by Ernest Hemingway
ABOUT THE BOOK
A Farewell to Arms is a novel by Ernest Hemingway set during the
Italian campaign of World War I. The book, published in 1929, is a first-person
account of American Frederic Henry, serving as a Lieutenant
("Tenente") in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army. The title is
taken from a poem by 16th-century English dramatist George Peele. A Farewell to
Arms is about a love affair between the expatriate American Henry and Catherine
Barkley against the backdrop of the First World War, cynical soldiers, fighting
and the displacement of populations. The publication of A Farewell to Arms
cemented Hemingway's stature as a modern American writer, this became his first
best-seller and is described by biographer Michael Reynolds as "the
premier American war novel from that debacle World War I.
THEMES PERTAINING TO THE BOOK
THE GRIM
REALITY OF WAR
As the title of the novel makes clear, A Goodbye to Arms concerns
itself mostly with war, namely the process by which Frederic Henry removes
himself from it and leaves it behind. The novel offers excellently-done
descriptions of the conflicts and confusion: the scene of the Italian army's
retreat remains one of the most deeply extreme memories of war in American
books. Henry's shooting of the engineer for refusing to help free the car from
the mud shocks: first, the violent outburst seems fighting with Henry's coolly
detached character; second, the event happens in a setting that robs it of its
moral import--the involvement with the crime of Henry's fellow soldiers justify
the killing. Anyway, the novel cannot be said to strongly criticize the war;
Instead, the innocent engineer's death is the unavoidable result of the cruelty
of war. Hemingway hints that war is nothing more than the dark, murderous
extension of a world that refuses to admit to, protect, or preserve true love.
THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LOVE AND PAIN
Against the background of war, Hemingway offers a sadly deep thinking
about the nature of love. No sooner does Catherine announce to Henry that she
is in suffering for her dead fiancé than she begins a game meant to flirt with
Henry. Also, Henry intends to get as far away from talk of the war as possible.
In each other, Henry and Catherine find comfort from the things that badly
bother them. Henry's understanding of how meaningful his love for Catherine is
outweighs any forethought for the emptiness of fuzzy ideals such as honor,
enabling him to run from the war and look for her. Reunited, they plan a
peaceful life together that promises to act as a skin medicine for the damage
that the war has caused. The terrible event of the novel rests in the fact that
their love, can never be more than temporary in this world.
MASCULINITY
Readers of Hemingway's fiction will quickly see a consistent thread in
the representation and celebration of a certain kind of man: bossy, extremely
extraordinary and proud. Rinaldi is a faithful friend and an oversexed man, who
loves to flirt with women; Dr. Valentini shows a masculinity to rival Rinaldi's
as well as a bold smart ability that makes him the best doctor. During the
scene in which Henry fires his pistol at the running engineering sergeants,
Bonello takes charge of the situation by harshly shooting the fallen engineer
in the head. The respect with which Hemingway sketches these men, even at their
lowest points, is highlighted by the humor, if not contempt, with which he
shows their opposites.
GAMES AND
DIVERTISEMENT
Henry and Catherine begin flirting with each other to forget personal
troubles. Flirting, which Henry compares to bridge, allows Henry to "drop
the war" and focus on something else like Catherine's thoughts from the
death of her fiancé. Also, the horse races that Catherine and Henry attend
enable them to block out thinking of Henry's return to the front and of their
happening soon separation. Henry and Catherine's relationship becomes the
source of suffering from which Henry needs diversion. Henry cannot stand to be
away from Catherine, and while playing pool with Count Greffi takes his mind
off of her, the best entertainment turns out to be the war itself. When
Catherine instructs him not to think about her when they are apart, Henry
replies, "That's how I worked it at the front”. The changes of the war
from deadly threat into entertainment and love tampers not only Henry's
attachment to Catherine but, also the short-lived nature of happiness.
LOYALTY
VERSUS ABANDONMENT
The ideas of loyalty and being alone apply equally well to love and
war. Then overall, however, hints that loyalty is more a needed thing of love
and friendship than of the grand political causes and ideas of fighting
nations. Although he shoots an uncooperative engineering sergeant for failing
to obey his orders, Henry's violence should be read as an unavoidable result of
a destructive war rather than as a serious and well-thought-out decision to
enforce a code of moral behavior. While he does, at times, feel guilt over this
course of action, he takes comfort in the knowledge that he is most loyal where
loyalty counts most: in his relationship with Catherine. That these disagreeing
loyalties cannot be reached does not suggest, however, that loyalty and being
left alone lie at opposite ends of a moral spectrum.
ILLUSIONS
AND FANTASIES
Upon meeting, Catherine and Henry rely upon a grand fake image of love
and leading someone away from what's right, usually for sex for comfort. At
first, their love is clear and honest: Catherine reminds Henry at times that
their early stages of the relationship are a game, sending him away when she
has played her fill. After Henry is wounded, however, his desire for Catherine
and the comfort and support that she offers becomes more than an object or
action from the world's unpleasantness. While the couple acts in ways that
confirm the honest nature of their passion, however, they never escape the
desire of dreaming of a better world. Boredom has begun to set in, and the
couple effects small daily changes to give new life to their lives and their
passion: Catherine gets a new haircut, while Henry grows a beard. They dream of
life on a Swiss mountain, where they will make their own clothes and need
nothing but each other, suggesting that fantasizing is part of successfully
dealing with the dull, sometimes damaging effects of reality.
BANNED,
CENSORED OR CHALLENGED
- Challenged in NY
(Vernon-Verona-Sherill School District) as a “sex novel.” (1980) and in
Texas (Dallas Independent School District) (1974). Also, challenged in
1987 at the Baptist College in Charleston, SC due to “language and
sexual references in the book.”
- Banned in
Italy (1929) apparently due to the description of the retreat from
Caporetto. Also, banned in Ireland (1939) and in Boston (1929) for
politics, sex, and language.
- Burned in
Germany (1933) …by Nazis. For “being a monument of modern
decadence.”
PERSONAL
REFLECTION
In high school, I saw the movie with Gary Cooper and you know how the
movie is always different from the book. I decided to read the book to look for
any differences. Naturally the language
and sex themes, which in the movie, was toned down because of the viewing audience
at the time. I liked the movie because it suited my tastes, considering that
time frame (1930’s).
WORK CITED
Part I...
