Donaldson, Scott. "Censorship."  In Monteiro, George, ed.  Critical Essays
         on Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.  New York: G.K. Hall &
         Co., 1994: (70-79).

        Like most of Hemingway's works, the serialized version of A Farewell to Arms was banned.  The Boston police, after the first installment, confiscated issues of Scribner's Magazine that held the second through the sixth parts of the novel over four months--but not the book itself when it came out months later.  The ban gave Hemingway's publisher leverage to tone down the vulgar language used in the book.  Charles Scribner didn't want any vulgarisms in his books; Hemingway wanted as little cutting as possible--and a blank inserted when a cut was made.  Sometimes spaces were inserted, sometimes not.

        All Quiet on the Western Front, which included some "barracks language" of its own in the European version, had already been published in 1929, so Hemingway could argue that cutting out the vulgar words from his soldiers' mouths would "weaken the text."

    "Banned in Boston" became something of a joke but also a sales boost outside of Massachusetts; the book took a little over five weeks to reach the best seller lists.  Scribner's Alfred Dashiell called the ban an "improper use of censorship," despite the fact that the company's magazine was often used in schools.  Nevertheless, suppression of the book by the U. S. Postal Service was a significant fear at the publishing house.

    Another reason the Boston police chief banned the novel, besides the vulgar words, was the illicit love affair and illegitimate child, let alone a sympathetic treatment of such protagonists.  Some subscribers to the magazine cancelled.  Other readers objected to Frederic's desertion.  In addition, some Italians were angry about the portrayal of their army, and the book was never allowed in Italy during Mussolini's reign (1922-1945).

Copyright and Permission: This web on Ernest Hemingway's early novel was begun under a small grant from the VCCS, which holds copyright.  © 2001 by the Virginia Community College System.  This web was made by Dr. Eric Hibbison, Professor of English and Chief Chair, VCCS Regional Centers for Teaching Excellence (1998-2002). Materials in this web may be used free for educational purposes, but this web should not be behind a portal for which users must pay a fee without written permission from the VCCS.  If you're an educator using this web, please inform ehibbison@jsr.vccs.edu, especially if you'd like contact with other educators who are using this web.