Rain: symbolizes death because every time rain is mentioned it is followed by death. In the beginning, the author states that when rain comes so does cholera, a deadly disease that kills. In addition, when it was checked in the army only seven thousand died from it in Italian army. This symbolization is awkward because rain usually symbolizes life because water supports life. Rain is used as a symbol for death repeatedly. In the first chapter, Frederic says that in the spring came the permanent rain, and with the rain came the cholera. It is raining when Catherine dies, I believe it is raining when Frederic is wounded, and Hemingway uses it as a way of showing how death is "permanent" and ultimately, unavoidable.