Both novels are very emotional stories. Both writers inspire the reader by the use of their language styles. The English Patient is a piece of writing that makes one wonder the greatness of the desert. A Farewell to Arms makes one realize that love cannot always last. Both books together make one realize the suffering and pain that war can cause in one’s life. Hemingway and Ondaatje run their thoughts sentences together in a well-organized way. As we read these novels, they make us want to connect the characters’ lives to real life. The two writers are so talented instead of making people read the story; they make them want to go deeper and figure out the hidden meaning in the text. That’s what makes Hemingway and Ondaatje the two of the best authors.
Reading your conclusion, and the words "love cannot alway last", made me think on Robert Brownings poem (below). To me, the point is not that it cannot last, it is, as Browning wrote, best. When all hope is gone, all around lies in shambles and ruins, love offers hope and repreive.
Now my thinking is mine, and it no way invalidates yours on this. On your last sentence, there are, in my opinion, a lot of other great authors who have taken the same theme and made great works..Tolstoy in War and Peace, to name one. Anyway, think on this poem in the context of the two works you analyzed.
Love among the Ruins
Robert Browning
Where the quiet-coloured end of evening smiles,
Miles and miles
On the solitary pastures where our sheep
Half-asleep
Tinkle homeward thro' the twilight, stray or stop
As they crop--
Was the site once of a city great and ,
(So they say)
Of our country's very capital, its prince
Ages since
Held his court in, gathered councils, wielding far
Peace or war.
Now the country does not even boast a tree,
As you see,
To distinguish slopes of verdure, certain rills
From the hills
Intersect and give a name to, (else they run
Into one)
Where the domed and daring palace shot its spires
Up like fires
O'er the hundred-gated circuit of a wall
Bounding all
Made of marble, men might march on nor be prest
Twelve abreast.
And such plenty and perfection, see, of grass
Never was!
Such a carpet as, this summer-time, o'er-spreads
And embeds
Every vestige of the city, guessed alone,
Stock or stone--
Where a multitude of men breathed joy and woe
Long ago;
Lust of glory pricked their hearts up, dread of shame
Struck them tame;
And that glory and that shame alike, the gold
Bought and sold.
Now--the single little turret that remains
On the plains,
By the caper overrooted, by the gourd
Overscored,
While the patching houseleek's head of blossom winks
Through the chinks--
Marks the basement whence a tower in ancient time
Sprang sublime,
And a burning ring, all round, the chariots traced
As they raced,
And the monarch and his minions and his dames
Viewed the games.
And I know, while thus the quiet-coloured eve
Smiles to leave
To their folding, all our many-tinkling fleece
In such peace,
And the slopes and rills in undistinguished grey
Melt away--
That a girl with eager eyes and yellow hair
Waits me there
In the turret whence the charioteers caught soul
For the goal,
When the king looked, where she looks now, breathless, dumb
Till I come.
But he looked upon the city, every side,
Far and wide,
All the mountains topped with temples, all the glades'
Colonnades,
All the causeys, bridges, aqueducts,--and then
All the men!
When I do come, she will speak not, she will stand,
Either hand
On my shoulder, give her eyes the first embrace
Of my face,
Ere we rush, ere we extinguish sight and speech
Each on each.
In one year they sent a million fighters forth
South and North,
And they built their gods a brazen pillar high
As the sky
Yet reserved a thousand chariots in full force--
Gold, of course.
O heart! oh blood that freezes, blood that burns!
Earth's returns
For whole centuries of folly, noise and sin!
Shut them in,
With their triumphs and their glories and the rest!
Love is best.
Robert Browning's poem "Love Among the Ruins" explores the idea that love can thrive even in the most challenging circumstances. The poem describes a once-great city that now lies in ruins, symbolizing the decay and destruction caused by time and the passage of history. Despite the desolation, the speaker's lover awaits him in a turret, reminding him of the enduring power of love.
In the context of the novels you analyzed, "A Farewell to Arms" and "The English Patient," Browning's poem resonates with the themes of love and the impact of war. Both novels portray love that is tested and ultimately challenged by the chaos and devastation of war. They depict the characters' desires for connection and meaning amidst the suffering and pain caused by war.
Browning's poem suggests that love can be a source of hope and solace in times of turmoil. It presents love as a powerful force that transcends the destruction and despair of war. This message aligns with the themes explored in both "A Farewell to Arms" and "The English Patient," as they highlight the transformative and redemptive power of love.
By referencing Browning's poem in your conclusion, you bring attention to the universality of the themes explored in these works. You suggest that love is a recurring motif in literature, and other authors like Tolstoy in "War and Peace" also delve into the complexities of love amidst the backdrop of war.
Overall, your interpretation of Browning's poem in relation to the novels you analyzed adds depth and perspective to your analysis, highlighting the enduring relevance of these themes in literature.