Hemingway as a War Novelist: Pessimism in The Sun Also Risesand a Farewell to Arms

Abstract

The Sun Also Risesand A Farewell to Armsidentify modern world’s rootless ridge, world war and its destruction, and frustrated worldview, where spirituality is defeated in surge of the materialism leading towards the pessimistic dread. Hemingway explores doomed way of human psyche and dark side of human life. He finds victory is less important than ruin, and brighter side of life does not remain when the dark side of life becomes stronger. His heroes-Jake Barnes and Frederic Henry-are the victims of dark side of life, so they find their life always pessimistic. Most of Hemingway’s literary career is intern into the war literature–the quest of peace in war, search of devoid of violence, and regain of exquisite beauty. There is no heyday nor glory but only mortification and humiliation in the heroes who are battlefield soldiers in his novel. His heroes’ heart always echoes for human happiness but nowhere finds the repletion peace. This unnecessary violence of war and death of human being creates pain and anguish into the heroes’ life, which makes them pessimistic. Because of the death of human beings, even the death of the colleagues, their own disabled condition, great depression, and prevailing hopelessness in the war period, Jake Barnes and Frederic Henry become disdained.