A Farewell To Arms
A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is a typical love story. A
Romeo and his Juliet placed against the odds. In this novel, Romeo is
Frederick Henry and Juliet is Catherine Barkley. Their love affair
must survive the obstacles of World War I. The background of war-torn
Italy adds to the tragedy of the love story. The war affects the
emotions and values of each character. The love between Catherine and
Frederick must outlast long separations, life-threatening war-time
situations, and the uncertainty of each other's whereabouts or
condition. This novel is a beautiful love story of two people who need
each other in a period of upheaval.
Frederick Henry is an American who serves as a lieutenant in the
Italian army to a group of ambulance drivers. Hemingway portrays
Frederick as a lost man searching for order and value in his life.
Frederick disagrees with the war he is fighting. It is too chaotic and
immoral for him to rationalize its cause. He fights anyway, because
the army puts some form of discipline in his life. At the start of the
novel, Frederick drinks and travels from one house of prostitution to
another and yet he is discontent because his life is very unsettled.
He befriends a priest because he admires the fact that the priest
lives his life by a set of values that give him an orderly lifestyle.
Further into the novel, Frederick becomes involved with Catherine
Barkley. He slowly falls in love with her and, in his love for
her, he finds commitment. Their relationship brings some order and
value to his life. Compared to this new form of order in his life,
Frederick sees the losing Italian army as total chaos and disorder
where he had previously seen discipline and control. He can no longer
remain a part of something that is so disorderly...
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