payment page
The Grim Reality of War
As the title of the novel makes clear, A Farewell to Arms concerns itself primarily with war, namely the process by which Frederic Henry removes himself from it and leaves it behind. The few characters in the novel who actually support the effort—Ettore Moretti and Gino—come across as a dull braggart and a naïve youth, respectively. The majority of the characters remain ambivalent about the war, resentful of the terrible destruction it causes, doubtful of the glory it supposedly brings.
The novel offers masterful descriptions of the conflict’s senseless brutality and violent chaos: the scene of the Italian army’s retreat remains one of the most profound evocations of war in American literature. As the neat columns of men begin to crumble, so too do the soldiers’ nerves, minds, and capacity for rational thought and moral judgment. Henry’s shooting of the engineer for refusing to help free the car from the mud shocks the reader for two reasons: first, the violent outburst seems at odds with Henry’s coolly detached character; second, the incident occurs in a setting that robs it of its moral import—the complicity of Henry’s fellow soldiers legitimizes the killing. The murder of the engineer seems justifiable because it is an inevitable by-product of the spiraling violence and disorder of the war.
Nevertheless, the novel cannot be said to condemn the war; A Farewell to Arms is hardly the work of a pacifist. Instead, just as the innocent engineer’s death is an inevitability of war, so is war the inevitable outcome of a cruel, senseless world. Hemingway suggests that war is nothing more than the dark, murderous extension of a world that refuses to acknowledge, protect, or preserve true love.
The Relationship Between Love and Pain
Against the backdrop of war, Hemingway offers a deep, mournful meditation on the nature of love. No sooner does Catherine announce to Henry that she is in mourning for her dead fiancé than she begins a game meant to seduce Henry. Her reasons for doing so are clear: she wants to distance herself from the pain of her loss. Likewise, Henry intends to get as far away from talk of the war as possible. In each other, Henry and Catherine find temporary solace from the things that plague them. The couple’s feelings for each other quickly pass from an amusement that distracts them to the very fuel that sustains them. Henry’s understanding of how meaningful his love for Catherine is outweighs any consideration for the emptiness of abstract ideals such as honor, enabling him to flee the war and seek her out. Reunited, they plan an idyllic life together that promises to act as a salve for the damage that the war has inflicted. Far away from the decimated Italian countryside, each intends to be the other’s refuge. If they are to achieve physical, emotional, and psychological healing, they have found the perfect place in the safe remove of the Swiss mountains. The tragedy of the novel rests in the fact that their love, even when genuine, can never be more than temporary in this world.
The Failure of Tradition in a Bleak Modernity
In the face of the horrors of World War I, traditional institutions such as religion, marriage, medicine, and patriotism fail to have any true usage for most of the characters. The Priest in Henry’s unit is a laughingstock, the butt of mess hall jokes. When they discuss the possibility of the war ending, Henry’s pessimism is so powerful that he depresses the Priest instead of the Priest offering him comfort. The hospital in Milan seems woefully unequipped for the reality of the war around it. The nurses almost refuse Henry a bed because they don’t have permission from authority, even though Henry is clearly wounded, and the rooms are completely empty. They then refuse to treat Henry until the doctor arrives even though he’s badly hurt. Tradition has it that Catherine and Henry shouldn’t have sex until marriage, but marriage would mean Catherine could no longer work as a nurse at the hospital. Getting married would rob them of the emotional comfort and escapism they provide each other, which forms the foundation of their relationship. These institutions that are meant to help, protect, and guide people seem almost comically naïve against the reality of war.
Worse still, tradition punishes the characters for straying from it despite its clear uselessness. Miss Van Campen sends Henry back to the front because she believes he caused his jaundice intentionally by drinking too much. Not only does sending Henry back to the front place him in unnecessary danger, but it ignores the pain at the root of his drinking. In essence, the war Henry is forced to fight has exacerbated his drinking, and now he is being punished for having a coping mechanism. When the Carabinieri shoot officers for losing their troops during a chaotic retreat, they refuse to acknowledge the material circumstances of retreating. Instead, they believe “Italy should never retreat,” a patriotic mantra, and kill the officer for making the best of a difficult situation. Henry feels this unfairness keenly as he realizes the precarity of Catherine’s pregnancy. Although Catherine’s death is not really a punishment for sex outside of wedlock, to Henry it feels like part of this pattern. He and Catherine can’t get the comfort they need from each other in marriage because they’ll be separated, and instead are punished for needing that comfort.
