The Theme of Religion in the Hemingway novel, A Farewell to Arms and Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse Five.

The Theme of Religion in the Hemingway novel A Farewell to Arms

and Kurt Vonnegut 's Slaughterhouse Five

To search for in a world where there is no . To search for in a world where there exists moral dilemmas between right and wrong , war and God , religion and death . This is the world in which Hemingway creates for the basis of his novel , A Farewell To Arms . We are first introduced to the notion of religion within a few pages of the story . It is during a scene when the character of the

priest is being harassed , ridiculed , by many of the soldiers . In reply to the issue of religion , as well as God , the major claims , 'All thinking men are atheists . This immediately sets the stage for seeing what the foundational perspectives of religion are in the story , despite the fact that the main character of Henry admires and likes the priest because he represents a sense of belief and stability . However , one is never really sure if the priest is really that devoted due to the general nature of war and what it does to people in terms of making them question existence . In these respects it seems that God and religion have no real place in the world these men live in , in that world of war . Death is simply that , death . Religion seems to hold no promise of anything especially for a thinking ' man it would seem , which one assumes Hemingway is . In a world of war there are no real answers , only real death

As the story develops and Henry has learned from the priest , and developed on his own throughout the story he realizes that , 'It is only in defeat that we become Christian ' which illustrates a sense of ignorance and a fearful hope in becoming religious . This sort of perspective or theme is further endorsed , and illuminated upon , by another character , Count Greffi , who states , 'I had always expected to become devout . All my family died very devout . But somehow it does not come . This clearly illustrates further that theme of becoming religious , believing in God , only at the end when death and defeat are near . But , for this man , and for all others in the novel it seems , that sense of faith never comes and death is just death

Slaughterhouse-Five has very similar presentations of religion , the lack of truth in religion , and how death is destined . As such religion and God have nothing to do with the end . As with Hemingway 's novel , this story offers a quick look directly at religion near the beginning of the book . It is noted that , Billy wasn 't a Catholic , even though he grew up with a ghastly crucifix on the wall . The narrator then illustrates how his father was not religious and his mother went from church to church trying to find one she liked yet She never did decide ' but developed an interest and fascination with...