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A Farewell To Arms by Ernest Hemingway Essay

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A Farewell to Arms is a novel by Ernest Hemingway about an American ambulance driver in Italy during World War I, and the nurse, Catherine Barkley, with whom he falls in love. The story is narrated by his driver, named Frederic Henry. Whether or not this book is truly an anti-war novel is debatable, but it well depicts the effects an ongoing war has on soldiers and how the men try to numb this pain. Henry's close friend at the front, Rinaldi, forgets the war with the help of sex and seduction, the priest takes comfort in God, the Captain has humor and jokes about the priest, and almost all drink profusely, taking wine and brandy like water. But the most important and notable attempt to escape from the pain of war is Henry and …show more content…

This was better than going every evening to the house for officers... I knew I did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her. This was a game, like bridge..." (30) Catherine used the relationship to fulfill some fantasy. "‘And do you love me?' [asks Catherine] ‘Yes.'...‘Say, "I've come back to Catherine in the night."' ‘I've come back to Catherine in the night.' [Repeats Henry] ‘Oh, darling, you have come back, haven't you?'" (30) She has created a stage, scenario, and is giving Henry the dialogue, possibly fantasizing that Henry is her dead fiancee. Catherine recognizes the falsity of their relationship openly. "‘This is a rotten game we play, isn't it?'" (31) She later tells Henry that he no longer has to pretend to love her. He lies and says that he really does love her. She responds: "‘Please let's not lie when we don't have to. I had a very fine little show and I'm all right now.'"(31) Henry knows that he has no honest feelings for Catherine, and Catherine knows and admits the relationship is merely a game. While Henry is on the front he dreams about Catherine, imagining a romantic night with her far away from the war. Doing so he makes himself to want to see her, but that night he drinks too much and nearly forgets their date. When he finally arrives he learns that she is ill and will not be able to see him. He describes the way he feels as "lonely and hollow" (41). His want for Catherine is

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