Finding Truth in Lies in Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms

As Henry starts to leave, Lewis tries to stop him by saying, ‘Henry. Stop. [Henry stops.] I have an idea. Why don’t we make Ferrando and Guglielmo disguise themselves as Australian soldiers?’ This tells us that Lewis understands everyone and values what they say as where as before if Henry started to leave Lewis wouldn’t have cared as much.

    Religion played a significant role in Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms. The attitudes that the character had towards the war and life were closely associated with their views on religion. Due to extreme circumstances of war, moral standards were obscure for the characters. Almost everything related to the war violated the normal code of morality, which led many to feel disenchanted. Those who viewed the war as senseless had no faith in God or religion. For the character of Fredrick Henry it was clear that his faith in God was a subject of conflict. Henry was a character that understood religion, but did not love God. His love for Catherine was the most religious feeling that he

Henry was a normal boy and did all of the normal things young boys do: making noise, being busy and active, nosing around in the refrigerator, and asking questions - all part and parcel of being a normal child. But he was brought up to believe he wasn't a "model boy." His parents were constantly interrupted by him - his mother while she was reading and grading papers, and his father so much so that he spent most of his time in his office on campus, joining them only at mealtimes. His father wished to remain "blissfully unaware."

First, one should focus on the language and Henry's ethos. The soldiers are burdened with the thought of a

At this point, Henry does not know anything of love. Throughout the whole First Book, Henry ignorantly disregards any possibility of love. ³I knew I did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her² (30). He willfully entered a relationship with Catherine, but did not have serious intentions with her, yet. To him it was just a ³game ... in which you said things² like ³I love you² (30). Henry casually speaks of this so-called love to Catherine, but her past experience with her fiancé have made her cautious when dealing with love. She knows the reality of love and the extent of Henry¹s feelings, ³You don¹t have to pretend you love me² (31).

This is definitely a good thing for his job ,therefore he is very successful but it make him very mean and selfish. Before he was cheating on his wife and wasn't treating her and his daughter right. On the other hand, after his injury he became the nicest, most kind man they had ever seen. He genuinely cared for his wife and child unlike he had before. In one scene his daughter gets scared to go to school and he makes up a story to help her cope with the anxiety she feels. Henry ,now being a changed man, hates that he was a crooked lawyer before. He looked into his old cases and notices how poorly he treated the people in the cases. He quits his job and goes to the family from the last case and gives them evidence for them to win the case that he was on before. He was willing to put his job on the line for those

One example is during the dance, when Henry and Rafas, a member of the Downey Gang, get into a fight, Henry eventually gains the upper hand and Rafas is at his mercy, however, instead of harming him, Henry just tells him to leave. Then, Bertha, Henry’s old girlfriend says “The old Hank would have slit Rafas’ belly like a fat pig.” (Valdez 47). This shows that Henry used to be much more ruthless than he was in the play. This is because he realizes that any violence that he does, no matter how small, will come up again, and could stop him from joining the military or from getting a decent job after the war. Because he realized this, he began to think about what effect his actions may have on his future. Another example is when Henry decided to back out of the appeal (Valdez 70). Instead of fighting the racist and corrupt justice system that put him in jail, Henry thought that, by accepting the punishment, he would be viewed as more American, and perhaps he would get out of jail early for good behavior. When Henry decided that he was going to join the navy he was thinking about his future as well. In the play Henry says, “I was all set to come back a hero, see? Me la rayo. For the first time in my life I really thought Hank Reyna was going someplace.” (Valdez 30). Henry knew that the only way he could gain respect from the police and the white Americans was by

As he is walking, a few soldiers that seems to be fleeing run into him. As Henry tries to stop them to ask what’s been happening, one of the soldiers swings at him with a rifle, opening a bloody gash on the top of his head. After a long while of waiting, a friendly soldier finds him and leads him back to camp, where a friend tends to his wound. After a few days of waiting, they come across another battle. This time Henry doesn’t flee, instead he thinks about all the people who have fought and died in the war, and decides to do the same: fight. Not only for the glory this time, but for the people he was

After the Vietnam War, Henry was crazy and unstable. For instance, when Henry was watching television and he bit through his lip with blood pouring everywhere (977). The blood was getting on his bread every time he took a bite, but because of his lost ability to think straight Henry doesn’t even flinch as blood pours everywhere. Also, at the end of the story Henry snaps on his brother Lyman. He punches Lyman, which leads to a fight ended by the laughing of Henry (980). During the fight with Lyman, the extent of Henry’s mental changed, to turn on a family member and physically strike him. Henry illustrates how crazy he is when he jumps in to the river all of the sudden to “cool off”(981). This action by Henry ends his craziness and his life.

In a battle in deep trenches, Henry starts complaining that the regiment has no real plan in the battle and that the regiment does not really know what to do in the battle. Wilson tries to calm down Henry from his anger, but Henry got angrier and took his anger out on Wilson. The lieutenant was dissatisfied with Henry’s anger and told him to keep his mouth shut about anything that might bring the regiment down. His immaturity is shown as Henry does not know how to control his feelings in a dangerous situation, which could get him and the regiment in

Henry uses ethos, an appeal to a power higher than himself, to gain the trust of those on the opposing side. Firstly, he opens with a statement meant to make him appear more trustworthy in the eyes of the House, referring to his “patriotism”, which is proven to be an allegiance to the idea of the United States rather than to Britain. Furthermore, he mentions that he is “willing to know the whole truth” and to endure “whatever anguish of spirit it may cause”, to the same effect. Henry also appeals to the reader’s

“The Youth,” which Henry is referred to as, dreamt of glory in battle and being a hero (Crane 2). That is the reason why Henry enlisted himself; even though he told his comrades he was forced to be in the army. His mother’s farewell speech is ironic because he thought that she would give him a tearful and long speech, but all she really said was to “Watch out, and be a good boy” (4). She does not want Henry to be a hero even though that is what he went to war for. She told Henry that she will be fine if he does not return home. Henry tries to pull off being a confident and good soldier, while in the reality he is very nervous about what will happen in battle. Throughout the novel, he questions his courage and if he would run from battle. At an early battle, Henry continuously fires at the enemy line and feels like he is a courageous soldier. However, soon after this battle, another one erupts and Henry runs from it. This is

Similarly, Henry’s relationship with his boss and his American co-workers shows the readers his willingness of trying to gain acceptance among his peers in order to identify with their culture. His fear of losing that approval forces Henry to stick with his job as a spy, otherwise his job provided no benefits or satisfaction but rather brought along with it the pain and frustration which is reflected on Henry’s relationship with others.

He described that he couldn’t escape even if he wanted to. Through this analogy, the reader can see that Henry is reducing the soldiers to unthinking, unfeeling machines, performing their duty without taking into account the threat of injury or death. As he looks around at the faces of the rest of the soldiers in his regiment, he notices their focused commitment to the firing of their rifles. He wonders if he is the only one faced with questions of morality. While the regiment began to advance, Henry was shocked to receive a packet of letters from Wilson, who feared he would die in battle. After the battle, he is glad that he made it through the first day. He begins to lose the romantic vision of war by seeing the realities, but he starts lying to himself about who is really is.

Early in the novel, we are introduced to the Abruzzi. The Abruzzi is a town in Switzerland, of which Henry's friend, the priest, is very fond. His father lives there and it is, for the priest, a place of quiet solitude, religious freedom, and respect. He longs for the day when he can go and do God's work in his hometown: "in my country, it is understood that a man may love God. It is not a dirty