I provided instruction on the influence of Darwinism and the Naturalist genre on Hemingway's novel. Noting the dominance of external factors over free will ,Joshua did well in recognizing the War as representative of the controlling environmental factor in the characters' lives. In this regard, we isolated passages wherein the protagonist acknowledge that neither his presence, his individual beliefs, nor his effort makes any impact or difference in the outcome of the war . We further discussed the symbolism of rain, the officer's pistol , and the rattan stick Catherine carries. Next, we focused on Lt . Henry's status as an outsider, an American in the Italian army, and how the immediacy of death in war shapes the relationship between Lt Henry and the nurse, Catherine.