A Farewell to Arms

When Lieutenant Frederic Henry chooses to write home, all he imparts is "I am well" (31). The truth is, he is not well at all. War has hollowed him. He tries to fill this vacuum inside of himself with alcohol, sex with prostitutes, and crude jokes with other soldiers. As an American in the Italian army, he’s an outsider when it comes to both Italian patriotism as well as Italian criticism of the war. He has been caught up in the war, like a pawn on a chess board. War has made him passive. In the opening scenes, his description of the army makes it seem as if he is watching it all as a bystander, at least at first. He naively thinks his role as an ambulance driver will keep him safe; this illusion isn’t shattered until artillery shatters his leg. But even before then, he has seen the cold brutality of this war, a carnage that has stripped him of all of his illusions.

This war experience has made him afraid of his thoughts and where they will lead to, so he tries to cut off thoughts and focus on his immediate transitory needs. This leads to a detached type of storytelling. He spends hardly any time at all telling the reader how he feels. His dialogue with others is tagged simply with “he said” and “she said,” refusing to give the reader any tone of voice or emotion of the speakers. Hemingway doesn't provide any context for Frederic. The reader never learns why he joined the war and left his architectural studies. His character is without a past, and seemingly, without a future. He floats along the currents of the war and spends much of his time trying not to think and remember too much. He continues to hollow himself in order to fit in better with the life of war. He is aware that he isn’t very brave, even though he does take care of his men, bringing them food when they are hungry, even in the middle of a bombardment. In general, he finds his role in the war peripheral; when he returns from leave, he feels that everything operated fine without him.

And then he meets Catherine Barkley. He at first treats their flirtations like a game, as if it’s chess or bridge, and he can see the moves he has to make to win a physical relationship with her. With war, he feels as if he’s a pawn in a game, but with Catherine, he feels as if he’s the one in control, moving the pawns. However, his selfish behavior gradually changes once he finds himself in love with her; suddenly there is a chance to fill the hole inside of him, a hole made by war. She represents a chance to escape the horrors and futility of war, and he tries to escape the death and destruction that surround him to have a new life with her. This chance to be made whole is shattered when Catherine and their baby die during childbirth.

Frederic’s roommate and friend, Rinaldi is also an officer in the Italian army, serving as a surgeon. Frederic greatly enjoys his company, as he is warm, full of laughter, witty, and obviously cares a great deal for Frederic. He also serves as a foil for Frederic. As the war continues, Rinaldi grows more bitter and says he only takes comfort in quick pleasures like alcohol and sex with prostitutes. He does not have someone like Catherine, who can nurture him, make sacrifices for him, and help to humanize him after the dehumanizing effects of the war. Alone, Rinaldi must try and fix the countless bodies that have been ripped open by war. As he battles to keep soldiers alive, the war threatens to continue forever. He is exhausted, and possibly dying from syphilis. He is part of the "Lost Generation," a term used to label those who, though living, were still destroyed by the horror of war.