Student Study
Guide
The Novel: How to Understand It
Before you can successfully tackle your understanding of any novel it is important
to understand the history of the novel. In understanding its history you can better
understand how to interpret it. The history of the English novel began with the
publication of Daniel Defoe’ Robinson Crusoe in 1719. This is not to say that people
weren’t writing before then – they certainly were – but not in the form that we
recognise today as the novel. The novel arose at a time when writers were beginning
to look at the way people interacted with society. Writers have, of course, always
been interested in the world around them, but the development of the novel reflected
a move away from an essentially religious view of life towards a new interest in the
complexities of everyday experience and with the experiences of ordinary people not kings and conquerors. Most novels therefore are concerned with ordinary people
and their problems in the societies in which they find themselves.
Novels do not, however, present a documentary picture of life. What do we mean
by this? It means that novels are not just a snapshot of life at if someone was
recording the actions of people as they went about their daily business. Alongside the
fact that novels look at people in society, the other major characteristic of the genre is
the novels tell a story. In fact, novels tend to tell the same few stories time and time
again. A Farewell to Arms it could be said is a novel that explores the horrors of war
and people’s response to them – does that sound like a familiar theme? What
novelists do is frequently focus on the tensions between individuals and the society in
which they live, presenting characters who are at odds with that society. A lot of
novels have young people as the main characters, for it is often the young who feel
themselves to be most at odds with the conventional standards of society. Think
about Frederic Henry in A Farewell to Arms; how is he at odds with the society of his
time? Does Catherine Barkley represent someone at odds with her society?
You will have made considerable progress in understanding any novel that you
are reading if you can see how it sets certain individuals against society or their
family. As an exercise: for about 10 minutes jot down in note form how you think
Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley represent characters that are at odds with their
society. In doing so think not just of the direct action in the novel, but how they might
be reacting to social and family standards in the broader sense. Think, for instance
about what Frederic’s relationship is to his family.
So, in thinking about a novel, try and see this structure that informs it: A society,
and characters who are in some ways at odds with this society. Do not, however,
make the mistake of believing that the novel is written to put across a point. It is true
that some novelists are moralists – they are trying to put forward their ideas about
how people should behave – but it would be too simple to say about their novels is
the message that they preach. To read a novel in this way is the result of people
wanting a story that must have a point and a purpose. Novels are far too complex to
treat them in such a simplistic and reductive way.
Novels are long works with a great amount of detail on every page. They thus
present all the complicating facts that need to be taken into account before we can
reach any sort of judgment. The effect of this detail is that we come to recognize the
complex reality of a character or event in the story. Even though the novelist’s beliefs
might be apparent – a writer generally leans in one of two directions, either
suggesting that individuals should conform to society’s standards or suggesting that
society is in such a bad state that individuals are bound to feel alienated – but a
sense of the general tendency of the work must be complemented by an awareness
of the richness of the texture of the novel. As readers, our real interest lies in the
complication the novelist creates within the familiar pattern of characters at odds with
their society that enable us to gain a vivid sense of what it is like for particular
individuals to live their lives.
1
A productive critical method for achieving a sense of a novel’s complexity is to
look closely at scenes which you found interesting or memorable, seeing how the
details create a vivid and distinctive impression of an individual and society conflict.
Focus question: What is a scene or episode in A Farewell to Arms that you found
interesting or memorable? Describe that scene and note the reasons why you found
it interesting or memorable. How does this scene reflect a character at odds with
his/her society?
Overview: A Farewell to Arms
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak
HEMINGWAY RECUPERATING IN A MILAN HOSPITAL
Park, Illinois, on July 21, 1899. After a
brief stint as a reporter for the Kansas
City Star, Hemingway joined a volunteer
American Red Cross unit as a driver in
World War I. Hemingway was like many
young men of the time who saw the war
as a chance for adventure, however he
wa sn’t physically fit enough to join the
regular army. Hemingway, who had
defective vision in his left eye, expressed
these viewpoints when, prior to joining, he
wrote to his sister, Marcelline, "But I'll
make it to Europe some way in spite of
this optic. I can't let a show like this go on
without getting into it." He served in Italy
and was seriously wounded during an
Austrian attack. Shortly after the war,
Hemingway lived in Paris, where he
became a key figure of what is
sometimes called the "Lost Generation."
The term refers generally to the post-World War I generation, whose members felt
disillusioned with the war and its consequences; more specifically, the term refers to
a group of leading writers and artists of the period. This was the time in which
Hemingway began work on A Farewell to Arms, a novel that epitomized his
disillusionment with the war.
Events in History at the Time the Novel Takes Place
World War I
The outbreak of World War I, or the "Great War," began with a territorial dispute
between the vast empire of Austria-Hungary and the nation of Serbia. After the
Balkan Wars of 1912-1913, Serbian nationalists took on the cause of the South Slavs
of the Austria-Hungarian empire, deciding that it was time for these people to be
liberated. These Serbian nationalists believed that their aims could be furthered with
the assassination of the Austrian archduke Franz Ferdinand. On June 28, 1914, the
archduke and his wife Sophie were shot dead by a young Serbian radical while
touring Sarajevo.
2
The leaders of Austria-Hungary saw the murder as a good opportunity to launch
aggressions against Serbia and to increase the empire's prestige and power in the
Balkans. With promises of German support, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia.
Subsequently Russia, committed to protecting fellow Slavs in Serbia, mobilized its
troops against Austria-Hungary. When France also began to mobilize for war on the
side of Serbia, Germany declared war on both France and Russia. German troops
invaded Belgium to secure a position for an assault on France, and Great Britain,
committed to Belgium's defense, then declared war against Germany.
On September 5, 1914, Russia, France, and Great Britain, also known as the
Allied Powers, concluded the Treaty of London, each promising not to make a
separate peace with the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. The
outbreak of the war was generally greeted with confidence and satisfaction by the
people of Europe, who were inspired by a surging patriotism. Most Europeans felt
that the conflict would run its course much more quickly than previous wars because
of recent developments in weapons and strategy. But as the armies entrenched
themselves on the both the western front, where the Central Powers faced the
French and British, and the eastern front where the Central Powers faced the
Russians, prolonged battles ensued. Participants and citizenry alike realized that the
initial hopes for a rapid resolution would not be realized.
Technological Advancements in World War I
The development of new and improved weapons around the turn of the twentieth
century greatly influenced the course of World War I. The most powerful
advancements were the machine gun and the rapid-fire artillery gun. The modern
machine gun, developed in the 1880s and `90s, was a reliable belt-fed gun capable
of firing 600 bullets per minute with a range of more than 1,000 yards. Newly
developed field artillery benefited from the introduction of improved loading
mechanisms and brakes. Without brakes, a mounted gun moved out of position
during firing and had to be re-aimed after each round. The new brakes meant that the
guns did not need to be repositioned and so increased the rate of fire and the
accuracy of the artillery. Yet another invention that profoundly changed the face of
war was not itself a
weapon. This device,
invented to control
cattle of the western
United States, was
barbed wire, and it
became a key factor
in the shaping of
World
War
I
battlefields.
With
these
innovations
came
trench warfare, the
predominant method
of battle in World
ITALIAN FIELD GUN
War
I.
Armies
positioned themselves in elaborate trench networks defended by barbed wire,
machine guns, and heavy artillery. Usually supported by artillery fire, infantry forces
assaulted the trenches of the opposing army in an attempt to gain ground. This new
style of trench fighting was characterized by short attacks made under barrages of
artillery; suicide assaults against machine gun positions; elaborate tunnel mining;
3
brutal night skirmishes in "no man's land," the open area between the opposing
trenches; and moving walls of artillery fire that, in some battles, could send eighteen
shells into each square yard of battlefront. Understandably this warfare was
incredibly deadly. In a single day of fighting during the Battle of the Somme, for
example, the British army suffered 57,470 casualties.
Italy's Role in World War I
Since 1882 Italy had been allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary through the
Triple Alliance. Because this treaty was only a defensive pact, and Austria-Hungary
and Germany were
ITALIAN TROOPS MARCHING ON THE ISONZO
the aggressors in
World War I, Italy
was not obliged to
enter the war on
their
side. Even
though the Italian
government refused
to become involved,
it demanded that
Italy should still profit
from the conflict. If
Austria-Hungary
improved its position
in the Balkans, the
Italians wanted the Trentino, a piece of Austrian-held land that some Italians had
desired for years. When Austria was slow to meet this request, Italy demanded the
immediate surrender of the border
region of South Tyrol and several
islands in the Adriatic Sea. By the time
Germany persuaded the Austrians to
agree to these demands, Italy had
begun negotiations with the other side.
Having no stake in the European
territory themselves, Allied Forces
leaders of Russia, England, and France
immediately promised Italy the desired
land from Austria as well as aid in
expanding the Italian territories in
Northern Africa if Italy would join them
in the fight against the Central Powers.
Italy agreed to join the Allies in the
secret Treaty of London on April 26,
1915,
and
immediately
began
mobilization efforts. Italy's ostensible
role in the conflict was to divert the
Austrian forces in order to keep them
from aiding the German army on the
western and eastern fronts.
Italy was poorly prepared for war,
however, and made little progress
ITALY IN 1914
against the Austrians during the first
4
year of the conflict. Both sides traded victories and defeats during the almost nonstop
battles of the Isonzo, a strategically important river in Italy. During 1916 alone, Italy
suffered 500,000 casualties in the course of this fighting. It is during one of these
battles that Hemingway's Frederick Henry is wounded in A Farewell to Arms.
See website: http://www.firstworldwar.com/battles/if.htm.
The Ambulance Service in World War I
With the development of the technologically advanced weaponry that was
determining the course of the war came the need for better emergency medical
services. In the early nineteenth century, ambulance service had been defined as the
"hospital establishments moving with armies in the field, and organized for providing
early surgical assistance to the wounded after battles" (Haller, p. 1). By the twentieth
century, the term ambulance had also come to mean the actual vehicles that carried
the wounded, this definition deriving from British and American misuse of the term.
The immediate and effective evacuation of the wounded not only avoided the
permanent loss of many soldiers' battlefield services but also helped the morale of
those who remained fighting. Prior to successful ambulance use, the prospect of
being abandoned on the battlefield made soldiers less willing to fight; it also meant
that able-bodied soldiers would not have to leave the firing line to assist the wounded
to safety. Ambulances also became crucial in the medical severity of a wound. The
prompt evacuation of stricken soldiers could mean the difference between a minor
injury and a wound that became fatal because of infection or delayed treatment.
On the eve of World War I, ambulances of the British and American armies were a
mixture of horse-drawn and machine-powered vehicles. Motorized vehicles were put
to use as ambulances almost from their inception. Yet even with the benefit of
motorized vehicles, the
resources of medical
US AMBULANCE CREW
personnel were sorely
tested during the war.
The drastic rise in
casualties that came
as a result of the
innovations in weapons
technology more than
compensated
for
improved evacuation
procedures. During the
Battle of the Somme,
personnel
worked
three days just to clear
the wounded and dead
from the battlefield.
Despite the humanitarian function of the ambulance service, it was not uncommon
for its personnel to face the same violence experienced by the soldiers. Despite
precautions, such as the use of the Red Cross flag while on the field, stretcher
parties and ambulance crews took hostile fire--and during major battles sustained
heavy casualties. In many circumstances it became common for the medical
personnel to remove their white arm-bands and uniforms, which made them easy
targets for enemy guns. In A Farewell to Arms, Frederick Henry is wounded by
artillery fire while serving as an ambulance officer during one of the battles by the
5
Isonzo River. This episode in the novel is modeled after Hemingway's own injury
suffered on the Fossalta di Piave front in 1918.
Vocabulary
The following lists of words are found in the novel A Farewell to Arms. They
represent the list of words that will be found in tasks and exercises throughout this
workbook.
abyss
felicitations
cloistered
mercurial
anarchists
fiasco
edifying
consecrated
appreciate
furrowed
rupture
articulation
gaunt
mutinied
anarchists
converging
athiest
gratuitously
furrowed
epithet
authority
feigned
summarily
appreciate
eddy
brittleness
gravely
haughty
ingenious
junction
contemptuous
buttresses
irrigation
voluble
conspicuous
censor
jaundiced
profound
brittleness
champion
junction
coagulate
abyss
cloistered
mercurial
coagulate
compatriots
mutinied
severing
gravely
blaspheme
cynicism
mobility
conceited
profound
fiasco
champion
consecrated
protracted
exhausted
tentatively
conspicuous
rupture
gaunt
ungainly
contemptuous
severing
articulation
protracted
slackened
felicitations
slackened
summarily
conceited
gratuitously
tentatively
irrigation
transparent
authority
compatriots
edifying
ungainly
voluble
athiest
epithet
censor
exhausted
jaundiced
feigned
dispute
blaspheme
converging
cynicism
deprecating
dispute
eddy
ingenious
buttresses
transparent
mobility
6
deprecating
haughty
Vocabulary Exercise
Directions: Match the word in the left column with the correct definition in the right
column:
1
abyss
a.
coming from the proper authority; dictatorial
2
anarchist
b.
a support or prop
3
appreciate
c.
to speak distinctly; expressing oneself clearly
4
articulate
d.
bottomless hole; a vast expanse or depth
5
atheist
e.
irreverent; profane
6
authoritative
f.
to increase in value
7
blasphemous
g.
fragile; frail; easily damaged
8
brittle
h.
one who does not believe in God
9
buttress
i.
critical
10
censorious
j.
one who believes in the absence of government
and law and in a state of disorder
The Novel in Focus
The Plot
Frederick Henry is an American serving as a volunteer ambulance officer in Italy
during World War I. The Italians are fighting the Austrians in an attempt to hinder
their aid to the German army on the western and eastern fronts. Henry's ambulance
unit is stationed in Gorizia, a northern Italian town that had previously been held by
the Austrian forces. When Henry earns a leave during a break in the fighting, he
spends his time drinking and carousing with his roommate, Rinaldi, an Italian army
surgeon.
Rinaldi tells Henry about the beautiful English nurses at the hospital and mentions
one Miss Barkley in particular. Henry meets Catherine Barkley in the hospital with
Rinaldi and finds her indeed very beautiful. During their first meeting, Catherine tells
Henry about her fiancé, who was killed in the Battle of the Somme. At first, Henry is
not in love with Catherine, but he does desire an affair with her. But despite his initial
intentions not to become romantically involved, Henry realizes that he is lonely
without Catherine and tries to spend more time with her.
During one of the Italian forces' battles with the Austrians, Henry is wounded by an
explosion from a mortar round and one of his drivers is killed. Rinaldi visits Henry in
the field hospital and encourages him to petition for a medal. Henry is sent to the
American hospital in Milan, and Catherine arranges to be transferred there as well. At
this point, Catherine and Henry truly fall in love and spend every free moment
together. This is made easier by Catherine's assignment as the night nurse in
Henry's ward. As their physical intimacy continues, Henry worries about the
immorality of their relations. Catherine is not in the least concerned with these
7
considerations. When she informs Henry that she is pregnant, she asks him if he
feels trapped. He replies that men always feel trapped.
After his recovery Henry is sent back to the front and finds that the war is going
poorly. He is constantly confronted by visions of death and has several realizations
about the destruction and pointlessness of war. When the Germans and Austrians
begin their drive into Italy, the Italian troops are forced to retreat from the city of
Caporetto. As the retreat becomes more chaotic, Henry shoots an Italian sergeant
who refuses his order to help dig out an ambulance stuck in the mud. One of Henry's
drivers, afraid of being killed, surrenders to the German army. Henry is confronted by
Italian military police, who accuse him of treason for retreating from the enemy.
Realizing that all retreating officers are being sent to a firing squad, Henry runs away.
He then takes off his uniform and deserts.
Henry reunites with Catherine in the small Italian town of Stresa. With Henry out of
military service, they are finally able to enjoy a few moments of happiness. During
this tranquil time, Henry fishes at the lake and befriends the elderly and distinguished
Count Greffi. Feeling he and Catherine must leave Italy, Henry plans their escape to
Switzerland, just across the lake from Stresa. During a heavy storm, Henry borrows a
boat and rows all night to reach the Swiss border.
Happy in neutral Switzerland, Henry and Catherine discuss marriage, but
Catherine asserts she wishes to wait until after the baby is born. Henry takes
Catherine to the hospital when she goes into labor. The doctor announces that they
must perform a Caesarean section to save the mother and child, and Henry agrees.
Despite the emergency operation, both the baby and Catherine die. Henry realizes
the risks of falling in love and determines not to put faith in anything but himself.
1
2
3
4
Across
5
2 to increase in value (10)
6
5 very thin; emaciated; angular (5)
7
6 scorn; extreme dislike or disdain
(8)
8
8 a fellow countryman (10)
10 profound knowledge;
intellectual depth (10)
9
13 to speak distinctly, expressing
oneself clearly (10)
15 one who believes in the absence
of government or law (9)
12
10
11
13
14
16 to wet, to supply with water (8)
17 bottomless hole, a vast expanse
or depth (5)
15
18 to prolong (8)
Down
1 to make wrinkles or grooves (6)
16
17
3 coming from the proper
authority;dictatorial; conclusive
(13)
18
4 a current of air or water moving contrary to the
main current (4)
12 given to faultfinding, sneering and sarcasm;
exhibiting mocking disbelief (7)
7 rebellious; unruly (8)
13 one who does not believe in God (7)
9 to cut or to separate (5)
14 a term or phrase describing or characterising (7)
11 a false appearance; a fake punch to occupy defenses
allowing a real blow (5)
8
Antiwar Sentiment in A Farewell to Arms
One of the most powerful and pervasive elements in A Farewell to Arms is its
constant condemnation of war and the false idealism that flourishes during wartime.
The condemnation begins early in the novel when Frederick Henry has not yet made
his own realizations about the futility and senselessness of the war. In Chapter 9,
Henry discusses the war with his ambulance crew, who "were all mechanics and
hated the war" (Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, p. 48). One of the drivers, Manera,
expresses the sentiment that, "If everybody would not attack the war would be over"
( A Farewell to Arms, p. 49). Henry, still full of idealism about the war, disagrees with
this attitude and tells the drivers, "It would only be worse if we stopped fighting" ( A
Farewell to Arms, p. 48). Another driver, Passini, challenges Henry and says, "War is
not won by victory.... Why don't we stop fighting? If they come down into Italy they
will get tired and go away. They have their own country. But no, instead there is war"
( A Farewell to Arms, pp. 50-1).
It is not until the retreat from Caporetto that Henry comes full circle and discovers
what he perceives to be the true nature of war. During the retreat Henry thinks about
the war and talks about the idealism that supports it:
I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious , and sacrifice and the
expression in vain. We had heard them, sometimes standing in the rain almost out of
earshot, so that only the shouted words came through, and had read them, on
proclamations that were slapped up by billposters over other proclamations, now for
a long time, and I had seen nothing sacred, and the other things that were glorious
had no glory and the sacrifices were like the stockyards at Chicago if nothing was
done with the meat except to bury it. ( A Farewell to Arms, pp. 184-85)
At this point, Henry is thoroughly disgusted and disillusioned with the war and has
come to reject his earlier ideals. By showing this transformation in Henry and the
events and conditions that brought this change, the novel presents a gradual and
effective condemnation of wartime idealism. During the time that Hemingway was
writing the novel, such sentiments of disillusionment with the war were commonly
expressed by the "Lost Generation," a group of writers and artists of whom
Hemingway was a leading figure.
Sources
Many of the situations and characters in A Farewell to Arms came from
Hemingway's own experience with the war in Italy. Not long after high school
Hemingway volunteered as a Red Cross ambulance driver in 1917. Just like
Frederick Henry, Hemingway was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the
Ambulance Corps. Several other aspects of Hemingway's war ordeal became part of
Henry's experience in the novel. Henry was posted in northern Italy and, like
Hemingway, received a wound from a mortar round. Even the details of the wound to
the leg are based exactly on the novelist's own injury.
Henry recovers from his wound in a Milan hospital, where he continues his affair
with Catherine. Hemingway also convalesced in Milan and, like his character Henry,
fell in love with his nurse, an American named Agnes von Kurowsky, who was
reciprocal in her affections. Like Catherine in the novel, she volunteered for the night
9
shift to spend time with him. Unlike Catherine, who becomes completely devoted to
Henry, Agnes jilted Hemingway and became engaged to an Italian nobleman.
Henry's closet full of empty cognac bottles and his bout of jaundice during his
recovery were also based on Hemingway's experiences in the Milan hospital. The
character of Count Greffi is based on the real-life Count Greppi, an aged diplomat
whom Hemingway met during a trip to Stresa in September of 1918. One difference
in Hemingway's experience is that he did not actually arrive in Italy until the year after
the battle at Caporetto, the climax in the novel; he was still in high school during the
famous retreat.
Events in History at the Time the Novel Was Written
Hemingway and the "Lost Generation"
Several twentieth-century American writers came to terms with their feelings for
America and developed their own artistic abilities in Paris. The French capital
welcomed many young artists who, in the 1920s, were little appreciated in the United
States. Other grounds for the growing number of exiled artists in Paris included the
effects of the war, which had brought many Americans to Europe for humanitarian
reasons; a new and inexpensive steamship fare, called Tourist Third, that brought
artists and students to Europe by the thousands; and the favorable exchange rate,
which made life in Europe wonderfully inexpensive for American travelers. American
artists could live fashionably in Paris, spending their free time drinking in cafés; by
contrast, their compatriots on American soil were legally prevented from drinking
alcohol because of the Prohibition (1922-1933).
This "Lost Generation" of American artists, as they came to be known, coalesced
around their common feelings of disillusionment about the war. The label "Lost
Generation" originated, in fact, in relation to the war. A French hotel owner was
speaking to the writer Gertrude Stein about a mechanic repairing her car. The war,
observed the hotel owner, had robbed young men like the mechanic of a proper
education in their formative years, leaving them a lost generation. Stein,
remembering the expression, applied it to Hemingway and his circle. Then he quoted
the expression in his novel The Sun Also Rises (1926), and "the words became the
label for an entire literary generation" (Hendrickson, p. 329). The label extended to
writers like F. Scott Fitzgerald and e. e. cummings, Americans who, like Hemingway,
felt alienated from the pre-world war values of their nation. "For meaning," explains
one historian of the Paris literary set, "Hemingway and his generation turned to art,
that is, to its order and beauty, to the preservation of the word. Style was to be a
barrier against chaos and the loss of faith" (Fitch, p. 163).
Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms epitomizes the disillusionment of the Lost
Generation with its stark portrayal of war and its attack on the idealism that fueled the
incredible bloodshed of World War I. Henry voices this perspective: "There were
many words that you could not stand to hear and finally only the names of places had
dignity.... Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene
beside the concrete names of villages, the number of roads, the names of rivers, the
numbers of regiments and the dates" ( A Farewell to Arms, p. 185).
10
Anti-War Poets - Wilfred Owen
Anthem for Doomed Youth
What passing-bells for these who die as cattle?
Only the monstrous anger of the guns.
Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle
Can patter out their hasty orisons.
No mockeries for them from prayers or bells,
Nor any voice of mourning save the choirs,—
The shrill, demented choirs of wailing shells;
And bugles calling for them from sad shires.
What candles may be held to speed them all?
Not in the hands of boys, but in their eyes
Shall shine the holy glimmers of good-byes.
The pallor of girls' brows shall be their pall;
Their flowers the tenderness of silent maids,
And each slow dusk a drawing-down of blinds.
Do some research on another World War One poet and present one of their poems
to the class. With your interpretation you are to give a brief biography of the author,
explain why you chose the poem, and what you think the poem means.
1
Across
2
3
4
2 to prolong (8)
5
6 a current of air or water moving contrary
to the main current (4)
6
8 happy or delightful (10)
7
10 to increase in value (10)
8
14 one who believes in the absence of
government or law (9)
16 to cut or to separate (5)
9
10
11
12
17 a fellow countryman (10)
13
18 a support or prop (8)
Down
14
1 to dedicate or to declare sacred (10)
15
3 bottomless hole, a vast expanse or depth
(5)
16
4 given to faultfinding, sneering and
sarcasm; exhibiting mocking disbelief (7)
17
5 capable of moving or being moved (6)
7 inclined to fight, to argue or to debate (12)
9 to use up; to drain (7)
18
11 to wet, to supply with water (8)
12 not fully worked out; provisional; uncertain (9)
13 to seclude or to confine (8)
15 a false appearance; a fake punch to occupy defenses allowing a real blow (5)
11
Vocabulary
Directions: Match the word in the left column with the correct definition in the right
column:
1
champion
a.
to defend or support
2
cloister
b.
obvious; noticeable; attracting attention
3
coagulate
c.
given to faultfinding, sneering and sarcasm
4
compatriot
d.
to seclude or confine
5
conceit
e.
scorn; extreme dislike or disdain
6
consecrate
f.
to move together
7
conspicuous
g.
to dedicate or declare sacred
8
contempt
h.
to gather together in a mass; clot
9
converge
i.
a fellow countryman
10
cynical
j.
excessively high opinion of one’s worth or ability
A Farewell to Arms
Characters

Lieutenant Henry (ch 1)—narrator and protagonist. He is an American soldier who
joined the war on the Italian side.

The priest (ch2) —a military priest who is mocked by the other soldiers, but befriends
Henry
Lt. Rinaldi (ch 3)—Henry’s friend, also an officer.
Helen Ferguson (ch 4)—Catherine’s friend and another nurse.
Catherine Barkley (ch 4)—A nurse whom Henry falls in love with.
Henry’s major (ch 9)—The major who is Henry’s superior
Passini (ch9)—ambulance driver
Gavuzzi (ch9)— ambulance driver
Manera (ch9)— ambulance driver
Gordini (ch9)— ambulance driver
Bonnello—ambulance driver
Mrs. Walker (ch 13)—a busy, overwhelmed nurse at the hospital in Milan
Ms. Gage (ch 13)—a nurse in Milan who seems to like Henry
Ms. Van Campen (ch 13)—the superintendent of the hospital in Milan
Dr. Valentini (ch 15)-operates on Henry’s knee
Mr and Mrs. Meyers (ch 19)—an elderly couple whom Henry spends time with in
Milan.
Ettore Moretti (ch 19)—a soldier who brags about honors/medals, unlike Henry
Ralph Simmons (ch 19)—an opera singer who helps Henry escape to Stresa
Edgar Saunders (ch 19)—another opera singer whom Henry meets
Gino (ch 27) —soldier who talks about glory/honor
Emilio (ch34)—a bartender in Stresa
Count Greffi (ch35)—a rich and old man who Henry has discussions with in the hotel
in Stresa
12
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Lieutenant Frederic Henry
When we meet Frederic he is portrayed as underdeveloped, although we
must remember that we see him through the interpretation of his older self and the
many experiences that older man brings to the novel. Many characters suspect that
there is a deeper aspect to his personality, but at this point it is hidden behind his
participation in “manly pursuits” and a devotion to personal duty that has seen him
travel to Italy to participate in a war that his own country is not involved in.
Frederic declines nominations for personal awards for bravery as he believes
not in honour but in duty. This is a concept typical of the Hemingway hero. Typical
too is that Frederic has spent his holiday in the brothels indulging his base instincts
and forgetting the war for a short time.
On the other hand Frederic is the only member of the unit who will discuss
abstract notions with the Priest and who does not participate in the slightly malicious
taunting of the spiritual man. For his part, the Priest sees in Frederic the potential for
both love and devotion, although at this point Frederic himself is adamant that he is
incapable of feeling either of these things.
When he meets Catherine he is attracted both by her beauty and her straight
talking about the realities of the war. Initially he treats Catherine as a participant in a
game of bridge “I did not love Catherine Barkley, nor had any idea of loving her.”
Their relationship is a diversion from the realities of the war that surrounds them and
nothing more. As she nurses him, and their relationship deepens, Frederic becomes
aware that he has fallen in love with her.
Similarly, although he has been at the front line of the war it is not until he is
injured and until he witnesses war first-hand in the death of his comrade that he
begins to question his involvement. In essence, through the injury, the uncertainty of
recovery and the growth of his love Frederic emerges into a more rounded, mature
and worldly man. The “baby” Rinaldi knows and “good/nice boy” Catherine first refers
to becomes aware of the horror of the war and senseless waste of the slaughter that
he has witnessed.
Focus question: In having Fredric Henry tell his own story in the first person,
using such sparse, undecorated writing, does Hemingway diminish sympathy for his
main character?
Catherine Barkley
The female lead character in the novel is Catherine Barkley, an English nurse
who has volunteered to serve in Italy. The death of her fiancé has changed the way
in which Catherine views life and conventional morality. When we meet her she has
been engaged for eight years and remains a virgin, a state she clearly intends to
rectify as soon as possible.
Catherine admits that her grief has made her “crazy” during this time, her
behaviour has a hint of the hysterical and she still carries her fiancé’s riding crop
around with her for example. She is clear that she has lost her faith in God and the
afterlife, believing only in the here and now. Catherine is more mature than Frederic
and is initially aggressive in her pursuit of him; it is she who initiates the “game” of
seduction between them. Catherine engages in the relationship willingly and is
worldlier than she appears – their “game” provides a respite from the horrible reality
of the war that surrounds them.
Despite her intentions Catherine falls in love with Frederic although she is
realistic about his feelings for her “You don’t have to pretend you love me,” she tells
Henry “You see I’m not mad…”
13
Critics have decried Catherine’s transformation
in the text from independent
woman to dependent, pregnant homemaker. Once she falls in love, however,
Catherine becomes dedicated to Frederic and dedication to him replaces traditional
religious devotion in her life “You’re my religion” she tells him. Catherine faces each
challenge presented to her on equal footing with Frederic. She faces the social
opprobrium represented by Helen with grace.
In a world torn apart by war Catherine is aware that the old certainties are
under attack. Her life is drastically altered by the war: her fiancé is dead; she is
working as a nurse, living independently in a foreign country. The reality of death is
one she is familiar with in both her personal life and her work.
Focus question: Do you regard Catherine as a realistic portrayal of a woman?
Would she have been realistic for her time?
Lieutenant Rinaldi
The surgeon Rinaldi is a committed philanderer, a man of the flesh. Rinaldi is
the first of the unit to meet Catherine and he is drawn to her in his usual light-hearted
manner “I am now in love with Miss Barkley.”
Once, however, he introduces Frederic to Catherine and notices their mutual
attraction he stands aside to allow Frederic to pursue her. Rinaldi’s attitude is a
contrast to that of the priest; he represents the physical aspects of life. He appears to
have no ideals or belief in a higher power, relying on his skills as a surgeon to save
lives.
Focus question: What is Rinaldi’s role in the novel: is his importance to the plot
only in introducing Catherine, or is he there perhaps to show Henry’s capacity for
friendship? Are his views on war important?
The Priest
The priest represents a spiritual life and challenges Frederic to consider other,
less tangible more abstract, aspects of life such as glory and honour. Unlike the other
men in the unit, Frederic does not mock the priest and his beliefs. They become
friends of a sort and have a number of conversations about the meaning of love and
life. The priest reassures Frederic of his innate ability to love. When he tells him that
he does not love anyone, and certainly does not love God the Priest says “You will…I
know you will.”
Focus question: How does the character of the priest drive the plot in A Farewell
to Arms: what is his role in shaping the novel’s characters and where does he play a
part in the themes?
Helen Ferguson
Helen Ferguson is a Scottish nurse and friend of Catherine Barkley. She
operates in the text as a counterpoint to Catherine and represents a more
conservative attitude towards women’s roles, sexuality and social norms. It is Helen
who warns Frederic about getting Catherine pregnant when they begin their affair,
just as she castigates him for Catherine’s situation when they meet again in Stresa.
Helen is, however, a loyal friend who genuinely wishes the best for Catherine, even
though she is critical of her choices.
14
Across
4
excessively high opinion of one's
own worth or ability (7)
6 very thin; emaciated; angular
(5)
1
2
3
7 a false appearance; a fake
punch to occupy defenses
allowing a real blow (5)
4
5
9 coming from the proper
authority;dictatorial;
conclusive (13)
10 a current of air or water
moving contrary to the main
current (4)
11 ability to use words easily;
fluent and glib (7)
6
7
8
9
14 to use up; to drain (7)
15 a point of joining (8)
10
11
12
13
17 to break apart; to burst (7)
18 to cut or to separate (5)
14
15
16
Down
17
1 to loosen; slow down; make
less intense (7)
2 not fully worked out;
provisional; uncertain (9)
18
3 to dedicate or to declare sacred
(10)
5 instructing and improving
spiritually or morally (8)
6 seriousness; importance (7)
8 bottomless hole, a vast expanse or depth (5)
12 a support or prop (8)
13 to disapprove regretfully; to belittle; to express mild
disapproval (9)
16 to make wrinkles or grooves (6)
Chapter Summaries
1. The narrator describes the village he lives in during World War I. Seven thousand
soldiers die of cholera in the winter.
2. Lt. Henry (the narrator) and his unit move to Gorizia. They are in a mess hall and
make sexual jokes to make fun of a priest, but Henry is nice to him.
3. Henry discusses his trip with Rinaldi, and lends him money to impress an English
nurse named Catherine. Henry feels bad and explains to the priest why he didn’t take
his advice.
4. Henry follows Rinaldi to the hospital, where they meet Catherine Barkley and
Helen Ferguson, both nurses. Henry and Catherine talk, Rinaldi thinks Catherine
likes Henry.
5. Henry goes to see Catherine, misses her, and drives along the new trenches. He
then sees her and, after she rejects him initially, she lets him kiss her.
15
6. Catherine and Henry meet and discuss their relationship. He lies and tells her he
loves her, she knows he is lying and he gets confused.
7. Henry meets a soldier who has intentionally let himself get injured to avoid fighting.
Henry tells him to hit his head so he can get out of the fighting definitely. Henry feels
lonely when he hears that Catherine is sick.
8. Henry heads to the battle front, but stops to see Catherine. She gives him a medal
to protect him.
9. Henry arrives at the front lines in Pavla, where the men debate the war. The
fighting starts and Henry is hurt and taken to the hospital, where his leg is treated.
10. Rinaldi visits Henry, who is suffering, in the hospital to tell him that he will be
honored; Henry doesn’t want to be. Rinaldi promises to send for Catherine.
11. The priest comes to visit Henry, and they discuss the war and religion.
12. The major and Rinaldi come to visit Henry to discuss the progress of the war
(America has joined). Henry sets out for Milan, where Catherine has been transferred,
and gets very drunk on the train.
13. Henry arrives at the hospital in Milan, and, after some delay, gets a room. He
also meets Ms. Van Campen, Mrs. Walker, and Ms. Gage, all nurses at the hospital.
14. Miss Gage asks Henry why he didn’t share a drink with her, and tells him she
doesn’t like Catherine. Henry gets a shave. Catherine arrives, Henry realizes that he
loves her, and they sleep together.
15. Doctors examine Henry’s leg and decide it will take a while before they can
perform surgery, but Dr. Valentini meets Henry, has a drink with him, and decides to
do the surgery the very next day.
16. Catherine spends the night with Henry and prepares him for his operation. They
discuss their relationship.
17. Henry gets very sick after his surgery. While he recovers, Nurse Ferguson tells
him Catherine needs time off, which Henry convinces the head nurse to grant her.
After Catherine gets a break, she comes back to see Henry.
18. It is summertime, Henry is walking on crutches. He and Catherine feel married,
but don’t marry, since they would send her away from the front if she was a married
woman.
19. Henry spends time with an older couple, Mr and Mrs Meyers. He goes to a
chocolate shop to get Catherine something, and meets Moretti, Simmons, and
Saunders. He then talks to Catherine about Moretti.
20. Henry, Catherine, Helen ("Fergie"), and another boy from the hospital go to the
horse races.
21. Henry gets news that the Allies are losing, and he will return to the front in three
weeks. Catherine tells him she is pregnant, and he is happy about it.
22. Henry gets jaundice. Ms Van Campen blames it on alcohol and takes away his
stash.
23. Henry and Catherine spend one last day in Milan together before he leaves for
the front.
24. Henry sends Catherine back to the hospital and gets on a train, where after a
small incident he has to sleep on the floor.
25. Henry discusses the war with the mayor of Gorizia. He meets up with Rinaldi
again, who wants to know about Henry and Catherine.
26. Henry has a discussion with the priest over the progress of the war.
27. Henry travels to the front, where he meets and talks with Gino. They are
bombarded at night, but learn that the Italian line is broken. They return to Gorizia to
find that everyone (including Rinaldi) have left.
28. The men retreat slowly out of the town, and Henry dreams of Catherine, whom he
misses.
29. Aymo’s car gets stuck, and Henry ends up shooting an engineer who didn’t want
to stop and help. He is wounded, but Bonello shoots him dead. They end up
continuing on foot.
16
30. Henry and his men go along a separate retreat route, and end up getting shot at
by the Italians themselves. They hide in a farmhouse, and later rejoin up with the
army. The army is interrogating and shooting officers for the Italian defeat, so Henry
escapes after being taken.
31. Henry escapes down a river, then in a train and in a car.
32. Henry lies under a canvas and thinks about his leg, the war and, especially,
Catherine.
33. Henry gets to Milan, stops by a wine shop, and visits the hospital, where he
learns that Catherine has left. He visits Simmons to learn how to escape to
Switzerland.
34. Henry goes to Stresa, and is joyfully reunited with Catherine, though Helen gets
angry at him for ruining Catherine’s life. He won’t read the papers, and Catherine
assures him he is not bad for leaving the Italian army.
35. Henry, Catherine, and Helen have lunch. Henry meets Count Greffi again. They
discuss the war and religion.
36. Emilio tells Henry that the police plan to arrest him, and give Catherine and Henry
his boat and supplies to escape to Switzerland.
37. Catherine and Henry make it to Switzerland after intense rowing. They are taken
by the police, but given Swiss visas.
38. Henry and Catherine have moved into a house; it is autumn. They discuss
marriage, which Catherine agrees to eventually. Catherine and Henry discuss
whether he feels edgy, and how to solve this..
39. Catherine and Henry go for a walk and enjoy being alone. Henry tells Catherine
she doesn’t have to change for him to keep loving her.
40. Catherine and Henry move to be closer to the hospital in January.
41. Catherine goes into labor and gives birth to a stillborn child, whom Henry feels
nothing for. Catherine bleeds to death with Henry by her side. He cannot find the
words to say goodbye.
Explanation
Part 1
The opening chapter is an important one, introducing many major motifs to be
developed later. In the chapter, war and death are juxtaposed against nature and life.
There are trees, but they are coated in dust and the leaves fall off early because of it.
The thick, green leaves not found on the trees are instead used by the troops to
conceal guns in the trucks. The clear and swift-moving river water is juxtaposed
against images of rain and mud as well as slow-moving troops. The image of fertility
is compared to soldiers carrying artillery in front of their bellies.
The situation here is bleak. The chapter sets up a tired mood, with troops trudging
incessantly through the mud. It is also soured by irony: "At the start of the winter
came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera. But it was checked and
in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army." The description of a
"permanent rain" is intended to create a feeling of helplessness. The "only" in the
second sentence conveys a sense of the war's scope.
The tiredness of the war is mirrored by the troops themselves. The narrator begins
the second chapter with the comment that "the next year there were many victories."
That is all. It is blunt and detached, as if the victories no longer matter and nobody
knows what they are fighting for. Later, a shell explodes in front of Henry and instead
of reacting emotionally, he simply describes the smell of the explosion: one of
"blasted clay and stone and freshly shattered flint."
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The narrator of the story and the protagonist are two different people, as can be
seen in the soliloquy on pages 13 and 14. The protagonist is Henry Frederick during
the events narrated in the book, but the narrator is clearly an older Henry, one after
the events. The soliloquy itself revolves around an "it" that separates the narrator
from the protagonist: it is something which "I did not know then, although I learned it
later." It is something the priest "had always known" and which Henry "was always
able to forget." What Henry refers to is still debated among scholars, but the most
prominent opinion seems to be that the "it" refers to a questioning of faith. The
argument is that over the course of the novel Henry has developed a tragic vision of
sorts-a knowledge that the world is indifferent (i.e. there is no God) and that life is
ultimately meaningless. A few scholars have argued that the "it" is the oppositeHenry has come to the realization that he has a soul and that death is not final. The
interpretation of the novel presented here will favor the former, which is more
consistent with the trends that run through Hemingway's other novels.
Whichever the case, at this point in the novel it is worth noting that there is already
a seed of existentialism in Henry. When returning from leave, he notes that nothing
seems to have changed and "evidently it did not matter whether I was there or not."
The comment hints at a view that there may be no significance to living at all. At
another time, Henry pronounces that "we did not do the things we wanted to do; we
never did such things." Here he argues that life itself prevents a person from doing
what he wishes.
Many things can be discovered about Catherine in her first conversation with
Henry. She tells that she had a fiancé she was engaged to for eight years, at which
point he went into the war and died: "he was killed and that was the end of it."
Henry's "I don't know" which follows her tale expresses his uncertainty regarding the
existence of an afterlife. In contrast, Catherine is sure there is none: "That's the end
of it," she assures him. Catherine expresses regret that she didn't marry him because
she was afraid of the consequences, but now realizes the meaninglessness of the
consequences. Life, to her, does what it wishes to do, and her living is the struggle
against circumstance.
Part 2
Frederic Henry, the protagonist, falls short of being any sort of hero because he
doesn't care about what is happening. When he makes love to Catherine without
loving her, he mentions that "I didn't care what I was getting into" and "Nobody had
mentioned what the stakes were." This lack of concern diminishes him in the reader's
mind. With respect to the war itself, he notes, rather naively, that "I knew I would not
be killed. Not in this war. It did not have anything to do with me." To Henry, the world
is a just one, and that because he cares little about the war the war will ignore him.
Henry's belief in a well-ordered universe is challenged when the dugout is blasted
open and he is severely injured. In chapter 9, the reader is handed an indifferent
universe on a platter. It is absolutely absurd that a bunch of men should be blown
apart while they are eating pasta. Hemingway makes the absurdity clear by spending
more time describing the act of eating (53-54) than the exploding shells overhead. It
is worthwhile to note, however, that although he is injured, Henry does not quite
accept this notion of an indifferent universe. Instead of accepting his fate at the
hands of this universe, he cries out to God for mercy.
Passini is the man who most vehemently protests the war, and it is no coincidence
that he is the only character to so far die from it. Passini wishes to end the war by
quitting it, noting that if the Italians stop fighting, the Austrians "will get tired and go
away." Essentially, he has decided not to fight in the war anymore, and there is an
implication that he dies because he has quit the struggle. Hemingway sets up the war
as a metaphor for life: it is crude and indifferent to the beings who participate in it.
18
However, all the participants can do is struggle against what is set upon them.
Passini, because he refuses to take part in that absurdity, is killed.
A final image of futility in opposing the war is found in the old man with the hernia
lying by the side of the road. The man has done everything possible to get out of the
army, but his own efforts (as well as Henry's assistance) are futile, and he is dragged
back.
Part 3
The juxtaposition of Rinaldi against the priest brings up many important contrasts.
Rinaldi, in many ways, is a man of the flesh. He is concerned with the war and
country, is consumed in eagerness for medals, and lusts for one-night stands. The
priest is a man of the spirit. He does not see the patriotism or glory of the war, but
instead its hopelessness. He does not find happiness in lust, but instead in selfless
love. It is between these two ways of life that Henry must choose.
At one point, the priest chides Henry, saying that "even wounded you do not see
it." Here, he refers to the futility of the war-how it is in the hands of a few people who
simply want the war, and that the others are at their mercy. The war is indifferent to
its participants, and Henry cannot see that.
The priest's tiredness is most likely due to the fact that he has lost some faith: "I
try always to hope but sometimes I cannot." If the war is indifferent, if most people
are at the mercy of others who wish to fight, then where is God? However, there is a
sort of heroism in the priest because, despite knowing the war (and presumably life)
is futile, he continues to "try always to hope." Unlike the priest, who has accepted his
condition and dealt with it, Henry acts with detachment.
As a final bit of information, the priest attempts to convince Henry that happiness
can only be obtained by selfless love, which the priest presumably has for God. His
belief is largely an existential one. In a world where man always loses (i.e. dies), the
end doesn't matter and consequently happiness is derived from the heroic struggle
against that world. That heroism manifests itself best in the service of another.
Part 4
Many happenings in A Farewell to Arms seem to be absurd, yet are treated as
normal occurrences. One such event is the doctor's absence from the hospital. To
the reader, it seems outrageous that the doctor should be missing from the hospital
at war time. On the other hand, the nurses find nothing unusual here-he is simply at
another clinic. It becomes apparent that what the reader expects, i.e. that the doctor
be present, is not a natural occurrence so much as a coincidence. In truth, the world
is indifferent to such matters.
Catherine recognizes the indifference of the universe, and takes joy in the fact that
Henry and herself are both alive and out of immediate danger. "Feel our hearts
beating," she says when she sees Henry again for the first time. But Henry does not
see the coincidence-to him it is natural that he survive the accident, as he has no real
part in the war: "I don't care about our hearts, I want you." Catherine also reminds
Henry that they are alive in an effort to ensure that his love is genuine. Out of the war,
there is no longer a need to role-play, to pretend they are lovers for sport.
Catherine is, in many ways, the Hemingway code hero of this novel (see
Discussion of Themes). This is particularly apparent in chapter 16, when Henry
denies sleeping with anyone else and she says "It's all right. Keep right on lying to
me. That's what I want you to do." Catherine knows the truth, yet at the same time
denies it. She is perfectly capable of holding simultaneously two conflicting thoughts
in her head, such as accepting the futility of life while struggling against it. They are,
in a sense, role-playing. However, they are also jumping head-first into a relationship
and making it work, in a sense fighting the indifferent world. This is especially clear
when Catherine notes that "I want what you want. There isn't any me any more." She
19
is giving selflessly to Henry, which, as the priest noted earlier, is true love and the
way happiness is achieved.
A final note with regards to a piece of symbolism Hemingway uses to separate two
types of characters. In the hospital, the "initiated" (i.e. those that understand the
futility of the universe yet struggle against it) and "uninitiated" are separated by their
drinking habits. The house doctor and Miss Van Campen do not drink, whereas Miss
Gage, Catherine, Rinaldi, and Dr. Valentini all do. Drinking is denounced by most
religious and moral institutions and by refusing to drink, the doctor and nurse
demonstrate that they adhere to a strict set of principles and beliefs which simply do
not exist in the world. Those that do drink adhere to a more personal set of values,
such as integrity and companionship. Henry and Catherine must watch out for the
former group of people, who will have them thrown out if they are caught having sex.
On the other hand, the pair represents the latter-Catherine doesn't think much about
the convention of marriage.
Part 5
It is summertime now, and, while he waits for his leg to heal, Henry spends most
of his days with Catherine. One day, when coming back from treatment, Henry meets
an officer in the Italian army named Ettore Moretti. In contrast to Henry, Ettore is
obsessed with his scars, medals, and an impending promotion to captain.
At another time, Catherine and Henry decide to go to the horse races with some
friends. Twice, with the aid of friends, they bet upon winning horses. However, both
horses barely pay because there are already many bids on them. Finally the two
detach themselves from the crowd and choose a random horse to bet upon. They
lose, but feel better doing so.
As the end of summer approaches, Henry gets a letter from the army saying that
when he is discharged he will be given three weeks leave before he must return.
Catherine declares that she will find a way to leave the hospital at that time as well.
Part 6
When Catherine and Henry are walking around the streets of Milan, Henry notices
another soldier and his girl seeking shelter by a cathedral. Henry notes that they are
like himself and Catherine, a soldier and a girl. Catherine sees more than just this
shallow resemblance, saying that "Nobody is like us," and later points out that "they
have the cathedral [to stay at]." The implication is that unlike Henry and Catherine,
this pair has religion. The only constant thing for Henry and Catherine is their love.
In the hotel room, Henry quotes Marvell's poem "To His Coy Mistress." The
couplet he quotes serves to remind Catherine that death is ever near (as evinced by
his returning to war), that time is short. Like the couple in the poem, they don't have a
million years with which to make love.
When Henry boards the train, it is raining. The rain's presence creates a feeling
that the events ahead (and indeed the events which have just taken place) are out of
Henry's and Catherine's control. The crowded train also serves as an objective
correlative, creating an atmosphere of hopelessness-circumstance has once again
gotten the better of Henry. However, Henry chooses to give up his seat; in the face of
such circumstances, he holds onto a set of moral values (plays by the rules).
Part 7
Rinaldi is initiated-he accepts the futility of his actions, that he fixes people up only
so that they can be sent back to the front to be blown up again. However, he is no
hero, for that acceptance has broken him. "I never think. No, by God, I don't think; I
operate," he says to Henry. When he stops working, he realizes that "You're dry and
you're empty and there's nothing else," and can't stand that. The true Hemingway
20
code hero can hold futility and necessity together, and is capable of continuing with
the struggle. Rinaldi doesn't care any more, wanting simply a clean death (an
"industrial accident") instead of life.
The priest is better off. He realizes the futility of the war, but retains hope that it
will end-he believes the officers have realized that there are no winners in the war.
When Henry argues that the Austrians will not stop the war at this point, the priest
still protests that "I had hoped for something," and notes that this something is
neither defeat nor victory. All that matters is that he still hopes.
Henry's statement that "It is only in defeat that we become Christian" shows a
clear understanding of the way the universe works. He has come to the
understanding that religion is a cheap alternative, it is a belief in something that is not
there-it is for those who cannot accept the indifference of the universe and futility of
existence. "Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene
beside the concrete names of villages, the numbers of roads, the names or rivers,
the numbers of regiments and dates." Hand in hand with the discovery of the
universe's indifference comes a rejection of abstract values as well as organized
religion. The only worthwhile things are those that are concrete or personal.
This entire section is filled with images of rain and mud, descriptions of desolation
and wreck. Like the rain, the war is out of the Italians' control and everything
expected does not occur: "We expected an attack all day but it did not come until the
sun was going down. . . . We expected a bombardment but it did not come."
Part 8
"There was no need to confuse our retreat," says Henry. "The size of the army
and the fewness of the roads did that." The retreat is more chaotic than the battlefield,
and that irony serves as a prime example for the indifference of the universe towards
man's plight (note the unending rain and the role of mud in this section). Thousands
of men flee across the countryside to avoid death, only to find it. Hemingway takes
great pains to show the futility of escape from battle (clearly a symbol for life). A
person can take the main road and get bombed, or take the side roads and get stuck
in the mud. A soldier left behind can surrender to the enemy (Bonello) or get killed by
his own paranoia-stricken people (Aymo). An officer can either be executed by his
angry troops, or by the battle police in need of someone to blame defeat on. The
chaos of the retreat is best exemplified by the death of Aymo, whose "killing came
suddenly and unreasonably." There is no preparation and there is no reason for
anything that happens.
Easily the most odious characters in this section are the battle police, who "had
that beautiful detachment and devotion to stern justice of men dealing in death
without being in any danger of it." These men are cold, adhering still to the notions of
"justice" and "victory" which Henry rejected long ago-they do not realize that there is
no order in the war. Their actions are clearly impractical, and the values they serve
are dead. When Henry deserts the army, he does not feel any sense of loyalty
towards these men-only contempt.
The cleansing imagery of the river is a sort of baptism for Henry, washing away
his obligation to the army or a higher order, and when lying atop the guns in the train
Henry formulates a way to make sense from the senselessness of life. "You did not
love the floor of a flat-car nor guns with canvas jackets and the smell of vaselined
metal or a canvas that rain leaked through," he explains, "but you loved some one
else whom now you knew was not even to be pretended there." A person does not
focus his attention on the senselessness of life itself, but struggles to create order in
it. In Henry's case, his relationship with Catherine defies life's senselessness.
At the end of Book 3, Henry takes his first step towards finding peace by rejecting
any obligation to the world. The world has clearly dealt him an injustice, and he
declares that once this happens "You were out if it now. You had no more obligation."
21
He sets his mind away from contemplating the universe, and concentrates instead on
Catherine.
Across
1 to dedicate or to declare sacred (10)
1
2
3 one who does not believe in God (7)
5 to gather together in a mass; to clot; to
congeal (9)
3
4
7 a fellow countryman (10)
9 instructing and improving spiritually
or morally (8)
5
6
12 to wet, to supply with water (8)
14 prejudiced; having a hostile attitude
resulting from distorted reasoning (9)
7
15 to cut or to separate (5)
8
9
10
Down
1 to defend or support (8)
11
2 to use up; to drain (7)
12
13
4 coming from the proper
authority;dictatorial; conclusive (13)
5 to seclude or to confine (8)
6 to increase in value (10)
14
8 given to faultfinding, sneering and
sarcasm; exhibiting mocking disbelief
(7)
15
10 a false appearance; a fake punch to occupy defenses
allowing a real blow (5)
11 very thin; emaciated; angular (5)
13 a current of air or water moving contrary to the
main current (4)
Part 9
Away from the war, the meaningless values of "glory" and "honor" are absent and
personal values of loyalty and friendship take their place. The porter, Simmons, and
Emelio all reject Henry's offers of money, saying that they are helping him out of
friendship. Other men, such as the proprietor of the wine-shop in Milan, are willing to
help him simply because he has deserted the war. It is clear that most civilians are
sick of the war, and are doing anything they can to help those who have deserted.
Indeed, the only people who look down upon Henry is the pair of aviators because he
is a young man dressed in civilian clothes. But Henry ignores them; he has changed,
and does not care about what they think or that the "proper" thing to do is to be a
soldier.
Miss Ferguson, unfortunately, has not let go of social conventions. She is upset
that Catherine and Henry aren't married, and at one point accuses Catherine, saying
"You have no shame and no honor." However, this is exactly it-Catherine does not
have proper shame because she does not believe in general notions of morality,
22
likewise with honor. Ferguson, however, ultimately decides that her loyalty to her
friends is a higher value than public conventions, pronouncing that "I'm so upset. I'm
not reasonable. I know it. I want you both to be happy."
Count Greffi, on the other hand, is completely initiated. He has no religion: "I had
always expected to become devout. All my family died very devout. But somehow it
does not come." He understands that love is its own religion: "Do not forget that [love]
is a religious feeling." He is also cynical with respect to the war. Above all, though,
Count Greffi is a very old man satisfied with life. He represents the kind of inner
satisfaction which can be obtained by those who have settled their accounts with life.
Catherine's death is again foreshadowed in this section, when Henry soliloquizes
in the darkened hotel room. "The world breaks every one and afterward many are
strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good
and the very gentle and the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can
be sure it will kill you too but there will be no special hurry." Henry has already been
broken, and is strong and satisfied because of it. Catherine, however, is too good to
break, and Henry understands this well just as he finally understands life.
A tidy bit of symbolism concludes Book Four of the novel, as Henry and Catherine
fight through the tossing sea in an open boat. It is very likely that the episode alludes
to Stephen Crane's short piece, "The Open Boat" (1897), in which four men are
caught at sea and largely defeated by the indifference of nature to their plight. Here,
as well, there "was quite a sea running," and though the wind helps Henry and
Catherine along some, it also rips the umbrella-sail. Henry notes at one point that "I
could see Catherine in the stern but I could not see the water where the blades of the
oars dipped." Essentially, Henry is ignoring the world-Catherine is his religion now.
Part 10
The serenity and simple happiness which Henry and Catherine find at the
beginning of this section is more or less the eye of the storm. This kind of life is the
kind Henry and Catherine both seek-one where there is nothing to worry about, and
nothing that needs to be done. The pregnancy, however, promises to ruin this idyllic
22 into their lives. "She won't come
lifestyle by bringing responsibilities and worries
between us, will she?" worries Catherine. It also creates a sense of urgency that
foreshadows Catherine's death: "it gave us both a feeling as though something was
hurrying us and we could not lose any time together." Indeed, from the very opening
chapter, images of pregnancy have been linked to war and death, as when the
soldiers "marched as though they were six months gone with child."
The end of winter here parallels the end of the winter a year ago, when Henry was
forced to return from leave. A year ago, it was the time when Henry first had shrapnel
blown into his leg. Spring, and the arrival of the rain, signal bad tidings to come.
It is important to note Catherine's progression throughout her stay in the hospital.
At first she is excited about the pains and getting the job over with. She bears them
bravely, as fits the Hemingway code hero, and manages to smile between the waves.
However, nature soon gets the better of her and she begins to develop an addiction
to the gas-the pains nature brings are too much. It is at this point that she breaks:
"I'm not brave any more, darling. I'm all broken. They've broken me." As the labor
draws on and on, she begins to fear death and consequently can no longer accept
the indifference of the universe. "I won't die. I won't let myself die," she tells Henry,
believing that she has some control over what happens.
Henry, too, finds himself breaking from the strain. At the beginning, when he
delivers her to the hospital, he does not attempt to deny the universe's hostility: "this
was the price you paid for sleeping together. This was the end of the trap. This was
what people got for loving each other." As labor progresses, though, he finds it
harder to face the world, and comforts himself by saying "What reason is there for
her to die?" The question parallels his statement in Book One that "I knew I would not
23
be killed. Not in this war. It did not have anything to do with me." The world, of course,
is indifferent to such reasoning. In the final stages of the operation, Henry begins to
cry out to God in desperation-crying out for a reason behind the universe, but of
course his cries are unheard.
Catherine's death is the ultimate realization of Hemingway's philosophy. The
death is a result of her pregnancy, and the pregnancy a result of love. Whether in war
or in love, the universe kills indifferently. Henry understands this, and says in the final
chapter: "That was what you did. You died. You did not know what it was about. You
never had any time to learn." When Henry leaves the hospital and the end of the
novel, he seems to have already accepted her death as something out of his control.
He does not romanticize it nor does he seek any reasons. He just walks away.
Outside, it is raining. Catherine, who feared the rain, is dead, and yet the rain
beats on mercilessly.
Themes
The novel concerns itself primarily with the development of Hemingway's
philosophy or code of life. The story focuses on Henry's discovery of this philosophy,
and all of the main characters of the novel serve largely as foils to Henry-they are
caught in different stages of their developing the philosophy.
Hemingway, and indeed many of his existential peers, believed that the universe
is unordered one. There is no God to watch over man, to dictate codes of morality, or
to ensure justice. Instead, the universe is indifferent (sometimes even hostile) to
man's plight. In the book, this indifference is best exemplified by the war-an ultimately
futile struggle of man against man. There are no winners in a war, and there is no
reasoning behind the lives which are taken.
The true Hemingway Code Hero (exemplified here by Catherine, and later also by
Henry) must first accept this fact of the universe. This calls for many things, the first
of which being a disbelief in God-to Hemingway, such faith was a cheap way of
falsely instilling order upon existence (this is where the priest falls short). Because
there is no God, there are no universal moral codes, no abstract values such as
"justice" or "glory," and certainly no need for moral conventions. The code hero
rejects these, but imposes order upon his life through personal values-integrity,
dignity, courage, etc. This is what Catherine knows from the beginning and Henry
learns in the course of the war. In essence, the hero learns that he, himself, is a
crucial source of meaning. Finally, such a person must accept the finality of death,
knowing himself to be caught in a meaningless existence.
Disillusionment, however, is not part of being a hero. Rinaldi falls short of this
status because once he realizes the truth about the universe, he becomes
disillusioned. The true hero can hold this meaninglessness in his mind while
simultaneously creating meaning and order through the struggle which is life. He
does this first by seeking a worthy adversary to struggle against (in Farewell to Arms
this is the war which Henry attempts to free himself from). He endures the pains of
life without complaint, knowing them to be a part of life. He does not cheat, but
adheres to his personal values (as seen in the horse races). In the end, there is no
victory which awaits the hero-winning the struggle is impossible. Consequently, it is
irrelevant: what matters is his heroism. Henry's fights the meaningless of life through
his love affair with Catherine, among many other things. The universe, of course,
challenges that love many times and wins in the end, but Henry's struggle is a heroic
one.
To a lesser extent, A Farewell to Arms is also an anti-war novel, as the vivid
descriptions of its brutality and futility attest to.
24
Focus questions:
1. After reading A Farewell to Arms, what are your thoughts on war: is it a noble
cause or does it simply brutalise and corrupt?
2. How is the love of Catherine Barkley and Fredric Henry affected by the war?
Would it have been any different in peace time?
3. Does Hemmingway convincingly show that the ‘dirty trick’ is not the fault of
Catherine and Henry themselves, or did they bring on their own fate in any way?
Symbols
Motifs are images, objects or situations that keep reoccurring throughout a story.
Symbolism deals with metaphoric substitution.
A Farewell to Arms is strongly saturated in images of nature, many of which serve
as recurring motifs throughout the work. Most of them can be found in the first
chapter, where Hemingway juxtaposes images of fertility and life against those of
death, and this juxtaposition reoccurs in many places throughout the novel. Perhaps
the two most prominent symbols in this work are rain and mud. It is raining outside
almost every time something bad occurs, such as the army's retreat or Catherine's
death, and serves to mark these events as random occurrences (just like rain itself).
Similarly, the mud serves as an obstacle to the army in both offensive and retreat,
thus demonstrating nature's hostility to man.
Rain also serves as a life-affirming symbol, one which baptizes Henry when he
decides to desert the Italian army. In this dual purpose, Hemingway places all control,
both curse and blessing, into the hands of the world and not of man. Other symbols
include the snow and winter, which contrast the hot, dust-filled battlefield, and the act
of drinking alcohol, found in characters who have abandoned social conventions.
Focus question:
1. In what way is the motif of rain significant for the character of Catherine? Where
does she mention the rain and in what context?
Style
Hemingway’s writing is a clear, minimalist style. The following features are most
often identified:
1. Stark style using minimal description and focusing on nouns and verbs
than on adjectives and adverbs
2. Simple clear grammar
3. Limited vocabulary
4. Short, sharp sentences
5. Repetition of certain expressions
6. Common accessible language.
Hemingway's signature declarative, terse prose serves him well in this novel. It
enables our narrator to be initially detached from life, and also serves to paint an
uncompromising picture of the war. Additionally, it is used to produce a realistic
narrative from Henry's point of view, shying away from elaborate schemes and
descriptions. Because of it, nothing in the novel is romanticized. The love between
Henry and Catherine is an elegant one, and in Hemingway's hands it becomes more
of a function of existence rather than the primary focus of the novel.
The reader also will not fail to notice the humor which Hemingway manages to
gleam despite the seriousness of his topic (the doubting reader should re-read
Henry's dialogue with Miss Van Campen 144). The author is, indeed, finding
25
something to laugh about in life, much as his characters are discovering meaning in
an indifferent existence.
Finally, Hemingway is well-known for his use of objective correlatives and this
novel is no exception. The vivid details, from crowded trains to gaudy hotel rooms,
oftentimes serve no purpose other than to paint a mood for the reader.
Focus questions:
1. Do you find Hemingway’s terse style effective? Why or why not? Does
language effectively portray that character of Frederic Henry?
2. Pick your favourite scene and identify the features (1-6 above) within it.
3. Pretend you are Catherine, recording events in your diary. Use
Hemingway’s style to record your experiences.
The Hemingway Code Hero
Hemingway’s characters live a particular code that is predicated on the
concept of death. Life, according to the code, must be lived to the fullest possible
extent because the possibility of death looms at all times. Hemingway is very clear on
the idea that there is no afterlife, for him death is the end. Hemingway Code Heroes,
therefore, live for physical gratification and earthly rewards. Under the code there is
no god or grand plan, therefore the universe is unordered and man can only control
those things within his personal domain. The characters, therefore, act because they
are impelled by personal impetus rather than universal laws or rules of behaviour.
Our Definition of a Hero - Positive Qualities
26
Our Definition of a Hero - Negative Qualities
26
Hemmingway’s Code Hero
27
Vocabulary
Directions: Match the word in the left column with the correct definition in the right
column:
1
deprecate
a.
to make wrinkles or grooves
2
disputatious
b.
to use up; to drain
3
eddy
c.
a false appearance; a fake punch
4
edifying
d.
a term or phrase describing or characterizing
5
epithet
e.
very thin; emaciated; angular
6
exhaust
f.
a total failure and a mess
7
feint
g.
happy or delightful
8
felicitous
h.
instructing and improving spiritually or morally
9
fiasco
i.
inclined to fight or argue
10
furrow
j.
to disapprove regretfully; belittle
11
gaunt
k.
a current of air or water moving contrary to the
main current
The Hemingway Premise
(premise: what’s given; what you know; what we have to accept)






God does not exist
He is a creator, but not a force with anyability to influence your life
There is no such thing as divine intervention
There is no such thing as human nature
You must choose what to do in each moment
You create your own rules for living
Quotes

Major: "All thinking men are atheists. (7)

"I had gone to no such place but to the smoke of cafes and nights when the room
whirled and you needed to look at the wall to make it stop, nights in bed, drunk,
when you knew that that was all there was, and the strange excitement of waking
and not knowing who it was with you, and the world all unreal in the dark and so
exciting that you must resume again unknowing and not caring in the night, sure
that this was all and all and all and not caring. . . . I tried to tell about the night and
28
the difference between the night and the day and how the night was better unless
the day was very clean and cold and I could not tell it; as I cannot tell it now. But if
you have had it you know. He had not had it but he understand that I had really
wanted to go to the Abruzzi but had not gone and we were still friends, with many
tastes alike, but with the difference between us. He had always known what I did
not know and what, when I learned it, I was always able to forget. But I did not
know that then, although I learned it later." (12-13)

"Evidently it did not matter whether I was there or not." (16)

Catherine: "I didn't know about anything then. I thought it would be worse for him.
I thought perhaps he couldn't stand it and then of course he was killed and that
was the end of it."
Henry: "I don't know."
Catherine: "Oh, yes," she said. "That's the end of it" (18-19)

"I did not care what I was getting into. . . . I did not love Catherine Barkley nor had
any idea of loving her. This was a game, like bridge, in which you said things
instead of playing cards. Like bridge you had to pretend you were playing for
money or playing for some stakes. Nobody had mentioned what the stakes were."
(29)

"Well, I knew I would not be killed. Not in this war. It did not have anything to do
with me." (35)

Passini: "It doesn't finish. There is no finish to war. . . . War is not won by
victory. . . . One side must stop fighting. Why don't we stop fighting?" (48)

Henry: "I was blown up while we were eating cheese." (63)

Priest: "What you tell me about in the nights. That is not love. That is only passion
and lust. When you love you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for. You
wish to serve." (66)

Priest: "You cannot know about [happiness] unless you have it" (66)

Catherine: "I want what you want. There isn't any me any more. Just what you
want." (96)

Ferguson: "You'll never get married. . . . You'll fight before you'll marry. . . . Fight
or die. That's what people do. They don't marry." (98)

Catherine: "There's no way to be married except by church or state. We are
married privately. You see, darling, it would mean everything to me if I had any
religion. But I haven't any religion. . . . You're my religion. You're all I've got." 104

"Perhaps wars weren't won anymore. Maybe they went on forever." 107

Catherine: "I can keep you safe. I know I can. But nobody can help themselves."
114

"He said we were all cooked but we were all right as long as we did not know it.
We were all cooked. The thing was not to recognize it. The last country to realize
they were cooked would win the war." 120

"There was a great contrast between [the British major's] world pessimism and
personal cheeriness." 121

Catherine: "Life isn't hard to manage when you've nothing to lose." 123

Henry: "You always feel trapped biologically" 125

Catherine: "The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths if he's intelligent. He
simply doesn't mention them." 126
29

Rinaldi: "I never think. No, by God, I don't think; I operate." 151

Rinaldi: : "You can't do it. You can't do it. I say you can't do it. You're dry and
you're empty and there's nothing else. There's nothing else I tell you. Not a
damned thing. I know, when I stop working." 156

Henry: "It is only in defeat that we become Christian." 160

Henry: Henry: "[Many of the soldiers] were beaten to start with. They were beaten
when they took them from their farms and put them in the army. That is why the
peasant has wisdom, because he is defeated from the start. Put him in power and
see how wise he is." 160

"Abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene beside the
concrete names of villages, the numbers of roads, the names or rivers, the
numbers of regiments and dates." 165

"The killing came suddenly and unreasonably." 194

"You did not love the floor of a flat-car nor guns with canvas jackets and the smell
of vaselined metal or a canvas that rain leaked through . . . but you loved some
one else whom now you knew was not even to be pretended there." 205

"You had lost your cars and your men as a floorwalker loses the stock of his
department in a fire. There was, however, no insurance. You were out of it now.
You had no more obligation. . . . Anger was washed away in the river along with
any obligation." 205

"We could feel alone when we were together, alone against the others." 222

"The world breaks every one and afterward many are strong at the broken places.
But those that will not break it kills. It kills the very good and the very gentle and
the very brave impartially. If you are none of these you can be sure it will kill you
too but there will be no special hurry." 222

Count Greffi: "I had always expected to become devout. All my family died very
devout. But somehow it does not come."
Henry: "My own comes only at night."
Count Greffi: "Then too you are in love. Do not forget that it is a religious feeling."
234

"That was what you did. You died. You did not know what it was about. You never
had any time to learn. They threw you in and told you the rules and the first time
they caught you off base they killed you. Or they killed you gratuitously like Aymo.
Or gave you the syphilis like Rinaldi. But they killed you in the end. You could
count on that. Stay around and they would kill you." 289
Questions for study and discussion
A Farewell to Arms is one of the greatest works by Ernest Hemingway. Here are a few
questions for study and discussion.

What is important about the title?

What are the conflicts in A Farewell to Arms? What types of conflict (physical, moral,
intellectual, or emotional)?

How does Ernest Hemingway reveal character in A Farewell to Arms?

What are some themes in the story? How do they relate to the plot and characters?

Is Lieutenant Frederic Henry consistent in his actions? Is he a fully developed character?
30
How? Why?

30
Do you find the characters likable? Are the characters
persons you would want to meet?

Discuss some of the symbols in A Farewell to Arms.

Does the story end the way you expected? How? Why?

What is the central/primary purpose of the story? Is the purpose important or
meaningful?

How essential is the setting to the story? Could the story have taken place anywhere
else?

What is the role of women in the text?
Film scene
http://www.blinkbox.com/Movies/189/A-Farewell-to-Arms?Scene=16828
Across
1
2 rebellious; unruly (8)
2
3
4 one who does not
believe in God (7)
5 very thin; emaciated;
angular (5)
4
5
6 excessively high
opinion of one's own
worth or ability (7)
6
7
8 a term or phrase
describing or
characterising (7)
8
10 arrogant;
excessively proud
and vain (7)
9
10
11 to loosen; slow
down; make less
intense (7)
11
12
13 bottomless hole, a
vast expanse or
depth (5)
13
Down
1 to break apart; to
burst (7)
2 capable of moving
or being moved (6)
3 not fully worked out;
provisional;
uncertain (9)
7 given to faultfinding,
sneering and
sarcasm; exhibiting
mocking disbelief (7)
9 to use up; to drain (7)
12 a current of air or
water moving
contrary to the main
current (4)
14 (adjective) condensed and concise (7)
32
14
Vocabulary
1
gratuitous
a.
arrogant; excessively proud and vain
2
gravity
b.
a point of joining
3
haughty
c.
rebellious; unruly
4
ingenuity
d.
cleverness; inventiveness; resourcefulness
5
irrigate
e.
changing unpredictably; fickle
6
jaundiced
f.
seriousness; importance
7
juncture
g.
capable of moving or being moved
8
mercurial
h.
to wet; to supply with water
9
mobile
i.
given freely; unwarranted
10
mutinous
j.
prejudiced; a hostile attitude from poor
reasoning.
Study Questions
Book 1: Chapters 1- 12 - Introduction of major themes and
characters
1. In Chapter 3, when Lt. Henry explains what he did and did not do on
leave, what does he mean when he says that the priest "had always
known what I did not know and what, when I learned it, I was always
able to forget"? (Hint: About a page earlier, he had said, "I explained,
winefully, how we did not do the things we wanted to do.")
2. In Chapter 4, when Catherine Barkley says to Lt. Frederic Henry, "Do
we have to go on and talk this way," what does she
mean? Characterize their conversation up to this point AND the change
that occurs after her question.
3. When Lt. Henry says that he has never loved anyone, in what sense
does he mean that?
4. On approximately the same page, surmise why Catherine didn't marry
her young man? What would she have given him if she had known that
he would die in the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front? (Hint:
Don’t just quote what she says; figure out what she means so you can
tell if she later gives it to Lt. Henry.)
5. On approximately the same page, surmise why Catherine didn't marry
her young man? What would she have given him if she had known that
he would die in the Battle of the Somme on the Western Front? (Hint:
No fair just quoting what she says; figure out what she means so you
can tell if she later gives it to Lt. Henry.)
6. On the next page or so, can you see an example of foreshadowing?
(Hint: Answer this question after someone gets wounded later in the
novel.)
Foreshadowing is a technique where something that will happen
later in a text is hinted at.
33
7. On the same page, determine if Catherine Barkley still seems to be the
romantic who imagined her fiancé returning to her with a neat and
honorable wound or if she has changed. How can you tell?
8. In Chapters 5-6, as Catherine yields to Frederic, how do they feel about
each other? Why does she yield?
9. About Lt. Henry's personality:
a. Considering his comments about art, does Lt. Henry seem to have
a cultured view of art?
b. Why is he in the Italian army?
c. How does Lt. Henry feel about guns? (Remember the rifle in his
room and the pistol he carries. See chapters 3 and 6 for these
references to note his differing attitudes about the two weapons.)
d. Why is Frederic Henry in the ambulance service instead of a
combat unit like the soldier from Pittsburgh that we see in Chapter 7?
e. Tell why you think Lt. Henry could or could not kill someone.
f. In summary, what kind of a man is Frederic Henry, as nearly as
you can tell at this point? (Hint: Later, in Chapter 10, Rinaldi will accuse
Lt. Henry of really being like "an Italian, all fire and smoke and nothing
inside." Is that a fair assessment or a misunderstanding of Lt.
Henry? Assembling this first impression is important so you can see if
Frederic Henry's experiences change him or not.)
10. Toward the end of Chapter 8, why do you think Hemingway has Lt.
Henry announce his being wounded just before it happens? List at
least 5 of the "absurd" things that happen to Lt. Henry from Chapters 9
through 15, starting with his wounding. How is Hemingway depicting
war at this point?
11. According to Passini in Chapter 9 and the priest in Chapter 11, why do
wars continue? How are their views different?
Book Two Chapters 13-24 : Fredric and Catherine in Milan
1. In the middle of Chapter 14, when Frederic says he loves Catherine, do
you believe him? Why or why not?
2. Toward the end of Chapter 16, why does Catherine want to be lied
to? Is Frederic's lie wrong? Are Catherine and Frederic in love? (Hint:
Consider the priest's definition of love about a page from the end of
Chapter 11.) If not, what sort of relationship are they involved in at this
point of the story? How can you tell?
3. What are Catherine and Frederic's reasons for not getting
married? (Hints: See their discussion about marriage and children
about a page or so from the end of Chapter 18. Later, see Catherine's
stated reason in Chapter 38.) In view of your answer to the previous
question, are their stated motives all there is to it?
4. In Chapter 19, after meeting him, what do you think of Ettore Moretti?
What does Catherine think of him? How does Frederic seem to feel
about him? Why might Hemingway introduce such a character at this
point?
5. IMPORTANT: At the end of Chapter 19,
a. Why is Catherine afraid of rain?
b. Catherine says she can keep Frederic safe, but "nobody can help
themselves." In view of her St. Anthony medal, is she right about her
ability to keep Frederic safe?
c. Is she right about her inability to help herself stay safe?
(You'll need to revisit this question after you've finished the novel and
34
found out what happens to them.)
d. What might the rain symbolize? (Hint: In view of its importance to
Catherine and its pervasiveness in the story, the rain affects the mood
of the story and it may mean something about life.) (Reading Strategy:
You could do yourself a real favor by keeping a list of what's happening
in the story each time it rains. If you can see a pattern in such a list,
you can figure out a very effective answer to this question about what
rain symbolizes in this story.)
6. Near the middle of Chapter 21, Catherine says, "Life isn't hard to
manage when you've nothing to lose." In view of her news less than a
page later, what could she mean?
7. Is Catherine brave? (Hint: For starters, see her ideas near the end of
Chapter 21 about brave deaths. Consider her pointing gesture near the
end of Chapter 24. Contrast her yielding to Lt. Henry, her fear of rain,
and her wanting to be lied to.) What causes or prevents bravery?
8. Contrast Frederic's dream of taking Catherine to a Milan hotel in the
middle of Chapter 7 with the reality in Chapter 23. How are the motives
and circumstances in his dream different from the motives for their real
visit? How has his attitude toward Catherine changed in the intervening
chapters?
Book Three: Chapters 25- 32 -Retreat from Caporetto
1. On War: Near the middle of Chapter 25, Dr. Rinaldi observes, "We
never learn."
a. What do you think he means? (Hint: See question 1 Book 1 again
for comparison or contrast.)
b. What events have made Rinaldi more cynical? (Hint: Consider his
revelation in the last two pages of Chapter 25.)
c. About a third of the way into Chapter 27, what does Lt. Henry
mean when he comments on the meaninglessness of abstractions and
the dignity of place names
d. In summary, then, how is Hemingway depicting war at this point?
2. Early in Chapter 29, how does Lt. Henry treat the three soldiers who
don't want to help him get the ambulance out of the mud? How does he
seem to feel about his action?
3. List several ironic occurrences during the Italian retreat that spans Book
2 and Book 3. (Hint: Events are ironic if the unexpected happens or the
expected doesn't happen.)
Book Four: Chapters 33-37 - Farewell to the War
1. At the beginning of Chapter 34, Lt. Henry doesn't bother to pick a
fight. How has he changed and why since "the old days"? (Hint: He
also accedes to the captain on the train who wants his seat just after he
has said goodbye to Catherine at the end of Chapter 24.)
2. Do you agree with Ferguson's harsh assessment of Catherine near the
middle of Chapter 34? Why or why not? (Hint: Consider what
Catherine says about Frederic's desertion near the end of Chapter 34.)
3. Review the end of Chapter 30 and review Chapter 32. Why did
Frederic desert? How does he feel about it afterwards? How do you
feel about it? (That is, what do you think Hemingway wants us to be
feeling about his protagonist at this point? After all, this novel started
out by echoing his own war experiences, though that echo ended in
Book Two.)
35
4. Lt. Henry's comment about Othello (almost to the middle of Chapter 35)
seems designed (by Hemingway) to diminish our sympathy for this
protagonist. Why would Hemingway do this diminishing of Frederic
Henry. (Frederic also calls himself, on the previous page, a "fool" for
going to war.)
5. Consider Count Greffi's comments on religion in the last few pages of
Chapter 35.
a. What do Catherine and Frederic have as their religion? (Hint:
What is Frederic claiming is the focus of his life right before he is invited
to play billiards with Count Greffi? Consider Catherine's claim on the
last page of Chapter 18 that she has no religion.)
b. Could Frederic ever be devout? (Consider his friendship with the
priest and his out-of-body experience when he was wounded [just past
the middle of Chapter 9]; contrast these with his view of the forces that
control the world near the middle of Chapter 34, the killer world.)
6. What does Frederic mean, near the middle of Chapter 37, when he
says, "I've never realized anything before." Is he realizing anything at
this point?
7. Near the end of Chapter 37, what does Frederic mean when he says,
"There's no hole in my side"? (Hint: Who did have a hole in his side?
Why would Hemingway have Frederic say such a thing? In what way
are Catherine and Frederic "lost" on the last page of Book Four? Why
would Hemingway have each of his two protagonists mention "God" on
the last two pages of Book Four?)
Book Five : Chapters 37-41 : Switzerland
1. What kind of family life does Frederic hint he has had (near the last
page of Chapter 39)? In what sense does Catherine want to "ruin"
Frederic at the end of Chapter 39? Does she succeed? (Hint: Revisit
this question after you finish the novel and know what happens to them.)
2. Toward the end of Chapter 23, Frederic remembers two lines from
Andrew Marvell's poem, "To His Coy Mistress." What are the next two
lines of that poem, and are they relevant to Frederic's feelings at the
end of the novel? What rushes Frederic and Catherine in the Milan
hotel? What rushes them at the very end of Chapter 40?
3. Even today, labor may last up to 20 hours or longer. As you read about
the baby's birth, list what things seem believable and what things seem
far-fetched about the delivery. Why would Hemingway have Frederic
administering "gas" to Catherine about a third of the way into the last
chapter, for instance, and in the middle of the chapter?
4. Was Frederic right about the world killing everyone (near the middle of
Chapter 34) or when he compares the world to the ants on a fiery log in
his campfire one time, about two-thirds of the way through the last
chapter?
5. In the end, is what happens to Catherine "ironic" or a "dirty trick"? Who
or what, according to the world view in this novel, is playing this dirty
trick on her? How is her attitude at the end different from Frederic's?
6. In summary, what meaning(s) does the title of the novel have? (List as
many as you can think of, then rank them with the most likely on top.)
36
Vocabulary
1
profundity
a.
condensed and concise
2
protract
b.
profound knowledge; intellectual depth
3
rupture
c.
to loosen; slow down; make less intense
4
sever
d.
not fully worked out; provisional; uncertain
5
slacken
e.
to cut or separate
6
summary
f.
ability to use words easily; fluent and glib
7
tentative
g.
to prolong
8
transparent
h.
quality of being able to see through something;
clear
9
ungainly
i.
awkward
10
voluble
j.
break apart; burst
Essay Planning and Writing
The keys to a well-written and thoughtful essay are simple and accessible to all.
First. you must have a sound and confident knowledge of the text. Second, you
should use the chosen essay topic to guide and direct your ideas. Remember,
examiners do not want to confuse or trick you. Topics are constructed to channel
your ideas and generate thoughts on the text. Third, take some time to engage with
the topic and plan your response in a systematic manner.
Finally, write a cohesive, fluent and relevant essay that engages with the topic
throughout.
The study guides states that the topics may use any of the following as their focus:
1. Characterisation/relationships.
2. Narrative style/voice
3. Structural elements
4. Language
5. Values
6. Issues
7. Authorial intentions
8. Time period/setting
There are also three types of questions. You need to look at these at these
questions and consider how they are phrased:
1. Propositional (statement made)
2. Quotational (quote is integral to the question)
3. Direst Question
Planning the Essay
1. Read the topic, underline key words and phrases and, when in doubt, look
terms up in the dictionary. Do not be afraid to paraphrase a topic so you
can initially comprehend what it is asking you to do. Ask questions of the
topic. For instance:
 Is this the only way this text can be viewed?
 Why would it be viewed thus?
37



Is there an alternative view?
What is the alternative?
How can the statement or question be refined or clarified to suit my
particular view of the text?
This level of engagement is always a sure sign of a successful writer.
2. Use a dictionary to build up a word or phrase bank that helps to clarify and
direct your ideas. You will find this word bank very useful when it comes to
planning your essay.
3. Write a formal and considered introduction. This should take the most time
and, if done well, can speed up the essay writing process.
4. Take at least 5-10 minutes to plan. The more practice you get at writing
under exam conditions, the quicker and more efficient you will become.
38
Writing the Essay
Introduction
A well-written introduction is the generator of a successful essay. If you like, its
contents can contain a small-scale version of the key points and issues on which
your discussion will concentrate.
An efficient introduction should:



clarify and define key terms and phrases.
outline (briefly) the main issues that will be tackled.
• articulate your main argument in a confident and assured manner.
Do not:
 simply repeat the topic in your opening sentence.
 simply agree or disagree.
 disregard the topic altogether and rewrite a pre-planned essay that is
largely irrelevant to the topic.
A well-considered and thoughtful introduction should contain at least three to four
key ideas that can be developed into substantial and intelligent paragraphs in their
own right. Also, intelligent discussions explore the topic in depth. In other words, they
do not reduce the statement or question to an either/or scenario. Both sides should
be developed, explored and discussed in some depth.
Paragraph Two
Develop and expand upon your first key idea. It is often possible to take one key
word or phrase in the introduction and make it the focus for the whole paragraph.
Outline your first key idea and engage with the text by using quotes and
references. Above all, sustain the connection with the topic and do not deviate from it.
Paragraph Three
Develop and expand upon your second key idea. How does it relate to your first?
How does it relate to the topic? Again, back your ideas up by using specific incidents
or quotes from the text.
Paragraph Four
Let us assume that you have three key ideas; therefore, this is the last paragraph
that makes up the main body of your essay. Develop and expand your idea, link it
with your two others and return to the topic. By slowly returning to the topic at the end
of the paragraph, this will provide you with a fluent and cohesive link to your
concluding remarks.
Conclusion
The final paragraph should tie up your ideas and return quite clearly to the initial
topic. Do not just summarise your views here. A good strategy is to provide a clear,
logical and thorough response to the topic by re-expressing it to suit the way you
have developed your argument. Such a strategy assumes that you have clarified,
defined and substantiated the issues involved thoroughly in the main body of the
39
essay. Never introduce new ideas in the last paragraph that have not been
developed earlier. Finally, remember to finish confidently and assertively.
Do not, in the process of your discussion:





bombard your reader with too many quotes. Quotes should illustrate an
argument or idea rather than act as a substitute for it.
re-narrate the story. Examiners know the plot and who the characters are.
They are interested in your ideas and views.
simply rewrite an essay that is not relevant to the topic.
deviate from the topic.
Sample 1: An Essay Plan and Introduction Topic
Hemingway once said, "When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not
characters."
In A Farewell to Arms do we have living people rather than characters?
Plan
The overall focus of this topic is on the realism with which the characters are
depicted.
Key words and Phrases


"living people" - Hemingway means that the characters should have
personalities as convincing to the reader as those of people we meet in life
"characters" - Hemingway refers to personalities that are obviously
constructed by the author.
Introduction
Hemingway does sometimes create personalities who have, for the reader, the
qualities of living people, but some of his other characters do not have the same
verisimilitude and fail to thoroughly convince the reader. In A Farewell to Arms, the
protagonist. Frederic Henry becomes a living person to the reader, who comes to
understand his developing personality, characterised at first by wild living and later by
his love for Catherine Barkley. The reader recognises his loyalty to duty, despite
disillusionment with war, and understands when he comes to his 'separate peace',
only to lose out again with Catherine's death. Catherine, however, who provides the
basis for his actions, remains a mere character without power to convince the reader
that a woman, then or now, could so thoroughly obliterate her own being in her
passion for him.
Paragraph Two
Focus on Frederic Henry as he first seems in the novel and how he changes after
meeting Catherine.
 Before meeting Catherine, he is hard-living, does not visit the priest's
family, visits whorehouses, is aggressive (he would have "picked a fight"
over the way people looked at him).
40

After meeting Catherine, he becomes gentler and more thoughtful (gives
up his seat to the captain in the train). He no longer frequents
whorehouses and focuses on her feelings and character.
Paragraph Three
Focus on Frederic Henry's basic character and how it is conveyed through his
language.
 His background as an American living in Italy ("I wanted to be an architect")
and joining ambulance.
 His leadership and loyalty to men, his loyalty to duty, his likeability
("anxious to please").
 His growing cynicism and how this is conveyed through his narration ("So
now they got her in the end. You never got away with anything").
Paragraph Four
Focus on Catherine Barkley and her developing obsession with Henry.
 Her obliteration of self ("There isn't any me").
 Her jealousy ("You won't do our things with another girl, or say the same
things, will you?").
 Her centring her life around Henry.
 Her taking a submissive position ("a good girl").
Conclusion
Although Frederic Henry is convincingly drawn, a man whose doubts and
experiences the reader can believe in, the main female character Catherine Barkley
should also be a living person, if the reader is to believe she inspired such love and
such an experience of loss within him, As presented in the novel she is, as one critic
suggested, "a sort of inflated rubber woman available at will" rather than a living
breathing woman, Not all those in A Farewell to Arms are "people not characters".
Sample 2: A Complete Essay
Topic
'It's just a dirty trick: says Catherine towards the end of A Farewell to Arms
What is the dirty trick?
One meaning of a 'trick' is a prank, a practical joke played at someone's expense.
'Dirty' can mean hateful, base or unsporting. The "dirty trick" Catherine speaks of is
the prank that life plays, whereby it lures one into valuing something highly, and then
takes it away. In A Farewell to Arms, Catherine Barkley and Frederic Henry
overcome the problems in their lives brought about by war to value the love that they
have found together, and just when their love is most complete it is taken away by
childbirth, leaving her dead and him empty.
Before the war, Catherine Barkley was an innocent young Englishwoman. She
had been engaged for eight years but had, nevertheless, "never even loved anyone".
She has experienced another side of life as a VAD in the war and with her fiance's
death, and so she feels she is playing a "rotten game". When she meets Frederic
Henry she wants at first to engage him in a fairytale romance where he tells her he
loves her, but in playing this game she finds herself drawn into real love, a love so
41
all-consuming that she loses all identity of her own. She tells him "There isn't any me.
I'm you". He becomes everything to her. "You're my religion. You're all I've got." Even
when she becomes pregnant. Catherine does not seem interested, beyond not
causing Henry any concern.
It is this pregnancy which, when they have overcome so many problems, ends
their love affair. After suffering a lot of pain during a long labour, Catherine weakens
and knows she will die. "You won't do our things with another girl, or say the same
things, will you?" she asks him, still obsessed with the uniqueness of their love. Even
at this stage, she is still concerned only with causing him pain. "Don't worry, darling,"
she says to him as she lies dying, "I'm not a bit afraid". Catherine, though a woman,
is the typical Hemingway 'code hero' who, one critic says, has a lust for life and a
cheerful disregard of doom. "It's just a dirty trick:' she adds. Life has indeed played a
dirty trick on Catherine Barkley, giving her love, then taking away life.
For Frederic Henry, life has played another dirty trick, Living in Italy because he
"wanted to be an architect", when the war broke out he had joined the army because
he was in Italy and he spoke Italian. Through three years of war he does his duty,
looks after his men and is wounded, then is almost executed by his own side
because they blame officers for reverses in the war, Little wonder he decides, "I was
through", At this point he invests all his emotion in his love for Catherine. Like her, he
had not intended to fall in love. While in hospital in Milan he realises "I had not
wanted to fall in love with her, I had not wanted to fall in love with anyone. But God
knows I had", After he is through with the Italian Ambulance, he finds her and they
spend time happily together through her pregnancy, The very exclusivity of their
relationship guarantees that its loss will devastate him, "Isn't it grand how we never
see anyone? You don't want to see people do you, darling?" she asks him in
Montreux, "No", he answers.
The dirty trick is underlined for the reader through the understated austerity
Hemingway gives Frederic Henry's narration, He relates his tale with deceptive
simplicity, only the occasional comment conveying the bitterness of his experience.
Hemingway sees him as heroic in the way he faces death and pain with few words,
The reader begins to suspect that things will not end well when he calls Catherine
brave and says that the world, "kills the very good and the very gentle and the very
brave impartially". Like so many atheists, however, he tries to bargain with God for
Catherine's life as she lies in hospital. He will do "anything" if she can live. Her death,
"the by-product of good nights in Milan", is another dirty trick: "they got her in the
end".
Hemingway does not present the death of Catherine as the isolated act of an
otherwise benevolent providence: "They threw you in and told you the rules and the
first time they caught you off base they killed you", Humans are like the ants on the
log in Henry's metaphor, which scramble every way to try to avoid destruction, in the
power of a careless providence which, with a stroke, can make things worse, as
Henry does by throwing on water.
The dirty trick, however, almost implies a malevolent providence that waits until
life is most valued before taking it away. Catherine, after sadness and loss, finds
Henry and loses her identity in him, Henry, after negative experiences in war, falls in
love with Catherine and puts all his emotional investment in her, only to lose her in
childbirth: "You never got away with anything".
42
Essay Questions
1. 'Hemingway sees men and women as very different from each other.'
Is this so in A Farewell to Arms?
2. 'Although the men suffer, Catherine suffers the most in A Farewell to Arms.
3. "If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to
break them, so of course it kills them”. Does the novel show that courage is
useless.
4. The foreboding from the start of the novel tells us that there Can only ever be
a tragic end to the book. To what extent do you agree.
5. "There is nothing worse than war."
'This is a story about war and its effects on human beings.'
Discuss.
6. The constant imagery within A Farewell to Arms tells us more about the
themes of the novel than what the characters do or say. Discuss.
7. ‘Above all else this novel affirms male comradeship and love.’ Discuss.
8. 'This text demonstrates that love involves the risk of loss.'
Discuss.
9. “I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, and sacrifice and
the expression in vain”. How does Hemmingway’s novel condemn rather than
glorify war.
10. Critics often discuss Hemingway’s fiction as a celebration of a specific type of
manhood. What kind of man does A Farewell to Arms celebrate, and how
does Hemingway achieve this effect?
43
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
Across
3 to move together (8)
6 to use up; to drain (7)
8 given to faultfinding, sneering and sarcasm;
exhibiting mocking disbelief (7)
11 given freely; unwarranted (10)
13 a false appearance; a fake punch to occupy
defenses allowing a real blow (5)
14 rebellious; unruly (8)
15 to seclude or to confine (8)
18 critical (10)
19 to break apart; to burst (7)
20 inclined to fight, to argue or to debate (12)
22 awkward (8)
23 instructing and improving spiritually or morally
(8)
28 to increase in value (10)
30 fragile; frail; easily damaged (7)
31 profound knowledge; intellectual depth (10)
32 bottomless hole, a vast expanse or depth (5)
4 seriousness; importance (7)
5 arrogant; excessively proud and vain
(7)
7 excessively high opinion of one's own
worth or ability (7)
9 prejudiced; having a hostile attitude
resulting from distorted reasoning (9)
10 coming from the proper
authority;dictatorial; conclusive (13)
12 one who believes in the absence of
government or law (9)
16 capricious; inconstant; unstable (9)
17 quality of being able to be seen
through; clear (11)
21 cleverness; inventiveness;
resourcefulness (9)
24 a total failure and a mess (6)
25 very thin; emaciated; angular (5)
26 to make wrinkles or grooves (6)
27 to cut or to separate (5)
29 a current of air or water moving
contrary to the main current (4)
Down
1 to loosen; slow down; make less intense (7)
2 capable of moving or being moved (6)
44