Abstract:  Ernest Miller Hemingway is one of the most remarkable novelists in the 20th century in America, whose literature achievements are recognized by the general academic circle. A Farewell to Arms was published in 1929. As one of Hemingway’s masterpieces, this novel tells a story about the war and love in the period of the First World War. Although, it has been past 10 years at that time from the end of World War I, the arrival of this novel caused a great sensation. In A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway put his own understanding towards the Italy in which the war went through and the creation of this novel together. In this work, Italy completely lost the ability to save itself. Although the characters in the novel also tried every possible effective ways to survive, but failing to achieve the final salvation， but finally cannot escape from the fate of the homeless. The tragedy of the novel was embodied in the individual’s loss of faith and the broken dream to the homeland. Hemingway offered a vivid portrayal of Catherine and Henry in A Farewell to Arms, showing his hatred and disgust to the war in an indirect way. This thesis will talk about the anti-war theme under the analysis of the two main characters.

Keywords: Hemingway characters anti-war

Contents

Abstract

摘要

Introduction-1

1 The Background of A Farewell to Arms-2

1.1 The Background of Ernest Hemingway and His Family-2

1.2 The First World War -3

1.3 The Lost Generation -3

2 The Character Image of the Two Main Characters-4

2.1 The Image of Catherine Barkley-4

2.2 The “Lost” of Henry -5

3 The Anti-war Theme in the Miserable Fate of the Two Main Characters-7

3.1 The Death of Catherine Barkley-7

3.2 The Farewell to War and Love for Henry-7

Conclusion-8

Bibliography-12

Acknowledgement s-13