American War in A Farewell to Arms - Essay Example

The war adventure certainly does not live up to his expectations, as he is wounded on his leg and just when he recovers, he is attacked by a bout of jaundice, that spoils his vacation plans. Finally, he leaves the war behind and moves on to lead a new life. Fate had something else in store for him.

In the earlier times, wars were glorious events, as they signified undying love for one’s motherland and the voluntary ability of sons of the land to surrender their precious lives for their nation. However, today, it has been reduced to mere numbers! Machines and war equipment operate instead of men, though the opponents are men. It is simply not a one-to-one equation and this reduces the sanctimonious characteristic that was once attributed to war heroes!

The author attempts to convey the fact that for a soldier, after a point of time, the value for life and the very essence of it is diluted, due to war experiences. One moment a counterpart is alive and the next minute, he is lifeless. If this is what life is, it tends to be looked down upon, by soldiers, who are amid gory killings and shots being fired at someone with flesh and blood. Perhaps, Hemingway wants to highlight the sheer futility of war, which deducts value from valuable human lives!

Henry does not look at war as a means to attain immortality by fighting for his country nor does the harbor lofty ideals of patriotism. He is a rather cold and unfeeling stoic, who does not experience the emotions that a war churns out. However, his romantic liaison gets the better out of him - he becomes emotional and also exudes vulnerability and true love, which is indeed a very powerful emotion.

Hemingway gives us a good amount of insight into the changing role of women, during the war period. Since Catherine is British by origin, it would be accurate to talk about the British patriarchal society, which did not offer women much scope for women to air their opinions or take up something heroic, leave alone playing a role in a war. However, during the world war, women stood up on par with their male counterparts to put their best foot forward, for their country.

Today, in the age of information, we do obtain a day-to-day and hourly review of what has been happening on the war front, in case of a war. However, the earlier days did not experience this instant conveyance of information. This made wars a great ordeal and the total lack of communication between society and the occurrences at the war front made them greater events of the heroic display. Today, it is just another job at the war front!