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Themes and Symbolism in Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway uses nature to provide important symbols and backs this with a unique use of themes. Nature serves as a fundamental structure for the plot and events that occurred in the book. It also serves as a source of symbols that often replace human feelings or emotions. Characters die and Hemingway does not mention a single person being upset. Instead, he writes that it is raining. Ernest constantly uses symbols to “completely omit” feelings and emotions of his characters. Often times these symbols represent something that they usually do not. For instance snow represents safety and peace. His use of themes also makes A Farewell to Arms a classic novel. Hemingway uses themes to reveal hidden messages. An example of this is his use of love and war to show that war can destroy anything, even one of the most beautiful things on earth, love (Smith 1-2). First published in 1929, A Farewell to Arms toned down Hemingway’s revolutionary style of writing to a more conventional one. The novel was set against the historical and geographical background of World War I. The characters of the novel are fighting on or supporting the