A Showcase of Hemingway

In the beginning, the weather in the novel is dry, but when Catherine reveals that she's pregnant, all of a sudden "it turned cold that night and the next day it was raining" (Hemingway 142). The ambience was no longer one of dryness; it was actually cold and wet. Like a rollercoaster, there is a series of ups and downs throughout the novel. For example, in Book Three the war has gotten worse than ever, but later on Frederic and Catherine are enjoying their life together. Therefore, "the novels pattern is cyclical, as Frederic"s fortunes alternately rise and fall" (Merrill 574). .
             The image of rain conveys "the dominant state of mind - the sense of death, defeat, failure, nothingness, emptiness: (Schneider 286). Associated with darkness and evil throughout the book, rain is first introduced in this passage representing death, despair, and glumness. Catherine expresses "I am afraid of the rain because sometimes I see me dead in it: (Hemingway 126). Even though Frederic consoles her and tells her it will be okay, the rain continues throughout the rest of the novel. After seeing Catherine's dead body, Frederic "walked back to the hotel in the rain" (Hemingway 332). Not even one sign of painful emotion is mentioned after her death; just the word "rain". "The most famous omen is of course the rain, which accompanies every disaster in the book" (Merrill 575). However, rain is not the only symbol in the novel. While Frederic is in the ambulance, blood was dripping from the person above him; "the drops fell very slowly, as they fall from an icicle after the sun has gone" (Hemingway 61). The blood is replaced with drops from an icicle, and once again, no pain is mentioned. Rain seems to take over and replace emotion. Characters die without any mention of pain. With the start of winter, "came the permanent rain and with the rain came cholera and in the end only seven thousand died of it" (Hemingway 4).