the worst part of racism, how casual it is).
Great video, I look forward to the next.
For well-rounded women characters, read Hem's THE GARDEN OF EDEN. He didn't spend a lot of words developing either men or women in his books. He used dramatic techniques of action and dialogue to reveal character. Then it was up to readers to use their imaginations.
Thanks for this. Just finished the book and this was exactly what I needed for closure 😂😭
Finished it today and can't stop thinking about it. Absolutely amazing. Also liked The Sun Also Rises
Historical context always matters. Always.
This is true
Yes. There are limits to what historical context can excuse or get away with (I personally believe anything that call for or is favor of fascism can go to hell), but it always matters to the story.
This context is so helpful! A lot of writers root their stories in personal experience. I think I read this one high school, but I didn't get it at ALL 😂 Love that you are making it more accessible! Thank you!!
Always great getting your insights Jen
Thank you so much for the context! I just finished the novel and your video helped me enjoy it more.
To address your question, we have to uphold our standards for today. However, that does not mean you don't read it, or even enjoy it, but you have to discuss it and approach it with mindfulness. Same for Mark Twain, but they are still great books. The bigger question is what are our standards today? I taught this last semester to high school juniors and some of my more conservative students did not disagree with his old views - at least some of the boys. The girls all saw the sexism. Great novel that gets under your skin. It hijacks your thoughts. Outstanding video.
Just finished it a couple minutes ago. What a heart wrenching end.
Hey this was a great video great job. I just finished this book today and must say that the ending and the book in general were so powerful and devastating I found myself needing connection with others in our time for it. What a wonderful writer Hemingway was. I cried at the ending as well and looking back on the book the places it took me in my mind living through the emotions and events these characters faced was... a lot. Subscribed to your channel. Wishing you the best!
Excellent! Using this with my 11th grade students!
I lived in Stresa for 20 years, I often looked at the Lago Maggiore and the islands where Henry and Catherine lived before their great escape.
I appreciated your effort to look at the book through a lense of its own time. I think that mindset it commendable.
Love this channel!
I will be reading it, soon. Thanks. I have have the book...so it is a matter of putting in the TBR pile (which for this month was over 70 books). As of writing, I have read 25 books this month, with 2 more that I am actively reading (with 5 others that I've laid aside to read other books). Yep. I read this book in high school. I know that I will get more out of it now, than I ever could've back then. In fact...I'm not sure that I even read it in high school. I believe I just read the CliffNotes for it (ugh). Yeah, that was the type of reader I was. I read Science Fiction and Fantasy, and that was IT. Thanks, again for a great reminder of amazing books to read. Thanks to adding to my TBR pile. Ugh.
Oh, I forgot your question about holding writers of the past to the values of today. I can't see how that is even possible. I am currently reading Robert A. Heinlein's "Friday". He wrote it in 1983. He was a male writing a female protagonist. He is talking about sex (without inhibition), and there are other things within the book that seem "odd" to my beliefs of today. I just accept that he wrote in his time period, he had something to say, and now I have to filter it through the mores of what I believe.
I recently read To Kill a Mockingbird and then Go Set a Watchman (because of a previous video of yours...thanks) and again...had to read it with my beliefs of today. Would I use the same parlance that is used in the book, today? No. I was taught to never use the N word (no matter what the circumstance). Within the book, it is used many times. So, I just had to accept it and move on. I did not lower my rating of the book because it, but had to filter it through my beliefs of today, from what was used (or even acceptable) in the society of when it was taking place and the time it was published).
Another GREAT video. Thank you.
giirirrrlll!!! THANK YOU
A very good review. Thanks. Many patients fall in love with their carer. I think the love making event was a figment of his imagination while the rest of the novel appears quite autobiographical.
I found this book devastating. The relationship between the the two main characters is extremely tender and poignant. The way they are devoted to each other and speak to each other is timeless and their depiction is of two people utterly and completely in love without reservation or compromise. I have not encountered that before in a book or film.
I finished the book today and thought it was great. I read the last page twice and I don’t know why anyone would try to interpret it to today’s society. This PC stuff affects peoples ability to be great storytellers. No words should be off limits. It’s a big world out there and thankfully not everybody is the same……yet!
great vid!
Literature, and any art, should be understood in its historical context.
Cleonike Damianakes was the dust jacket illustrator - a family member of ours ❤️
Just finished reading the book while at work and I had to go to the bathroom and sob over it all
This was great
Thanks!
Nice book review, you should read “The Movable Feast”.
Thank you for your review, it connected the dots for a lot of things with me. I'm halfway through the book right now so I can't go down too far with the reviews lest I spoil myself. I've also DNF'ed Old Man and the Sea as I found that book to be quite boring even if it's very philosophical, will eventually get back to it one day but I've got a few other hemingways to get through. I really like this book so far simply for how different his writing is between these 2 books and I think that's the mark of a great writer to be able to use the writing style not just the language used to portray the story and get his messages across.
Frederick has almost reached complete apathy for his own suffering and the suffering of others by the time he meets Catherine, and he sees Catherine as simply an object of his "love". Therefore, she's not fleshed out as a real character at all because the book is in Frederick's first person.
That's what I'd say if I was charged with the unenviable task of defending how Hemingway portrays women in his stories. However, as nice of a get-out-of-jail-free card as that might be for this book, it's no coinscidence that this book is semi-autobiographical and Hemingway's well-recorded issues with questionable relationships with women seem to mirror what he has projected on to his character Frederick. So, while it makes complete sense within the context of the story why Catherine is hardly fleshed out as a character at all, it's important not to forget who is telling the story, and why we shouldn't pay much attention to possible alibis for Hemingway's missing well-rounded characters. Study this book as war liturature, a masterclass on prose, or as an example of highly suspect gender tropes, but please, for the love of god, do not use this story as any guide on how you should actually think about or treat other people.
My dear,May I compliment you on your obvious assiduous study of this novel. You make SO many legitimate and rational critical points.And you do so in elegant and orderly fashion.If ever I had the chance of sharing a dinner table with you for an exchange on a literary topic.Be that is may,you are a brilliant young woman.
Went back and watched your UA-cam piece on "the history of" A Farewell to Arms and again found it brilliant.Why do you not already hold a professorship in Literature?You have talent.If you haven't already pursued such a position....you should.
Nice review. I saw the 1932 movie version years ago. It had one of saddest endings I have seen in literature. I do not think novels should be entirely judged by standards of future eras. But if its themes and style resonate with people hundreds of years after they were written, just think Jane Austin and Shakespeare.
Historical context definitely matters when it comes to literature that was written 93 years ago.
You should read “Across the River and Into the Trees”
Will do, thanks for the recommendation:)
Here’s a teaser though. Hemingway caught so much flak because of the plot and theme of that book that he wrote The Old Man and the Sea strictly to try to get some of the heat off. You’ll see why when you read it. 😉
I say keep this book. Read this book. One of the best I've ever read!
General Luigi Cadorna and the Battle of the Isonzo River, or should I say 6 battles of the Isonzo River because that's how many there were. Although this battle was not the big breakthrough in the book, it was the prototypical WWI experience. To really get a glimpse of the Italian experience of WWI I would suggest reading up on this battle. Cadorna, after decimating his army repeatedly, stated that the reason they had lost battle after battle was because his soldiers, most of whom were dead or maimed by this point, were cowards.
Censorship, whether due to hypersensitivity on old school notions of sex, or modern day hypersensitivity on sex, race ect. is absurd. How can you understand someone you do not agree with if you do not listen to them. If you do not at least listen and consider another person's view then you start dehumanize them.
Have you ever read "THe Sun Also Rises"? Its a great book and enjoyable read.
Please mam a farewell to arms summary how to describe
Great Synopses! Youre really cute! I work in entertainment; it's a thought business. Keep going sweetie!
❤❤🕊❤🕊🕊❤🕊🕊❤🕊❤🕊❤
I was born after he died. l believe Ernest is a charmed nostalgia played upon the Boomer USA 🇺🇸 leisure and middle class Im gen x after the 1960census
I found this a very difficult read. My first reaction is that I didn't like it, but a for a number of days since finishing the book I'm thinking about it and to me that is a sign of a good book.
I actually read along as I listened to an audio and what I found interesting was that the reader used swear words, but was politically correct - my book did not contain swearing, but was not politically correct. My book was printed in 1977, so different standards of the time. And on that point, I feel it's Hemingway's book and it should be presented the way he wrote it. He wrote it in the 1920s and the world had different standards and he wrote about that world and we should respect that.
Thanks for your review.
Of course, we should consider the historical context while breaking down various books from the past! Otherwise, we would be stuck with a bunch of stupid society-friendly, phony novels with nothing but garbage therein.
Thank you for asking if we believe author's writing should be brought to the time. It's inconceivable for me to imagine changing for instance racism or the role of women then to now as was written. To me that would be like changing history. No in my opinion the reader knows the writing is not period adaptable. Its written as to the times the author decides. More importantly the author caught you up in it emotionally so as to cry...please political correctness as an afterthought is blasphemy to the freedom of emotion and speech in writing. So long as no one yelled fire in the absence of fire I want this to stay as written..no afterthought edit by anyone but the author. Thank you for sharing.
How many times did she say “like” in under 8 minutes? She must not have gotten the memo, like has been replaced by “literally”.
‘Like’ is literally a discourse marker. ‘Literally’ is more of, like, an emphasizing adverb. Thanks for watching.
more bikinIS PLEASE
No literature should ever be banned.
Even Mein Kampf?
I missed the racist stuff - I was going back and forth between printed text and audio-book, so either the audio-book reader was censoring it or I nodded off .... Anyone care to fill me in?
The edition I just read had the N word, yet all the bad words were replaced with _______. It wasn’t too hard to figure out what they were saying as I just filled in the blanks myself. I had thought that was how it was written, though. Now I feel gyped!
No book burning how’s that a question
Okay, I just finished it. Now we need to talk.
no, to your question. Its ridiculous to even ask 👎🏻 just for asking; and I bet the anti Fascism is what upset folks of the past
Imma can we communicate I need you
Crazy that it was banned at one time, especially for the sex, which is marginal. That it was not well received for its negative depiction of war is not surprising though...