A Farewell to Arms: Symbols

Symbols are shown in red text whenever they appear in the Plot Summary and Summary and Analysis sections of this LitChart.

Rain

Rain is a recurring symbol of death in A Farewell to Arms. From the first chapter, when rain is associated with the cholera that kills 7,000 soldiers, to the last sentence, where it is raining outside the hospital where Catherine has died, the reader is reminded that during wartime, tragedy can fall as randomly and unstoppably as rain. Whenever Henry makes a significant nighttime transition from one place to another—the night that he leaves Milan to return to the front, the night of the large-scale Italian retreat, and the night that he and Catherine row across the lake from Italy to Switzerland—it is pouring rain. The presence of the rain shows that no matter how hard Henry tries to escape death, he can never outrun it.

Riding Crop

When Henry first meets Catherine, she is carrying the riding crop that belonged to her fiancé, who was killed in the Battle of the Somme. The war represents Catherine’s inability to let her fiancé go. His sudden unfair death in war informs her view, shared with Henry, that the world is a cruel place that eventually crushes and kills people who have real courage.

Officers’ Stars

The stars that military officers wear on their sleeves in A Farewell to Arms represent competence and duty. When Dr. Valentini agrees to operate on Henry’s leg in Chapter 15, Henry is comforted not only by Valentini’s brash confidence but also by the stars on his sleeve that mark him as a major. When Henry deserts and cuts off the stars from his sleeve to disguise himself, he throws away his former identity and responsibilities.

Hair and Beards

Catherine’s hair, and Henry’s beard (grown in Book 5), symbolize Catherine and Henry’s temporary insulation from the world. Early in their relationship, Henry loves to remove Catherine’s hairpins so her hair surrounds him, like being “inside a tent or behind a falls,” both images of shelter and protection. When Henry and Catherine are living an isolated life in Switzerland, Henry’s beard grows longer, an implied layer of defense.