From Birth to Death Through War

1972- In retrospect, the reader often discovers that the first chapter of a novel or the opening scene of a drama introduces some of the major themes of the work. Write an essay about the opening scene of a drama or the first chapter of a novel in which you explain how it functions in this way.

   Often times in novels the author exposes the main theme by some sort of descriptive or tragic drama in the beginning or first chapter. In A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, he does exactly this. Within the very first page, he explodes with many literary devices to give the reader a good taste of the main themes that are to consume the rest of the novel. One of which is war. Hemingway does a remarkable job in portraying the men and their struggles as they fight through one of the most gruesome wars of all time. Another major theme is death and destruction. He begins by describing how beautiful and luscious the Earth was, then quickly goes on to show how dead, and shattered everything that once was living has now become. He shows how quickly life's circumstance can change by using the descriptions of the changing seasons while eluding to the war, death and destruction.
     "The plain was rich with crops, there were many orchards of fruit trees..." Hemingway begins by giving the reader a vivid description of the luscious land and it's vegetation. "The vineyards were thin and bare-branched too and all the country wet and brown and dead with autumn." Here, he uses the season Autumn as the pivotal point of the extremes of life and death. By contrasting these two, the reader can feel the emotions that are in play at the time of the actual war.
     "...long 6.5 mm cartridges bulged forward under the capes so that the men, passing on the road, marched as though they were six months gone with child." Here we see how cleverly Hemingway spins the dichotomy of life and death as seen through the opposite of new birth and carrying the weight of the war. Also by describing the men as walking as though they were "six months gone with child," it allows the reader to actually feel the heavy burden that they must carry as soldiers in war.
     These themes however, are not the only ones within the novel. There remain quite a few more. But these are some of the major themes of the novel that were exposed within the first chapter. The first chapter not only sets the pace for the rest of the novel, but grabs the reader and holds them in suspense as he introduces to them the constant themes of war and life and death.