A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway - Book Report/Review Example

Order 404312 Topic: A Farewell To ArmsMuch difference exists between theory and experience. The ideal and the practical. The imaginary and the real. The combination of experience and talent in a brilliant author results in brilliant products. “A Farewell to Arms” is precisely that. This thinking ambulance driver during World War I, has created genuine characters drawn straight from the battlefront. Hemingways pen has challenged the barrel of the gun, by bringing out the ground realities of the actual happenings in the war-front. The suffering, the physical and mental tortures of the soldiers! The horrors and the barbarism! The pages of human history daubed in bloodshed related to wars and violence ask the crying question. How to make this Planet Earth heaven-like and create fountain of love in the human hearts? The answer is simple and straightforward. Eyes full of understanding and the life that refuses conflicts-enough these alone are enough! Most of the Hemingway characters in the novel, who have firsthand experiences of the war-front have come to this conclusion. Barrel of the gun can not bring world peace, nor contribute to human happiness. This is anti-war novel in the real sense. The book is the gist of real-life experiences of Hemingway, believable and highly readable! A youngster joins the army with high-flown idealism. He has read the great success stories, adventures and knows about the medallions won by the starred generals, the euphoria and hype in the media about war, the name and fame etc. But an ordinary soldier realizes the actual state of affairs, when he is fighting the war in the rough terrains, digging the mud, in acute conditions. After-all, a soldier is a human being. “Farewell to Arms” is basically a love story that details the relationship between Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley. Frederic describes his first intimation and his feelings for Catherine Barkley are more significant than he has previously felt for women. He states, "I had treated seeing Catherine very lightly, I had gotten somewhat drunk and had nearly forgotten to come but when I could not see her there I was feeling lonely and hollow." (41) The love between the two was instant and imminent. Hemingway describes it thus, when Frederic and Catherine are reunited in Milan. "When I saw her I was in love with her. Everything turned over inside of me. She looked toward the door, saw there was no one, then she sat on the side of the bed and leaned over and kissed me. I pulled her down and kissed her and felt her heart beating." (91) They go through the usual motions of love of the combustible younger generation-courtship, consummation, reaffirmation of loyalty for each other and the eventual separation by Catherines death. War is an in-between happening in their lives. The developments of the war bring them together emotionally as well as separate them. Love is a unique education for Frederic, he experiences its new dimensions through his intense feelings for Catherine, but gradually the perspective of love broadens, he scales new heights of it, through his interactions with the priest and later with Count Greffi. The priest interprets the spiritual dimensions of love and equates it with the deep and sincere love the priest has for God and opines that true love goes on multiplying. Count approves that sentiment and doesnt see any difference between the love for a woman and love for the divine entities. It is on par with the sacred religious feelings. Count Greffi to Frederic, following their game of billiards, and Frederic has confessed that his own religious feelings only come at night: "I had always expected to become devout. All my family died very devout. But somehow it does not come . . . Perhaps I have outlived my religious feeling. . Then too you are in love. Do not forget that is a religious feeling." (263) As pregnancy advances intimacy between Frederic and Catherine reaches new levels. Frederic describes his and Catherines mood in the weeks before the baby is due: "We knew the baby was very close now and it gave us both a feeling as though something were hurrying us and we could not lose any time together." (311) Frederic turns more sentimental. His sentiments are put to test when he faces crises of Catherines protracted labor. He had no religious leanings previously. But this time he surrenders to God and prays for her safety. Frederic admits to Catherine that he did not join the army out of conviction. He had no precise reasons to opt for the career of an army officer. It just happened in life, and he got recruited in the army ranks for he was in that country and spoke the language. It is fine for any country, when the going is good in the war. Frederic initial exposure to the war, rather even before the actual beginning of the war, was a shell-wound that left him out of action temporarily. But when he returned to the front after recovery, the situation was entirely different. Italian army had suffered many reverses and the causalities were heavy. The morale of the troops was low and they suffered from pessimism and defeatism. Hemingway gives the correct reason for the defeat of the Italian army as pointed out by Frederic to the priest concerning the disposition of the Italian army: "They 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." (179) One can not mold great soldiers, when they are not cut out for pulling the trigger. Frederic escapes summary execution at the river, on the basis of his identity as an American citizen. Loyalty has strange meaning in war and when it comes to making an effort to save ones life, everything is fair in war! Loyalty in the strict sense of the term, takes the backseat. Deaths and war go hand in hand. Deaths are common in war, but each death analyzed individually, is a poignant story. It creates a permanent history behind it. Whether it is Passinis violent death in the dugout or Aymos death during the retreat, they are the unfortunate incidents. Frederic outsmarts death twice, first when he survives the shell-wound, and when he escapes the executioners. But if one carries the feeling that death can be challenged always, one is sadly mistaken. Frederics thoughts after he has learned that the baby was born dead: "Now Catherine would die. That was what you did. You died. You did not know what it was about. You never had time to learn. They threw you in and told you the rules and the first time they caught you off base they killed you." (327) Here is the case of inevitability of death. This price will have to be paid by every individual and no one can escape death. From the transcendental point of view every death is an incident that has to happen at that particular time. The Rain is an important metaphor in the novel and it has deep bearing on the psychology of Catherine. In Milan she tells Frederic that she has been afraid of the rain always and she imagines herself lying dead in rain. With Frederic it has been the opposite. He likes rain and it has no impact on his morale on the negative side. What Frederic means to say is that he suffered a combat injury and he has seen soldiers die, but he has remained aloof from the fears of mortality. For reasons that she can not explain, rain continues to be the haunting factor for Catherine and it constantly plays difficult games with her psychology. She has been shattered by her fiances death. She compares the suddenness of death and the uncertainty of rain. They can come at the most unexpected moment. She has witnessed the rain falling at the crucial juncture of her life. Once when they part at the train and on the second occasion when Frederic escapes being shot by diving into the river. The rain shows its fatal presence again when Catherine dies. Hemingway describes the poignant moment in the life of Frederic by stating that he walks back to the hotel in the rain. Before that Hemingway indicates that Frederic has the glimmer of hope that Catherine may be alive. In the final paragraph of the story he relates the moments after Frederic has ordered the nurses to leave and sequestered himself in the room with Catherines corpse: "But after I had got them out and shut the door and turned off the light it wasnt any good. It was like saying good-by to a statue. After awhile I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain." (332) Frederic had to accept defeat and could not overcome the challenge thrown at him by his destiny. Human beings are powerless before its onslaughts. Death can fall upon anyone at any time, as the rain can lash at any moment. Both events have an uncertainty about them. Through the character of Frederic and Catherine, Hemingway describes how the psychology of two individuals works, how conflicts surround their lives one after another, when they are compelled by the circumstances to live the life of an army family. Unimaginable uncertainties loom large on their lives at every stage. Some unexplainable anxiety grips them. To live a normal, happy life is an impossibility, it seems! Frederic describing the scene after Catherine has informed him that she is pregnant is one such aspect of their thinking. Hemingway writes, "We were quiet awhile and did not talk. Catherine was sitting on the bed and I was looking at her but we did not touch each other. We were apart as when someone comes into a room and people are self-conscious. She put her hand out and took mine." (138) The unasked question here is, what will be the life-like to the one who is arriving in this world, totally depending upon us! What will be his/her future? At every turn of the story Hemingway creates the picture of the emotional turmoil of the characters. How brutality of war affects life of soldiers and ordinary individuals. Whether it is possible to lead the normal love-life amidst the scenes of war. Love and war are a dangerous mix and it is not the easiest of the options to make a good story out of it, with lot of human emotions, with a philosophical blending. In "A Farewell to Arms," Hemingway successfully describes the futility and madness of the War, and the absolute insanity that people fighting in it were driven to, once they are deep into the war-zone and there is no escape but to fight to the finish. ************* Works Cited: Hemingway, Ernest:A Farewell To Arms;Scribner; 9th edition, June 1, 1995. Read More