Finding Truth in Lies in A Farewell to Arms
The foundation of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms is based on lies. Hemingway exposes the reality, or truth, of love and war by presenting the story of Lieutenant Henry and Catherine Barkley, lives ironically entrenched in lies. Henry in particular assumes a different role at every turn, pretending, for example, to be a soldier, a civilian, a doctor or Barkley's dead fiancé.
The lies in Henry's life begin when he joins the Italian army. Here, he pretends to be "one of the guys," silently siding with their bawdy humor and macho activities and not the morality of the priest. Hemingway best displays this conflict in the scene where the priest urges Henry to visit Abruzzi while the captain insists Henry visit Naples' whorehouses. Henry says nothing during this conversation. However, his silence shows Henry does side with the priest. Ultimately, Henry joins the captain at the bordello, the equivalent of conceding to peer pressure. The soldiers traditionally see sexual conquests as a prerequisite for the lifestyle of war and violence, and by following this precedent, Henry plays along with this stereotype even though he would rather be in the comfort of Capracotta, welcomed by the priest's family.
Just as Henry pretends to be a soldier, he later pretends to be a civilian. When mistaken for a spy during the retreat, Henry escapes but hides his identity as a soldier as not to be recognized and punished as a deserter. A proprietor of a wine shop warns Henry "Do not go out with that coat. ... On the sleeves it shows very plainly where the stars have been cut away" (Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms, 239). Henry has made an effort to veil his rank and avoid capture. Later, ...
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... room," Henry changes his mind (318). Now that Henry plays the role of a doctor, if the doctor can eat, so can he: "At two o'clock I went out and had lunch" (318). Henry even goes so far as to say he looks "like a fake doctor with a beard" and begins giving orders to the nurse when the real doctor is absent such as "get another cylinder" (319, 322). Henry pretends to be a doctor, thrown into this role by the situation and playing it very convincingly.
After reading this novel, I still do not have a true understanding of the character of Henry. He plays so many different roles, I do not know whether to view him as an authentic lost soul or the ultimate con man. Every aspect of his life is a great game of "let's pretend" - when do the lies stop?
Works Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995.
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A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is a story about love and war. Frederic Henry, a young American, works as an ambulance driver for the Italian army in World War I. He falls tragically in love with a beautiful English nurse, Miss Catherine Barkley. This tragedy is reflected by water. Throughout the novel Ernest Hemingway uses water as metaphors. Rivers are used as symbols of rebirth and escape and rain as tragedy and disaster, which show how water plays an important role in the story.
A Farewell To Arms written by Ernest Hemingway illustrates a typical love story between two people, this love story plays out in a war torn Italy during world war I, where Italy was battling Austria, the novels main characters, lieutenant Fredrick Henry an American ambulance driver serving in the Italian army and Catherine Barkley an English volunteer nurse who served in Italy. The novel portrays Henry as a drunk who traveled from one house of prostitution to the next, he was not happy with his lifestyle. Henry feels detached from life and is on a quest for identification, he gives a particular insight about how he feels about women “clear, cold and dry”. Henry loved to play the role of a womanizer. He is isolated from his family and compatriots. He is an American fighting a war in another country. In my opinion Henry is emotionally exhausted and it appears he has no place to go. Henry meets Catherine Barkley, near the front between Italy and Austria-Hungary. Catherine suffered during this war before she met Henry. Catherine had lost her fiancé during this war. She was startled by rain in her nightmares. She perceived rain as death. At first Henry wanted to seduce the nurse, to him it was a game, he had told the nurse that he loved her, but she had caught on to his game. Catherine confronted Henry and told him what she thought of his game. He was severely wounded on one of his runs. Henry was sent to the American hospital where Catherine worked. That is where he actually began to fall in love with her. He fully recovered and returned to the war-front, during a retreat the Italians started to fall apart. Henry shot an engineer sergeant under his command for dereliction, later in the confusion Henry is arrested by the battle police for the crime of not being Italian. He is disgusted with the army and facing death at the hands of the battle police during questioning. Henry decided he has had enough of the war, he ran into the river to escape. After swimming to safety, Henry boards a train to reunite with his love Catherine whom is pregnant with his child. Here is where he meets with an Italian bartender who will help him escape to Switzerland by boat. Henry and Catherine plan to get married soon after the baby is born.
Literary elements are demonstrated throughout the story and further improve our understanding of the central idea. The setting is important to the central idea because it shows the reader the type of society being described in the story. The language is also important to the central idea because it contains metaphors which further prove that the people are afraid of going against tradition because they are scared of being the target of violence. The conflict contributes to the central idea as well, because there are many examples of the society going against character, Mrs. Hutchinson, for not respecting the traditions put in place. The central idea is important to our understanding of the story because it sums up the main objective and furthers our
The state of affairs and the grim reality of the war lead Henry towards an ardent desire for a peaceful life, and as a result Henry repudiates his fellow soldiers at the warfront. Henry’s desertion of the war is also related to his passionate love for Catherine. Henry’s love for Catherine is progressive and ironic. This love develops gradually in “stages”: Henry’s attempt at pretending love for Catherine towards the beginning of the novel, his gradually developing love for her, and finally, Henry’s impas... ...
In Book I, the army is still waiting for action, and the world is one of boredom with men drinking to make time go by and whoring to get women. War itself is a male game; ”no more dangerous to me myself than war in the movies” (34). Love is also a game. When Henry meets and makes his sexual approach to Catherine Barkley he is only trying to relieve war’s boredom; ”I knew I did not love Catherine Barkley or had any idea of loving her. This was a game, like bridge, in which you said things instead of playing cards” (28).