A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway (A Brief Story)

 

A Farewell to Arms

by Ernest Hemingway

(A Brief Story)

 

The novel is all about war and its horrible consequences. The novel is spread over five books. The first book informs that a war is on and the narrator-hero, an American, is fighting along with the Italian forces. Due to heavy snow, the fighting is suspended for the winter. The protagonist, Frederic Henry is allowed to go on leave, and he spends his vacation in Milan, Rome and Napoli. Throughout his leave, Henry could not talk about the difference between the night and the day, except that the nights were more exciting and exotic than the days. Gradually, the story is set in motion. In the spring, the fighting becomes intensified, he is sent to the British hospital where he is introduced to Catherine Berkley whose fiancé has been blown to bits on the battle front. The tragedy had shaken her absolutely and washed away the romantic concept of war. The trauma of her fiancé’s tragic death unsettles her mentally. In this hour of distress, Catherine needs somebody to love her and to care for her. She hopefully looks for comfort in Henry for whom love is no more than a game of chess in which one makes moves. The preliminary contact is thus established between Catherine and Henry as the latter is pushed on to the front to bring back the wounded in the offensive that the Italian were going to launch. In this ordeal, Henry is wounded in an explosion, lost one of his knees and was evacuated from the front. It brought him a new awareness about human relationships, and he got fully involved in love and in the action of the war.

In Book II we find Henry in an American hospital in Milan, away from the din and destruction of war, the possibility for real love hangs in air as Catherine is transferred to the same hospital where Henry is recuperating, His nocturnal adventures in brothels are replaced by genuine love. The blooming romance between the two results in Catherine’s pregnancy. Again, war intercedes and Henry returns to the front, leaving Catherine behind.

Book III portrays the famous Caporetto retreat in which the Italian Army was routed by the Austro-German alliance. During the retreat Henry’s companions drifted away from him. One of the ambulances drivers (Aymo) was hit by a bullet fired perhaps by the Italian rear-guard, another (Bonello) deserted and still another (Piani) separated from Henry. Henry too was arrested by the battle-police, and suspected of being a German in Italian uniform. He jumped into the flooded river to save his life. The trappings of war were discarded by him, and he directed his steps to Milan where he thought he would eventually see Catherine.

Book IV describes the union of lovers in Stresa. For him, war was over, and he was done with all this. From Stresa, Henry and Catherine escaped to Switzerland by boat as Henry feared he might be arrested.

Book V celebrates the blissful interlude of the lovers in Switzerland, in January, February and March. At last, Catherine was taken to the hospital where she gave birth to a stillborn male child. Catherine in the meanwhile had had a hemorrhage. It soon became obvious that Catherine was going to die. Henry’s passionate prayers for the safety of Catherine, remained unanswered. Finally, she died.

From the foregoing description it becomes clear that the entire story revolves round the themes of love and war. The war, in the foreground and background of the narrative, keeps haunting. When the war is going to become hot, Henry falls in love, and his involvement in war and love is simultaneous. Love makes its presence when the spectra of war has gone into the background. The Retreat liberates Henry of his obligations to the Italian army, and he becomes acutely conscious of his obligations to his lady-love, Catherine. As the intensity of war subsides, Henry and Catherine enjoy blissful moments of intimacy and romance in the Swiss mountains. However, when the British break through on the Western front, Catherine breathes her last. Thus, the intricate threads of the two sub-plots are woven into a skillful and beautiful pattern, making A Farewell to Arms one of the best novels of the First World War.