As the winner of the 1953 Pulitzer Prize for Literature and the 1954 Nobel Prize for Literature, Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) is recognized as one of the best American writers of the 20th century. His outstanding feature lies in expressing profound themes through a concise telegraphic style and creating a unique Hemingway style. The author will use linguistics as a research method to analyze the themes of desire, war, and mourning contained in "A Farewell to Arms" through specific discourses. It aims to analyze the discourse of characters from all walks of life in the novel and compare the changes in the source language in different contexts to reveal the anti-war theme of the novel.
1. Expressing the theme of war weariness by quoting poetry and the Bible
Hemingway's careful choice of words can be seen from his consideration of the title of the novel "A Farewell to Arms" . After discarding 32 proposed titles, Hemingway found the novel's title - "A Farewell to Arms" - from the title of a poem by George Peale. Different from George Peale's exploration of the theme of love, the title of Hemingway's novel uses a rhetorical technique of semantic pun to reveal the fact that there is no so-called glory and honor on the battlefield, and love will eventually die. The title of the novel can be understood as either "Farewell to Arms" or "Farewell to Love". The title of the novel makes the theme of war and desire appear vividly on the page. American novelist Fitzgerald once said: "A writer's writing style is often reflected in the grammatical sentence patterns and word choices he likes to use, both of which are equally important. Word choice is a deeper language perspective that can both deepen Existing viewpoints can also provide new perspectives. "Word choice and sentence construction complement each other, making literary works glow with new brilliance."
Hemingway wrote in a 1939 letter to the Russian literary critic Ivan Kashkin: "We all know that war is bad, and yet sometimes people have to fight. But war is terrible, and any denial Anyone who says this is lying." In the novel "A Farewell to Arms", the protagonist's view of the war gradually changes from a bystander to an evader and opponent. This change can be seen from Hemingway's precise wording. , poetry, and biblical quotations.
Take the protagonist Frederick Henry (hereinafter referred to as Henry) as an example. At first, he still had illusions about World War I, thinking that war and death were far away from him. Henry's impression of the war in the spring of 1917 was vague, more like a bystander. Hemingway uses the "maybe" subjunctive three times in the monologue to portray Henry's uncertainty about war and death.
After Henry was injured on the front line, he lived in a nursing home in Milan for rehabilitation treatment. After recovering from the injury, Henry had to return to the front line. Just before setting off for the train station, he lamented to his lover Catherine:
I can always hear the sound of the time carriage coming from behind
>("A Farewell to Arms", page 158)
Hemingway vividly depicts Henry's attachment to Catherine by quoting the poet Andrew Marvell's poem in "To a Cunning Lover" . It is obvious that Henry's attitude towards the war has changed from previous indifference to disgust. The war is no longer something that has nothing to do with him, but a cruel torture that separates him from his lover. His reluctance to return to the army hints at his dilemma between love and war.
Catherine also quoted literary works when she joked about Henry. She laughs at Henry as "unemployed Othello." ("A Farewell to Arms", page 260) When Henry saw through the cruel nature of war and fled the army, he found that he had nothing: his military rank and income were lost because he was away from the war. "Othello" is one of Shakespeare's four great tragedies. Through Catherine's lines, Hemingway foreshadowed the tragic ending of "A Farewell to Arms" by analogy, condemning the destruction of human nature by war.
In addition to quoting poetry and literary works, Hemingway also quoted a large number of biblical allusions in "A Farewell to Arms" to reflect on the devastation of war on the human soul. Italian military doctor Rinaldi, Henry's roommate, vents the stress of doing too many surgeries by drinking and having fun. The following is the dispute between Leonardi and the priest:
"Why do you eat meat? Don't you know that today is Friday and you should fast?" Leonardi said to the priest.
"Today is Thursday," the pastor replied.
"You lied, it's Friday. You are eating the body of Jesus, the flesh of God. I know, this is the flesh of the Austrian soldiers, this is what you are eating."
( "A Farewell to Arms", page 176)
As we all know, Italy is a Roman Catholic country, and Roman Catholics should fast on Fridays. Although the pastor excused himself as "it's Thursday," Leonardi still made trouble. It can be seen that the war turned optimistic and humorous doctors into paper tigers who attack vulnerable compatriots for fun.
Chapter 26 of the New Testament of the Bible records the story of the disciple Peter trying to rescue Jesus from the Romans in the garden but was rejected by Jesus. Henry's atheism contrasts sharply with the priest's Roman Catholic fatalism. The priest placed his hope in God, hoping that God would bless Italy with victory. Henry believes that one should not passively accept fate, but should rise up for a better life. Hemingway loved reading the Bible and often quoted biblical allusions in his writing.
Dong Hengxun believes that "Hemingway drew on the writing characteristics of the Bible: straightforward and unpretentious expressions; using less adjectives and adverbs to modify; simple sentence structure; using concrete and vivid words instead of abstract words."
In short, Hemingway's purpose in quoting poetry, literary works and the Bible in "A Farewell to Arms" is not to increase the literary grace of the novel, but to strengthen his condemnation of the devastation of human nature by war through word selection.
2. Revealing the cruel nature of war through professional terminology
As an excellent war-themed novel, "A Farewell to Arms" contains many topics related to weapons, military ranks, first aid, and medical treatment. professional terminology. The military terminology appearing in the novel helps readers truly feel the smoke-filled battlefield and better examine the bloody nature of war.
Before Henry was injured, he discussed the specifications of artillery shells with four mechanics in the trench:
"420 diameter mortar." Jarwoods said.
"There are no 420-diameter mortars in mountainous areas." I said.
"The enemy has a large Skoda machine gun, and I have seen bullet holes."
"305 diameter."
("A Farewell to Arms", p. Pages 58-59)
If you don’t look it up in a professional dictionary, I’m afraid few people know that “mortar” is the German spelling. "Skoda" was the name of a Czech arsenal during World War I, which was transformed into a car manufacturing plant after the war. "420" and "305" describe the diameter of the projectile. Hemingway's use of precise and objective military terminology aims to create an immersive atmosphere for readers to experience the tense war environment with the protagonist and generate excitement. This writing technique is also used in the chapter describing the evacuation of Capugetu. Because the description of the defeated retreat was too realistic and depressing, the Italian fascist government even banned the publication of the novel "A Farewell to Arms" during World War II. This is another example of Hemingway's precise depiction of war scenes achieving perfect results.
As a product of war, injuries, surgeries and deaths are inevitable. The cruelty of war is vividly expressed through the medical terminology used by doctors when the protagonist undergoes surgery in a field hospital.
"Multiple skin abrasions on the left thigh, right thigh, left knee, right knee, and right foot. The right knee and right foot were seriously injured. The scalp was torn...the skull may be fractured. Please get a tetanus vaccine. , make cross marks on both legs. Thank you. I will clean the surface of the wound first, then rinse it, and then bandage the wound. It is best not to drink too much brandy. If the wound is broken, no one wants it to become inflamed.