In the novel, A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, the quote “I sat down on the chair in front of the table . . . . I think the cup of water on the burning log only steamed the ants”, in the last chapter plays an important role in expressing the theme reality vs fantasy. The passage also explode that symbol and the motif of the rain as well as the tone of the quote. This quote also reinforce henry view on the war and life; why he believe war should not glorify.
First of all, in order to understand the quote, we must look at what happen before the quote, in the quote and after the quote. Before the quote where Henry stated, “I sat down on the chair in front of the table . . . . I think the cup of water on the burning log only steamed the…show more content… Hemingway used the rain as a reoccurring image to symbolize negative and unfortunate event, such as death. According to the quote, “[Henry] sat down on the chair in front of the table … and look out of the window … noticing the dark and the rain falling across the light from the window” (Hemingway 327). The rain in this quote were meant to symbolize the death of Henry baby. Hemingway uses the rain as a way of foreshowing or hinting to Catherine’s tragic and eventual death. According to Catherine, “I’m afraid of the rain because sometime I see me dead in it” (Hemingway 126). Coincidentally, at the end of the book when Catherine die and it was raining. Another event that have occur in A Farewell to Arm that the rain symbolize and foreshadow is Henry’s friend Aymo death. The day before Aymo is killed he said, “We drink barbera now. Tomorrow maybe we drink rainwater” (Hemingway 138). In this quote the rainwater foreshadow Aymo’s death. Like Catherine, when the Aymo died the rain was also present. According to chapter 30, “Aymo lay in the mud with … with his arm by his side, his puttee-wrapped legs and muddy boots together, his cap over his face. He [look] very dead. It was raining” (Hemingway 214). In this quote, Hemingway uses the symbol of the rain to represent the tragic death of Aymo. In the quote, the rain is also use to set the mood or the tone of the passage. The symbol of the rain in addition of the baby’s death in the previous passage, creates a depressing tone. Therefore in this passage the rain is used as both a symbol and a motif in a farewell to