Progression of Love in Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms

A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is a story about love and war. Frederic Henry, a young American, works as an ambulance driver for the Italian army in World War I. He falls tragically in love with a beautiful English nurse, Miss Catherine Barkley. This tragedy is reflected by water. Throughout the novel Ernest Hemingway uses water as metaphors. Rivers are used as symbols of rebirth and escape and rain as tragedy and disaster, which show how water plays an important role in the story.

Henry and Keiko’s love is very unfortunate as they are faced with obstacles just to see each other. Their situation was very uncommon, as the Chinese and Japanese were at war with one another, and Henry’s friendship with Keiko made him a traitor in the eyes of his own father. Henry’s father buys him a ticket back to Canton to “finish school”, “He’s just doing this to keep me from her,” (238). Henry’s mother defends her husband’s actions by justifying that he is doing this for Henry and yells at him for being such a disobedient son and for being friends with the enemy---Keiko. “Done enough? You have done plenty! You have taken sides with the enemy. The enemy of China---and America. We are allies. They are the enemy. You have become his enemy. And he still does this for you. For you” (239). These two quotes show constant interferences and unfavorable situations in henry’s relationship with Keiko. They were in a relationship during a bad time, which was one cause for their

Whereas Frederic is passionate about the love of his life, even declaring Catherine as his religion, Catherine never truly commits to the idea of marriage, stalwartly defending her independence. Henry views a formal marriage as a necessary action to solidify his relationship with Catherine, although she believes that they are already personally married. Catherine claims that “there’s no way to be married except by church or state” (Hemingway 115). Catherine is unreligious, so her refusal to married by state is justified. However, her refusal to be married by state showcases her true intentions. After Henry continues to pester her with the idea of marriage, her attitude towards him turns hostile, as she accuses Henry of being jealous of her past marriage with another man. This dramatic change displays Catherine’s willingness to challenge obstacles, such as Henry, that are a threat to her autonomy.

Moreover, henry is aware of Catherine’s feelings and knows how to control them as we observe when he recounts to her the horror story about the abbey. Additionally, Mr. Tilney influences her thoughts and makes her think what he thinks as we see on p.186 when he utters, “what have you been judging from? Remember the country and the age in which we live” which she resumes in the next chapter on p.188 “ Catherine dared not doubt beyond her own country, and even of that, if hard pressed, would have yielded the northern and western extremities”. Henry has a high esteem of himself and doesn’t hide his intellectual

King Henry V’s depiction of English nationalism amidst its battle between France showcases the glorification of war. However, despite the play’s emphasis on combat and victory, King Henry V, also presents a strong unification of the charater’s seeking or protecting for what they call home. For many of the play’s characters, the domestic sphere represents an ideal space to which they will return to or represent though their interactions. The domestic sphere intercedes onto the battlefield providing context as to what the characters are fighting and dying for.

A Farewell to Arms is a gripping novel that tells the tale of an American soldier, Frederic Henry, in Italy during The Great War who is torn between his duty as an officer and the love of his life, a nurse named Catherine. In the novel, Ernest Hemingway brilliantly uses nature to symbolize and foreshadow certain events in the couple's difficult journey to escape the war and be with each other. Rain, snow, lakes and rivers all represent either loss, safety, or freedom for the two.

At first look, Catherine Barkley, the woman from Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, appears to be an example of a dream girl. She emerges as a mindless character who asks nothing of her man and exists only to satisfy his needs. Therefore, it has been propounded that Catherine's character is demeaning to women. By analyzing the actions of only one of the characters, however, the special relationship that exists between Frederic and Catherine is overlooked. If Catherine is Hemingway's manner of demeaning women then one must also examine the manner in which Frederic is described, for he too is very dependent and dedicated to Catherine as she is to him. The mutual love between Frederic and Catherine

After escaping his own death by jumping into the swift river to evade the military police, he needs to get to her. There is a train station in the distance that Henry thinks that if he can get to it that he can escape. The train is approaching, it is a steam locomotive that is carrying war supplies including guns and ammunition. While waiting along the tracks, Henry spots an enemy guard on the platform who seems to be younger. As the train rolls by, Henry gets up and grabs ahold of the handrail on a gondola car. Once on the car he describes it by saying “There was a guard on the freight-car ahead but he was looking forward. I let go of the handrails and ducked under the canvas.”(229). While all of this was going on Henry risked being captured, shot, or worse just to escape this terrible war and to be with Catherine. Henry dared to go out and put his neck on the line for Catherine, he loves her so very much that he would do this just for

Henry hates the war and when he deserts the war, Catherine and him escape to Switzerland to live their own life together. Once the baby is ready to be

Ernest Hemingway’s story, A Farewell to Arms, is a story of war and its effects on individuals and the relationships between them. Hemingway writes about how war may create stronger social bonds while simultaneously degrading societal integrity. Whether it is the social integrity of individual character or the society as a whole, both are degraded within A Farewell to Arms. A theme Hemingway conveys throughout A Farewell to Arms is the uninviting truth of war. The uninviting truth is that war only brings tragedy and death. Hemingway conveys his message by using the symbols of rain, the stars of officer’s, the hair of Catherine and Henry’s beard, and Catherine herself.

She asks “Have you ever loved any one?” in which he replies, “No” (Hemingway 19). Later on, Catherine asks if he has told her that he loves her and he lies by saying yes. “You did say you loved me, didn’t you?’ ‘Yes.’ I lied. ‘I love you.’ I had not said it before.” (30) Relationships and love seem to intimidate Henry. One can only speculate why he has such feelings, perhaps a failure with love earlier in or life or its just his natural personality traits. Whatever the reason, this shows his difficulty with handling life and the problems it presents him with. Catherine seeks solace for the death of her fiancé while Henry is doing anything to distance himself from the war. At first their declarations of love are transparent. Catherine reminds Henry several times that their courtship is like a game. “This is a rotten game we play, isn’t it?” she comments early on (Hemingway 31). It is understandable through this that Catherine is afraid to start a relationship. She has not been very lucky in life and since her fiancé is dead, she is afraid of getting hurt once again. Henry, on the other hand, does not show any true feelings

A Farewell to Arms is the story of an American who serves as a soldier in the Italian army during World War I, which features a budding romance between Lieutenant Frederic Henry and a nurse, Catherine Barkley. Frederic and Catherine meet in the beginning of the book and despite a lot of role-playing and him thinking she’s crazy, they seem to work out. Love seems like a little more of seduction at the beginning of the book and then more as we define it as soon as Frederic finds out that Catherine is pregnant. As the story ends, Catherine and the baby pass away, causing Frederic’s life must go on without them. According to Hemingway, the best way of fighting one’s alienation is by being around the people we love. Alienation from oneself as well

Throughout A Farewell to Arms, many characters remain apathetic or disillusioned in matters most would deem vital. Frederic Henry struggles throughout the book to find acceptable resolutions to his problems, but in the end realizes the futility of his hardships. In A Farewell to Arms, Ernest Hemingway uses disillusionment and apathy to show the fruitlessness of mankind and prevalence of mortality.

She first handily witnessed as well as suffered through pain, but was willing to assist without wasting any time by claiming that she was not qualified to do help. Critic Robert Warren wrote, “In this novel she emerges as the truly heroic figure of the book. A model of courage and stoic self-awareness, Catherine is determined to forge a meaningful and orderly existence if only temporarily in a world in which all traditional notions of meaning and order has been shattered” (Warren, Robert). During the delicate time period of his life where vulnerability was high, he experienced losing a dear one close to him throughout his childhood, his father. He along with many others lost the ones they love to a harsh environment known as reality.

The plot of A Farewell To Arms develops this contrast of reality and illusion with the love of Catherine and Henry. Not long after they meet they promise each other that they love one another. Henry reveals to us that he was not actually in love with her, nor was he trying to when he says“‘Yes’, I lied. ‘I love you.’” Catherine even mentions their love affair as a rotten game after he says he loves her. (30-31) They both know they are just in an attempt to mend their emotional wounds, considering Catherine’s fiancé recently died in battle. The war is having a negative effect on the two of them, and creating the illusion that they are in love helps them cope.