This paper examines the classic five-part narrative structure of Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, tracing how exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution function within the novel. The analysis identifies the Italian war setting and Frederick's divided loyalties as the core of the exposition, follows the escalating tension of Frederick and Catherine's romance against the backdrop of World War I, pinpoints Frederick's desertion during the Caporetto retreat as the climactic turning point, and interprets Catherine's tragic death as a thematically resonant resolution. The paper argues that each structural element reinforces Hemingway's anti-war themes and narrative power.
The narrative in Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms has been carefully studied and critiqued by numerous scholars and authors — not only because of the iconic legacy of its author, but because its structure is rich with literary examples. The novel follows the classic narrative structure by employing the tools of exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution (denouement). This paper identifies those features of the Hemingway novel and examines how each narrative stage contributes to the strength of the work as a whole.
Hemingway is, of course, a giant in American literature, and he knows how to draw readers into his stories. In A Farewell to Arms, the narrative is not simply one single voice leading the reader through the plot. Instead, it represents a number of voices depending on the conflict, the characters, and how deeply the reader is engaged with the story. It has been suggested that Hemingway wrote five short stories and tied them together into a compelling novel — but they work very well together, whether he intended that or not.
The exposition in A Farewell to Arms introduces readers to the setting (the Italian countryside during wartime), the character conflicts, and an activating incident that launches the action and sets the stage for the characters to struggle with one another and with their circumstances. Frederick is a soldier with duties to fulfill, but his love for Catherine pulls him in two different directions. Hemingway builds this tension into the exposition to create anticipation. When Frederick is wounded in the war, that injury becomes the activating incident: it creates the possibility for Catherine to serve as his nurse — her fiancé has died, freeing her from her previous duties — and for the two to become lovers. In other words, the exposition sets the stage, establishes the basic scene, and introduces the central tensions.
In the middle of the novel, two chapters in Book III — chapters 28 and 29 — are heavy war segments that represent rising action. Catherine and Frederick, the injured soldier who is her lover, do not appear as a couple in these chapters, though Henry does appear in his military role. Hemingway juxtaposes the characters who appear in those two chapters with considerable skill: two rough-and-tumble sergeants from the Italian army are set against two sisters described as delicate virgins. This portion of the novel builds tension for the reader by stressing the contrast between good and evil, between darkness and light in terms of values and morality.
A sense of rising action is also created as Frederick falls in love with Catherine and begins to envision the rich life they could share together. The reader grows hopeful that the relationship will strengthen and that, within the context of a bloody war, a tender subplot will ease the surrounding tensions. When Catherine becomes pregnant and Frederick is called back to the front, he is once again pulled in two directions — continuing the rising action through the central conflict of love versus war and duty.
"Frederick's desertion as the novel's turning point"
"Peaceful interlude followed by Catherine's tragic death"
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