Abstract
Hemingway’s works often contain the life philosophy. He is good at describing the devastating tragedy of destiny. He portrays the code hero’s wounds to the mind and soul when they are fighting against fate. Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms depicts the personality changes and spiritual sublimation of Henry and Catherine in a series of tragedies. A Farewell to Arms is set in war. The hero Henry can not escape the bound of destiny in the most dangerous situation----war, as well as in the most romantic situation----love, and finally heads to destruction. The heroine Catherine plays an important role in Henry’s growth. She not only reflects Hemingway’s tragic view of life, but also shows the tough guy spirit and heroic qualities. Hemingway uses a series of writing techniques to express tragic aesthetics, such as the terse language, iceberg theory and symbolism. Hemingway’s tragic consciousness conveys his vision of love and anti-war view.
Key words Hemingway tragic aesthetics iceberg theory symbolism
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摘要
海明威的作品往往蕴含着一种人生哲理。他擅长描写毁灭性的命运悲剧，刻画海明威式英雄如何在与命运的抗争中受到肉体上和心灵上的双向创伤。海明威的小说《永别了，武器》描写了亨利和凯瑟琳在一系列悲剧遭遇中发生的性格转变与精神升华。《永别了，武器》是以战争为背景的小说，主人公亨利在最危险的环境——战争中，和最浪漫的环境——爱情里，都无法摆脱命运的束缚，最终走向了毁灭。女主人公凯瑟琳在亨利的成长中扮演了重要的角色，她的身上不仅体现了海明威的悲剧人生观，而且体现了海明威在其他作品中表现出的硬汉精神和英雄气质。小说中运用了一系列写作手法以达到悲剧美学的艺术效果，如简洁的语言，冰山理论和象征的运用。海明威的悲剧意识反映了他的爱情观与强烈的反战情绪。
关键词 海明威 悲剧美学 冰山理论 象征
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Table of Contents
Introduction···········································1 Chapter I. Typical Hemingway hero — tragic hero···········5 A. Analysis of the hero — Frederick Henry ············5 B. Analysis of the heroine — Catherine Barkley·········8 Chapter II. Skill of writing in A Farewell to Arms···········12 A. Language style································12 B. Iceberg principle·······························13 C. Symbolism···································15 Chapter III. Tragic aesthetics conveys Hemingway’s view on love and war··············································17
A. Hemingway’s tragic aesthetics····················17 B. Hemingway’s view on love and war················18 Conclusion···········································20 Notes················································22 Bibliography··········································23
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Introduction
Ernest Hemingway is one of the most important writers in American literary history who won Noble Prize at 1956. He is known for the brief and strong prose language. The connotative style is a distinct feature of his novels. He is a revolutionary figure of literary style and language in American literature. His creative works impact many writers in America as well as all over the world.
Ernest Hemingway was born in July 21st , 1899, whose father was an physician and fond of hunting and fishing. His mother was a musician and loved literary very much. All of these had an important impact on Hemingway’s following life and creativity. He often wrote for magazines and journals when he was young. When the First World War broke out, Hemingway joined the war to be an ambulance driver with the emotion of experiencing the war himself. After the war, Hemingway was awarded medals for his injury at the war. Then he became a reporter of The Star in Kansas City. His creation received many famous writers’ encourage and direction, such as Ezra Pound, Sherwood Andersen. He published many novels in the following years, among which The Sun Also Rises is the most famous. It is Hemingway’s first important novel, telling the story of a group of American youth who were wandering without any goals in Paris like Hemingway. Gertrude Stein called them “Lost Generation”：
Many prominent American writers of the decade following the end of World War I, disillusioned by their war experiences and alienated by what they perceived as the crassness of American culture and its \are often tagged as the Lost Generation. A number of these writers became expatriates, moving either to London or to Paris in their quest for a richer literary and artistic milieu and a freer way of life. Ezra Pound, Gertrude Stein, and T. S. Eliot lived out their lives abroad, but most of the younger \Malcolm Cowley called them, came back to America in the 1930s. Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises and Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night are novels that represent the mood and way of life of two groups of American expatriates.1
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A Farewell to Arms which was published at1929 is one of the best works of the “Lost Generation”. It is one of Hemingway's remarkable novels and occupies a prominent place in American literary history of in the 20th century.
In the novel, an American young man Frederick Henry volunteeres to be an ambulance driver and goes to the north of Italy and takes part in the First World War. During this time he comes across an English nurse, Catherine Barkley. Henry is injured when he is performing a task on the front line. He is sent to the background Milan hospital where is lacking of nurse. Catherine also goes to Milan hospital where she meets Frederick again. At this time, Frederick finds he is deeply falling in love with Catherine. At Milan Hospital, the lover enjoyed a good time and Catherine is pregnant. When Frederick is recovered, he has to go back to the front line. However, when he is back, he finds that the Italian army is full of the emotion of failure and despair. The German army finally destroyed the Italian army’s resistance. Soldiers’ moods are agitated. In front of a bridge, the Italian military police start to arrest the officers who are absence from duty and shoot them. Frederick is among them. However, Frederick takes a chance and jumps to the river and succeeds in escaping the destiny of being shot. Finally he realizes that his duty of being a soldier has washed away by the water. At this time, Frederick only has one aim that is to find Catherine and run away from war. Frederick go to Milan to find Catherine, only to find she has gone to a small city near the frontier. They have a good time there. However, the pursuing and capture of the Italian military police make them have no choice but to escape to Switzerland. They really had a wonderful time at Switzerland. But finally Catherine was dead of dystocia, leaving Frederick wandering lonely and pointlessly in the world.
Biographer Reynolds said A Farewell to Arms can be regarded as Hemingway’s autobiography.
The novel was based on Hemingway's own experiences serving in the Italian campaigns during the First World War. The inspiration for Catherine
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