ClassicNote on A Farewell to Arms

Short Summary:
Lieutenant Frederic Henry, a young American ambulance driver with the Italian army during
World War I, takes a winter leave from the front. When he returns, he meets and quickly falls in
love with Catherine Barkley, an English nurse's aide in the town's British hospital. She mourns
the death of her fiancé from the war last year, and she eagerly enters the pleasurable diversion the
game of love offers with Henry. Henry, too, is revived by love after the horror he has seen of
war.
Henry's knee is badly wounded during an artillery bombardment, and he is sent to a hospital in
Milan for an operation. Catherine transfers to his hospital and helps him recuperate from the
surgery. They spend all their free time together, and their love deepens as they gradually
acknowledge that they stand alone against the cruel world. Before Henry returns to the front,
Catherine reveals she is pregnant. They are both pleased with this, however, and cannot wait to
see each other again.
Back at the front, the Germans and Austrians break through the Italian line, and the Italians are
forced to make a lengthy retreat. Henry travels with some other drivers, two Italian engineering
sergeants, and two Italian girls. When the sergeants abandon the drivers when their car gets
stuck, Henry shoots one of them, and another driver finishes him off. Later, the trigger-happy
Italian rear guard mistakenly shoots one of the Italian drivers. One of the drivers deserts the
group, choosing to be taken prisoner rather than face potential death. At a bridge over a flooded
river, the corrupt Italian military singles out Henry as a lieutenant and accuses him of treachery
leading to the Italian defeat. Knowing he will be executed, Henry jumps into the river and
escapes with the current.
Henry manages to get out of the fast-moving river and jump a train to Milan. He thinks he has
made a "separate peace" and is no longer attached to the military. He finds Catherine in the town
of Stresa and, prior to Henry's arrest for desertion, the two make a daring nighttime escape by a
borrowed boat to Switzerland. They enjoy an idyllic, isolated life that winter in the Swiss town
of Montreux, spending time outdoors and preparing for the arrival of their baby; Henry is not
completely without guilt, however, for abandoning his friends at the front.
They move to the town of Lausanne in the spring to be close to its hospital, and Catherine soon
goes into labor. The pregnancy is lengthy and painful, and the baby, delivered through a
Caesarean, is stillborn. Catherine dies soon after of multiple hemorrhages with Henry by her
side. He tries to say goodbye to her, but it is like saying goodbye to a statue, and he walks back
to his hotel room in the rain.
Major Themes:
Love as a response to the horrors of war and the world: Hemingway repeatedly emphasizes
the horrific devastation war has wrought on everyone involved. From the opening account of
cholera that kills "only" 7,000 men to the graphic description of the artillery bombardment to the
corrupt violence during the Italian retreat, A Farewell to Arms is among the most frank anti-war
novels.
But Hemingway does not merely condemn war. Rather, he indicts the world at large for its
atmosphere of destruction. Henry frequently reflects upon the world's insistence on breaking and
killing everyone; it is as if the world cannot bear to let anyone remain happy and safe.
Indeed, whenever Henry and Catherine are blissful, something comes along to interrupt it - be it
Henry's injury, his being sent back to the front, his impending arrest, or, finally, Catherine's
death from childbirth. With such misery confronting them at every turn, the two turn to each

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other. Catherine, especially, plunges almost too easily into love when she first meets Henry. She
admits she was "crazy" at first, most likely over the fairly recent death of her fiancé, but Henry,
too, succumbs to the temptations of love. Love is a pleasurable diversion (see Games, below) that
distracts lovers from the outside world; the two often tell each other not to think about anything
else, as it is too painful. Hidden within the shelter of Catherine's beautiful hair, Henry and
Catherine feel protected from the cruel outside world.
The major problem with such escapist love is, as Henry and other characters point out several
times, one does not always know the "stakes" of love until it is over, or that one does not know
about something until one has lost it. Henry hardly allows himself to think of life without
Catherine while he is in love, and once he does lose her, it seems unlikely that he will recover.
Grace under pressure and the Hemingway hero: Although less important in this novel than in
his 1926 novel The Sun Also Rises, Hemingway maps out what it means to be a hero. Chiefly,
the "Hemingway hero," as literary criticism frequently tags him, is a man of action who coolly
exhibits "grace under pressure" while confronting death. Henry's narration is certainly detached
and action-oriented - only rarely does he let us into his most private thoughts - and he displays
remarkable cool when shooting the engineering sergeant. Characters in the novel strive for this
grace under pressure in an otherwise chaotic world. Even when the men eat spaghetti (and
especially when they eat macaroni in the dugout during the artillery bombardment), they try to
exercise mastery over a single skill to compensate for the uncontrollable chaos elsewhere. Dr.
Valentini is another example of a skillful, confident Hemingway hero.
The Hemingway hero also eschews glory for a more personal code of honor. Unlike the selfish
and boastful Ettore, Henry is not greedy for accolades, nor is he stupidly sacrificial. He
judiciously determines what is worth the sacrifice, and decides that the war is no longer
worthwhile. Even after he makes his "separate peace," however, he feels slightly guilty over
letting his friends continue the battle without him.
Rain and destruction: From the first chapter to the last word, the novel is flooded with rain and
other images of water. The rain almost always heralds destruction and death; it impinges upon
whatever momentary happiness Henry and Catherine have and turns it into muddy misery.
Ironically, rain often signifies fertility in literature but here stands for sterility, as it does in much
post-WWI literature.
However, water is positive in other ways. Henry receives symbolic baptisms when he bathes and,
more prominently, when he twice escapes from the authorities via a river and a lake. Frozen
water is kinder to him and to soldiers in general; snow usually prevents fighting, and Henry and
Catherine are happiest during their snowy winter in Switzerland.
Diversions: Nearly all the characters in the novel try to divert themselves with pleasurable
activities from the horror of war. The soldiers play card games, drink heavily, and carouse in
brothels; Rinaldi is the poster-boy for this hedonistic excess. Henry goes along somewhat, but his
biggest diversion is love itself; he and Catherine treat it like a game at first, flirting and teasing
each other. Above all, ignorance is prized during the war; if one does not think about the war,
then one cannot be unhappy during the ongoing pursuit of games and diversions.
Abandonment: The novel deploys several instances of abandonment, intentional and forced, in
the realms of love and war. After the death of her fiancé, Catherine understandably fears
abandonment by Henry, and he makes every attempt when separated to reunite with her. Even
Helen fears abandonment by Catherine. In the war, we see several cases of abandonment: the
engineering sergeants, who abandon Henry and the other drivers; Bonello, who abandons the
drivers to give himself up as a prisoner; the Italian retreat, a large-scale abandonment; and
Henry's escape from army. However, Henry's abandonment is completely justified (he was going
to be executed if he did not), and it is less a desertion that what he calls a "separate peace."

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Ultimately, he decides that not abandoning Catherine is far more important than not abandoning
the war, though he does feel guilty over leaving behind Rinaldi and the others at the front.
Journalistic style of omission: As is typical in a Hemingway work, Henry's narration is spare,
detached, and journalistic. Contrary to what the reader might expect, the effect often heightens
emotion. For example, Hemingway ratchets up the connotations of death and violence by
omitting explicit mention of blood when it drips on Henry in the ambulance.
Hemingway shows his range when he occasionally uses a near "stream-of-consciousness"
narration for Henry. In these few cases, Henry's thoughts are ungrammatical, awkwardly worded,
and repetitive - much as the mind works, especially under such chaotic circumstances. A notable
example is the long second-person narrative passage in Chapter XXXII after Henry has divorced
himself from the army. By addressing himself as "you," Henry shows how he has separated from
his former self through his "separate peace."
Character List:
Lieutenant Frederic Henry: The protagonist and fairly aloof narrator, Henry is a young
American ambulance driver with the Italian army. However, he does not feel strongly about the
cause, and certainly is not out for glory. He turns from the horrors of war to a passionate,
escapist love affair with Catherine Barkley, and the all-consuming love helps distract him from
the brutality around him. Still, he is good at his job; a cool-headed, unselfish man who exercises
grace under pressure when he is injured and when he must shoot a deserting engineering officer,
Henry fulfills the code of the "Hemingway hero." He makes his "separate peace" when he
decides that he no longer has any obligation to the army and that his loyalty is to Catherine.
Catherine Barkley: A British Voluntary Aid Detachment (a second-tier nurse), Catherine is in
grief over her fiancé's recent death at the start of the novel. Henry offers a tempting rebound, and
she dives into this new diverting love. She later admits that she was slightly "crazy" when she
first met Henry, and her behavior backs this up: she gives herself so readily to a near stranger,
and her games of flirtation and teasing border on the juvenile. However, she gains some measure
of independence later on, as when she helps Henry row the boat across the lake for their escape,
but she is typically submissive and eager to please with Henry (thought, to her credit, so is he
with her). Like Henry, she believes the world is out to destroy people's happiness.
Lieutenant Rinaldi: Henry's Italian surgeon roommate, Rinaldi is an alcoholic womanizer who
does not believe in romance and love as Henry does. Instead, he proclaims himself in love with
nearly every woman he meets, then quickly discards the idea as he finds the next one. He appears
to have something of a crush on Henry, or at least engages in what literary criticism refers to as a
"homosocial relationship," a bond between men that borders on homoeroticism.
Priest: The unnamed priest in Henry's unit is the butt of all jokes by the others, but Henry,
though he is not religious, treats him kindly. They have several deep discussions, and the priest
encourages Henry to find love and be happy.
Helen Ferguson: A Scottish nurse, Helen is Catherine's best female friend in the war. She is also
friends with Henry at first, but later grows jealous of his and Catherine's relationship and fears
Catherine will abandon her.
Bonello: An Italian ambulance driver, Bonello happily kills off the engineering sergeant that
Henry shoots. Bonello, like his fellow drivers, does not believe in the cause of the war, and he
leaves the group during the Italian retreat to become a prisoner.
Ettore Moretti: An Italian-American soldier in the Italian army, Ettore boasts of his medals and
rank while insulting others. In this regard, he is the opposite of Henry, who does not care at all
about personal glory.
Dr. Valentini: A brash, fast-talking doctor who successfully operates on Henry's knee, Dr.
Valentini is a good example of the masculine Hemingway hero, especially in comparison to the

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effete, incompetent doctors who first diagnose Henry.
Aymo: An Italian ambulance driver who is shot and killed during the retreat.
Ralph Simmons: An opera singer Henry knows, Simmons gives Henry food and civilian
clothing after Henry escapes from the army.
Miss Gage: A young, pretty nurse Henry befriends with while he recovers in the Milan hospital.
She appears to be attracted to Henry.
Miss Van Campen: The shrewish superintendent of the Milan hospital, she takes an immediate
disliking to Henry.
Emilio: The bartender at the hotel in Stresa, Emilio warns Henry of his impending arrest and
provides him with his boat to escape.
Count Greffi: A rich elderly man Henry knows who plays billiards with Henry at the hotel in
Stresa. Count Greffi does not believe in the war, and Henry values his other mature opinions.
Captain: The Captain of Henry's unit frequently mocks the priest.
Major: The Major of Henry's unit frequently mocks the priest, as well.