A Farewell to Arms
WARNING! There are unmarked Spoilers ahead. Beware.
| Written by: | Ernest Hemingway |
|---|---|
| Central Theme: | War Is Hell |
| Synopsis: | A Romance set in World War I. |
| Genre(s): | War novel, Realism |
| First published: | 1929 |
| More Information | |
| The Wiki Rule: | Wikipedia |
Ernest Hemingway's second novel, written in first-person narration, published in 1929, and semi-autobiographical.
Frederic Henry, a volunteer American ambulance driver, serves in Italy during World War I. Whilst abroad, he meets British nurse Catherine Barkley and becomes attracted to her. He gets a chance to consummate his attraction to her after being wounded at the front and shipped back to hospital. By the end of the summer, Catherine is three months pregnant. Once healed, Frederic returns to the front just in time for it to collapse and the Austro-Hungarians to come pouring through; he, like the other officers, are rounded up by the "battle police" and executed for the defeat. Frederic escapes through some quick Bad Assery and reunites with Catherine, whereupon the two escape to Switzerland in a rowboat. There they maintain an isolated but idyllic existence until Catherine goes into labor. The baby is stillborn. Catherine hemorrhages and dies. The end.
Hemingway was not a happy man.
Besides many characters being based on people the author knew, this novel is useful to Hemingway scholars as it provides the first incarnations of the famed Hemingway "code hero". Main Characters in Hemingway novels would continue in this vein throughout most of his body of work.
The novel is considered one of the great classics of American fiction, and chances are that if you attended an American high school, you read it there. (This just highlights one of the downsides of Hemingway's "iceberg theory" of fiction: it relies on Subtext, which, depending on your age and/or maturity level, you might not get.)
- The Alcoholic: Frederic is a heavy drinker.
- Beige Prose: Hemingway's Signature Style of describing scenes with as few words as possible is very apparent in this novel.
- Book Ends: The story being and ends with rain (the novel's Arc Symbol) and death.
- Crapsack World: The book has a very pessimistic viewpoint. In the end, after Catherine's death, Frederic narrates humanity's breaking point:
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The world breaks everyone 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. |
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- Death by Childbirth/Downer Ending: Catherine dies after her miscarriage.
- Important Haircut: Frederic grows his beard in Switzerland.
- Florence Nightingale Effect: Catherine falls in love with Frederic while tending his wounds.
- Revised Ending: The 2012 Hemingway Library Edition of the novel features 47 different endings that the author rejected.
- Second Love: Catherine has a history with a dead fiance.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Frederic deserts the Italian army after being sentenced to death.
- The Stoic: Frederic Henry relates to the world in a largely physical manner, he has trouble not being a Jerkass sometimes, and his thoughts revolve around girls and drink.
- Too Happy to Live: Frederic and Catherine would have had a great future as a couple, if not for her early death.
- Train Escape: Frederic deserts the Italian army, saving himself from execution, by jumping down a running train.
- War Is Hell: There is nothing glorious about Hemingway's depiction of war. It alternates between long moments of inactivity and complete chaos.