A Farewell to Arms Vs the Yellow Wallpaper Literature & Language Essay

Students Name
Professors Name
Course Code and Name
Date
A Farewell to Arms Vs the Yellow Wallpaper
The world of literature has been changing a lot over the recent past. The reasons for this change are the fact that people are changing their ways of life. Therefore, in order for the authors to write articles that remain relevant in society, they have to write about the events that are happening in the current world. It is such events that people need to be enlightened about so that they can know how to best deal with the challenges that they might face in life. However, looking at the works of authors in the past, they depict the manner in which people used to live. Therefore, these works are still relevant in the world of literature because they help people in accepting change. This paper will be an analysis of Charlotte Perkin's Yellow Wallpaper and Ernest Hemmingway's Farewell to arms. It will provide a comparison on the manner in which the two authors have different perspectives about life. They have used various figures of speech to propel their narration, hence making it easy for the reader to understand their concepts.
The yellow wallpaper was first published during a time whereby the society believed that there was a great difference between the duties of a man and that of a woman. A man was viewed as a superior person who needed to command the women on what to do and what not to do. Therefore, this called for the need of the authors to come up with works that related to the issue of masculinity and feminisms in the society. It is as a result of this trend that Charlotte wrote the novel the yellow wallpaper. Upon initially reading the story, it would seem that its central theme revolves around the psychological capacities of the narrator. This is because a significant part of it focuses on her reflection of her thoughts and ideas, as a form of escape from a controlling husband. However, a critical analysis of the whole story, and the context of when it was written, it could be seen that this reflects the ‘traditional gender gap' that was prevalent during those times. It is commonly known that gender equality has only been achieved lately. Before then women have a relegated status and were expected to be docile and meek, not only in their actions but also of their ideas and emotions. This is exemplified with the narrator's description of her husband as "controlling" and "patronizing" (Gilman, 1999). Aside from this, it could be seen that the narrator has mentioned the wallpaper as somehow resembling the bars of a cage. Consequently, this could be seen as a symbolism that reflects the status of women during that era. Therefore, Perkins was able to perfectly pass across a message to a society that deserved to be addressed on such topic. The novel advocates for feminism as seen at the end whereby the woman is able to free herself from the bondage of the husband. This depicts the beginning of a new era whereby, women could be able to make their own decisions without necessarily having to consult what the men have to say about such decisions. However, the freedom does not come easily because the narrator describes a woman who is locked in a room because she is having a nervous breakdown. She has to struggle her way into freeing herself from that bondage. The author uses the symbolism of the yellow wallpaper to show the progress that the woman is making each day in order to be free. Therefore, this novel is still relevant in todays society because there are people who do not believe in the issue of feminism. Women are securing great leadership positions in office and, therefore, it is time for them to be awakened and become role models to the growing generation.
On the other hand, Ernest Hemmingway's a farewell to arms was published at a time when the world was recovering from the first world war. Therefore, the authors of literature during that time would have written a masterpiece by focusing on the issues that surrounded war. Hence, Hemmingway came up with a story that was written in the setting of the Italians campaign towards the first world war. It is a first-person narration about a soldier who was caught up in the middle of war and love and ended up in a tragedy. The novel talks a lot about the issue of morals in society. During the battle of Carpeto, Henry and his team discover that they are about to be defeated and carries out an act of immorality. As a result, he goes beyond his authority to kill one of the sergeants. He is then taken for a trial. After discovering that the other police were being executed for the defeat from the Italians, he believes that his case will not be any better and will face the execution. Given the fact that Catherine is only three months pregnant, the Henry decides to escape the trial by jumping into a river in order to reunite with his family. Therefore, the fact that Henry killed the sergeant is not moral according to the society. He adds the immorality by skipping the trial. The author adds that Henry skipped the trial so that he could unite with his wife, Catherine, who was three months pregnant (Hemmingway 2012). These are some of the challenges that the soldiers were going through during the war and, the world did not have a clear definition of the morality in the trial of the soldiers. They had sacrificed a lot to ensure that their citizens stayed safe by fighting the enemies. Therefore, it was the obligation of the society to treat them fairly as an appreciation of the good work that they were doing. The novel does not talk much about feminism as compared to the yellow wallpaper. However, it brings out the issue of anti-feminism by focusing on the story of Henry who was going through difficult times in order to live a happy life. Hemmingway tries to pass a message to the readers of the novel about the fact that men also go through difficult times in life. When such happens, they require the support of women for them to make it through the challenges. For instance, Henry skips the trial and Catherine remains supportive as they escape to a secluded mountain. It is in this mountain that Catherine dies while giving birth, thus making life more miserable to Henry as compared to the earlier situation when he had her support. After the end of the first world war, most of the soldiers were struggling to live with the guilt of the people that they had killed during the battles. Therefore, a farewell to arms acted as an allegory of showing the soldiers that they still had their families to worry about. The novel remains relevant in today's world as a depiction of the fact that men go through difficult times that could, in turn, affect their normal way of living. In addition, Therefore, the rules of morality in the society would have expected Henry to face his trial and pay for the mistake of killing the sergeant. As well, he should not have killed the sergeant because either way, they were defeated in the battle. There are always better solutions to problems in life, and therefore, an individual should ensure that whatever they do, they display a lot of morality. Also, people have been advocating a lot for the rights of women. ...