A Farewell to Arms: Books 3-5

       In the era in which A Farewell to Arms takes place, women were still very much seen as docile and inferior to men. All of the women in the novel are either nurses or prostitutes, which sends a very clear message. Out of the few women Henry, the protagonist, interacts with, he views all of them in one of two ways: either gentle and sweet, or overbearing and cold. Catherine Barkley belongs in the former category, and Henry exploits it. One theme explored in Ernest Hemingway's classic novel A Farewell to Arms is the different roles women have, and how thoughtlessly men misuse the meek.

       The epitome of submissiveness, Catherine is as feminine and gentle as they come to Henry. She devotes herself to him and asks for nothing in return, and in the end makes the ultimate sacrifice: she dies due to injuries sustained by giving birth to Henry's child. When Henry learns of the first complications, he remarks "Poor, poor dear Cat. And this was the price you paid for sleeping together. This was the end of the trap. This was what people got for loving each other. Thank God for gas, anyway. What must it have been like before there were anesthetics?" (320). He makes sure to point out that "this was the price you paid for sleeping together," as if she was solely responsible for the pregnancy. Further, Henry uses Catherine as a distraction when he wants, and disregards her otherwise. When he returns to the front, he speculates to himself "I was going to try not to think about Catherine except at night before I went to sleep" (166). He is deliberately choosing when and when not to think about her, which is very disrespectful to the woman he "loves. " And finally, Henry's ultimate insult is when he his saying his last goodbye to Cat's corpse. He comments "It was like saying good-by to a statue" (332). Without being alive to pamper him, Catherine has lost her appeal and becomes as meaningful to him as rock. Her role as gentle and sweet woman has passed, so Henry moves on immediately.

       Since the Civil Rights movement the situation for women has gotten better, but there are still some scary statistics about unfair wages and privileges regarding women's rights. Independent and strong women are viewed as cold and belligerent, whereas independent and strong men are powerful and aggressive. And likewise, timid and submissive women are revered, while timid and submissive men have their masculinity questioned. Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms brings about this theme and demonstrates how men like Henry can take advantage of women like Catherine.  

A Farewell to Arms: Book 2

       In A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, love is explored and described in an interesting way. Specifically, the concept of growing love. Frederic Henry, the protagonist and narrator of this modern novel, is virtually alone in Italy, with no family and only one close friend mentioned before he meets Catherine Barkley. But through the course of the novel, his relationship with Catherine intensifies to a level much deeper than what he had originally intended.
       When Henry first meets Catherine, he notices her beauty right away. However, it wasn't what many would call "love at first sight." For a while during the spring they enjoyed each other's company, but both of them had the wrong reasons. Henry saw her as a relief from the grim reality of war, a temporary distraction, and pounced. Catherine was looking for comfort and solace because of the death of her long-time fiancé, and submitted. It is not until Henry is wounded and alone in a hospital bed in Milan that he realizes he truly loved her. He confesses: "when I saw her I was in love with her. Everything turned over inside of me" (91). His feelings for Catherine become more than just a distraction: they are undeniably real. His affection is reciprocated by Catherine, who admits "I get furious if they touch you" (103), with "them" referring to the other nurses in the ward taking care of Henry. A transparent love would not be bothered by jealousy, so Catherine's disapproval reveals just how much Henry means to her. Their love also grows physically: the first night Catherine visits is the first time the couple makes love. This act creates a bond between them that strengthens their mutual affection: Catherine asks "now do you believe I love you?" and Henry exclaims "I'm crazy in love with you" (92). Catherine and Henry's relationship became more than what either of them ever expected it to be: real love. 

      In Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, what started as a mutual companionship blossomed into a fiery romance, thus exemplifying the theme of the possibility of growing passion. 

A Farewell to Arms: Book 1

       In Ernest Hemingway's modernistic novel A Farewell to Arms, there are several instances where the narrator Henry acts impulsively rather than rationally. In the intensity of the moments he shares with Catherine, he often agrees with everything she says or replies with whatever he thinks will make her happiest, rather than a rational and truthful answer. Similarly, in the heat of battle, Henry's decisions are askew from what they would normally be in a calm situation. The theme of irrationality under pressurized situations is prevalent in Book One of A Farewell to Arms. 
       One occasion in which Henry acts irrationally is when he tells Catherine he loves her just three days after having met her for the first time. Henry even says to himself "I knew I did not love Catherine Barkley nor had any idea of loving her. This was a game, like bridge, in which you said things instead of playing cards. Like bridge you had to pretend you were playing for money or playing for some stakes" (30-31). In this quote, Henry reveals that he not only doesn't love Catherine, but he has no plans to try and love her. But, because he wants a female companion other than the prostitutes at the brothel, and he was under pressure to answer her quickly to be convincing, he tells her he  loves her to make her stay. He does not think of the long-term implications that could be caused by professing his love, and is therefore irrational. Luckily for him, Catherine knows that he is lying, and says "you don't have to pretend to love me" (31). Like him, she is seeking the solace of companionship during a time of war, and they both happen to fit each other's descriptions. 
       Another time Henry acts irresponsibly because of an intense situation is when he is confronted with the straggling soldier with the "rupture." The man admits he purposely lost his truss to get away from the war, and if Henry followed the rules and made a rational decision, he would turn him in. In this strained situation however, Henry tells him to "get out and fall down by the road and get a bump on your head and I'll pick you up on your way back and take you to a hospital," (35) saving the man from shame and possibly harsh consequences. Even though he has no personal ties with the man, and to keep order in the military behavior such as his can not be condoned, Henry irrationally decides to give him an easy way out. 
       Almost everyone will admit to acting impulsively at some point. For example, when I'm in a high pressure situation I say just about whatever it takes to get out of it- even if it means agreeing with something I wouldn't ordinarily. For instance, talking to my boss is always a tense ordeal. Because of this, in the past I have agreed to work really inconvenient hours when if I had politely declined them everything would have been fine. If I was a rational decision maker under stressful circumstances, then I could have avoided this problem.