A Farewell To Arms
Overview
- A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway and published in 1929, is the story
of Frederic Henry, an officer with the Italian army in World War I, and his
relationship with Catherine Barkley, a British nurse.
- Some have noted the similarities between the main character and Hemingway, who
also served in the Italian army as an ambulance driver in 1918, and his nurse, Agnes
Von Kurowsky, who cared for Hemingway after he was wounded.
- The book opens in the summer of 1915. The Italians have just entered the war, and
Frederic Henry, an American who had been living in Rome and studying architecture,
has joined the Italian army, serving as a lieutenant in the Second Army.
- He is in charge of the ambulance drivers at the Northern Italian front. The early
chapters do not provide specific details about battles or names.
- Hemingway’s terse, minimalist style of writing is meant to convey much deeper
emotion below the surface. Although much is left unsaid, what is said is that the war
is not going well for the Italians in 1915.
- Both war and disease have decimated the army.
- The following year, the Italians have more victories; they have taken territory from
the Austrian-Hungarian army, including the town of Gorizia, where Frederick is
stationed.
- Hemingway gradually introduces voices and dialogues of the officers, who make
crude sexual jokes in order to mock the priest.
- Frederic goes on leave, spending much of that time in a drunken haze. When he
returns, he spends time with a British nurse, Catherine Barkley.
- He is wounded during an offensive and is taken to a hospital. At the hospital, he is
visited by his friend, Lieutenant Rinaldi, and the priest before being transferred to a
hospital in Milan.
- In Book 2, Milan, Frederic and Catherine are reunited, and very quickly their
relationship develops.
- She not only nurtures him back to health, but she also sleeps with him most nights.
By the end of the summer, she reveals that she is pregnant and soon after, Frederic
learns that he must head back to the front.
- Catherine assures Frederic that she can take care of everything during her
pregnancy. Frederic gets on the train, and quickly must readjust to life back with the
other soldiers.
- In Book 3, it’s late October 1917, and the mood at the Italian front is despondent, as
the losses the men have suffered weighs them down. Frederic is told to bring four
ambulance cars north to Caporetto.
- The next day, they are attacked at Caporetto and must retreat. Frederic is in charge
of bringing three ambulances with hospital supplies and three drivers—Aymo,
Bonello, and Piani—to Pordenone, a town on the Tagliamento River.
- During the massive retreat, they are stuck in the stalled column and try to take a
shortcut, but they end up stuck in the mud.
- The sergeants whom had joined them refuse to help and Frederic shoots them,
wounding one, who Bonello then kills.
, - Frederic and the rest eventually rejoin the chaotic retreat, which is now made of
both soldiers and civilians fleeing for their lives. At the Tagliamento river, Frederic
sees that officers are being shot for having abandoned their troops.
- Frederic realizes he too is in danger of being killed, so he dives into the river. Once
he emerges from the river, he sheds his identity as a soldier and tries to resume life
as a civilian.
- He heads to Milan in Book 4, seeking out Catherine, but finds out she is on leave in
Stresa. When he finds her there, she is overjoyed to see him. But the threat of
danger always hovers and soon they must leave once news arrives that Frederic’s
arrest is imminent. They escape by boat and row all night until they reach neutral
Switzerland. Once in Switzerland, they are happy to have escaped Italy. They must
check in with the Swiss officials, who believe (or pretend to believe) their story that
they are tourists seeking winter sport. Switzerland is a different world from Italy.
- In Book 5, it’s winter, and Frederic and Catherine cocoon themselves in a home in
the snow-capped mountains.
- They take long walks and enjoy their seclusion. Once Catherine nears the end of her
pregnancy, they realize they must move to town to be closer to the hospital. When
Catherine goes into labor, things go badly.
- The baby dies with the cord wrapped around its neck. Catherine begins
hemorrhaging and dies soon after. Frederic leaves the hospital, alone.
Book 1, Chapter 1-3 Analysis
- In these opening chapters, Hemingway’s renowned style of using minimal, spare
writing is on display. As Hemingway said in a Paris Review interview: "I always try to
write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it under water for
every part that shows” (quoted in Michael Reynolds's Hemingway’s First War).
- Chapter 1 has no names, no dates, and no enemy. All that information remains
submerged below the surface. Instead, the author uses simple language: mountains,
river, dust. That is the one-eighth of the iceberg that the reader can see.
- The narrator does not attempt to paint a picture full of details to help illustrate every
leaf, every man, or every feeling.
- Only later does the reader learn that the story is set in the middle of World War I, at
the Italian front as the soldiers fight the Austrians in the mountains. When describing
the troops as they march to the front, Hemingway does not describe any actual
fighting, but instead he describes the impact the army’s movements make on the
landscape.
- The constant marching kicks up so much dust that the dust covers everything around
them. The presence of the army transforms all of nature. The use of camouflage
further mixes the military with the natural so that it is hard to tell the difference
between the two.
- When the fall rains come, the dust turns to mud, which covers everything, further
conflating the two.
- Hemingway’s noticeable use of “and” to connect his nouns has the effect of
flattening the language.
, - There are no decorations and no interpretations. Frederic’s eye scans the world
around him, and this is what he sees. The lack of subordinate clauses ends up making
everything equal, even the king.
- This leveling of the language emphasizes the ironic shock of learning that “only”
7,000 soldiers have died from cholera.
- In the second chapter, despite the victories, the trees are now nothing but stumps.
Nature shows herself to be a worthy opponent because when it snows, the war must
end, at least temporarily.
- The white blanket of snow covers all the ravages of war for the time being.
Hemingway’s handling of time also works to further flatten any emotion. Time
moves seamlessly from summer to fall to winter.
- There are no special victories or losses that stand out, but rather the main event is
the processing of the year in a detached, methodical manner.
- In Chapter 3, his roommate, Lieutenant Rinaldi, questions Frederic about his leave.
Frederic can’t come up with much to say about his time away except to mention the
many places he has gone to: “Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples, Villa San Giovanni,
Messina, Taormima”.
- Rinaldi is not satisfied with this minimalist answer, joking that Frederic sounds like a
time-table, which could be Hemingway poking fun at his own minimalist way of
writing.
- But at the end of the chapter, Frederic comes back to question of what he did on his
leave. This is the first insight the reader gets into the narrator’s thoughts. Until this
point, the narrator has been very restrained in admitting any emotion. In this
passage, the feelings come through using stream of consciousness to reflect on the
flow of thoughts and feelings that he had once he was away from the army.
- He wonders if life is simply a series of unconnected nights and days that don’t mean
anything. The war has obliterated any sense of values.
Book 1, Chapters 4-6 Analysis
- In these chapters, Frederic has returned from leave, only to discover that he is not
needed; everything seems to be running fine without him.
- Despite this feeling of insignificance, he knows the spring offensive is coming, and he
knows he has to have the ambulances ready to carry the wounded men from the
front.
- His questioning of his value to the war effort runs throughout these chapters. He
seems acutely aware of his position as hovering on the periphery of the army. Of
course, he is an officer, and he is clearly identified as one by the stars on his uniform,
the gas mask, and the steel helmet.
- He doesn’t quite inhabit his role fully, and he often seems to be acting the role of a
soldier. It’s never quite clear why he is in the Italian army anyway, especially as he is
an American.
- Throughout the novel, his identity is questioned, as people wonder if he’s American,
Italian, English, Austrian, or German. Frederic never reveals his motivations for being
in the army.
Overview
- A Farewell to Arms, written by Ernest Hemingway and published in 1929, is the story
of Frederic Henry, an officer with the Italian army in World War I, and his
relationship with Catherine Barkley, a British nurse.
- Some have noted the similarities between the main character and Hemingway, who
also served in the Italian army as an ambulance driver in 1918, and his nurse, Agnes
Von Kurowsky, who cared for Hemingway after he was wounded.
- The book opens in the summer of 1915. The Italians have just entered the war, and
Frederic Henry, an American who had been living in Rome and studying architecture,
has joined the Italian army, serving as a lieutenant in the Second Army.
- He is in charge of the ambulance drivers at the Northern Italian front. The early
chapters do not provide specific details about battles or names.
- Hemingway’s terse, minimalist style of writing is meant to convey much deeper
emotion below the surface. Although much is left unsaid, what is said is that the war
is not going well for the Italians in 1915.
- Both war and disease have decimated the army.
- The following year, the Italians have more victories; they have taken territory from
the Austrian-Hungarian army, including the town of Gorizia, where Frederick is
stationed.
- Hemingway gradually introduces voices and dialogues of the officers, who make
crude sexual jokes in order to mock the priest.
- Frederic goes on leave, spending much of that time in a drunken haze. When he
returns, he spends time with a British nurse, Catherine Barkley.
- He is wounded during an offensive and is taken to a hospital. At the hospital, he is
visited by his friend, Lieutenant Rinaldi, and the priest before being transferred to a
hospital in Milan.
- In Book 2, Milan, Frederic and Catherine are reunited, and very quickly their
relationship develops.
- She not only nurtures him back to health, but she also sleeps with him most nights.
By the end of the summer, she reveals that she is pregnant and soon after, Frederic
learns that he must head back to the front.
- Catherine assures Frederic that she can take care of everything during her
pregnancy. Frederic gets on the train, and quickly must readjust to life back with the
other soldiers.
- In Book 3, it’s late October 1917, and the mood at the Italian front is despondent, as
the losses the men have suffered weighs them down. Frederic is told to bring four
ambulance cars north to Caporetto.
- The next day, they are attacked at Caporetto and must retreat. Frederic is in charge
of bringing three ambulances with hospital supplies and three drivers—Aymo,
Bonello, and Piani—to Pordenone, a town on the Tagliamento River.
- During the massive retreat, they are stuck in the stalled column and try to take a
shortcut, but they end up stuck in the mud.
- The sergeants whom had joined them refuse to help and Frederic shoots them,
wounding one, who Bonello then kills.
, - Frederic and the rest eventually rejoin the chaotic retreat, which is now made of
both soldiers and civilians fleeing for their lives. At the Tagliamento river, Frederic
sees that officers are being shot for having abandoned their troops.
- Frederic realizes he too is in danger of being killed, so he dives into the river. Once
he emerges from the river, he sheds his identity as a soldier and tries to resume life
as a civilian.
- He heads to Milan in Book 4, seeking out Catherine, but finds out she is on leave in
Stresa. When he finds her there, she is overjoyed to see him. But the threat of
danger always hovers and soon they must leave once news arrives that Frederic’s
arrest is imminent. They escape by boat and row all night until they reach neutral
Switzerland. Once in Switzerland, they are happy to have escaped Italy. They must
check in with the Swiss officials, who believe (or pretend to believe) their story that
they are tourists seeking winter sport. Switzerland is a different world from Italy.
- In Book 5, it’s winter, and Frederic and Catherine cocoon themselves in a home in
the snow-capped mountains.
- They take long walks and enjoy their seclusion. Once Catherine nears the end of her
pregnancy, they realize they must move to town to be closer to the hospital. When
Catherine goes into labor, things go badly.
- The baby dies with the cord wrapped around its neck. Catherine begins
hemorrhaging and dies soon after. Frederic leaves the hospital, alone.
Book 1, Chapter 1-3 Analysis
- In these opening chapters, Hemingway’s renowned style of using minimal, spare
writing is on display. As Hemingway said in a Paris Review interview: "I always try to
write on the principle of the iceberg. There is seven-eighths of it under water for
every part that shows” (quoted in Michael Reynolds's Hemingway’s First War).
- Chapter 1 has no names, no dates, and no enemy. All that information remains
submerged below the surface. Instead, the author uses simple language: mountains,
river, dust. That is the one-eighth of the iceberg that the reader can see.
- The narrator does not attempt to paint a picture full of details to help illustrate every
leaf, every man, or every feeling.
- Only later does the reader learn that the story is set in the middle of World War I, at
the Italian front as the soldiers fight the Austrians in the mountains. When describing
the troops as they march to the front, Hemingway does not describe any actual
fighting, but instead he describes the impact the army’s movements make on the
landscape.
- The constant marching kicks up so much dust that the dust covers everything around
them. The presence of the army transforms all of nature. The use of camouflage
further mixes the military with the natural so that it is hard to tell the difference
between the two.
- When the fall rains come, the dust turns to mud, which covers everything, further
conflating the two.
- Hemingway’s noticeable use of “and” to connect his nouns has the effect of
flattening the language.
, - There are no decorations and no interpretations. Frederic’s eye scans the world
around him, and this is what he sees. The lack of subordinate clauses ends up making
everything equal, even the king.
- This leveling of the language emphasizes the ironic shock of learning that “only”
7,000 soldiers have died from cholera.
- In the second chapter, despite the victories, the trees are now nothing but stumps.
Nature shows herself to be a worthy opponent because when it snows, the war must
end, at least temporarily.
- The white blanket of snow covers all the ravages of war for the time being.
Hemingway’s handling of time also works to further flatten any emotion. Time
moves seamlessly from summer to fall to winter.
- There are no special victories or losses that stand out, but rather the main event is
the processing of the year in a detached, methodical manner.
- In Chapter 3, his roommate, Lieutenant Rinaldi, questions Frederic about his leave.
Frederic can’t come up with much to say about his time away except to mention the
many places he has gone to: “Milan, Florence, Rome, Naples, Villa San Giovanni,
Messina, Taormima”.
- Rinaldi is not satisfied with this minimalist answer, joking that Frederic sounds like a
time-table, which could be Hemingway poking fun at his own minimalist way of
writing.
- But at the end of the chapter, Frederic comes back to question of what he did on his
leave. This is the first insight the reader gets into the narrator’s thoughts. Until this
point, the narrator has been very restrained in admitting any emotion. In this
passage, the feelings come through using stream of consciousness to reflect on the
flow of thoughts and feelings that he had once he was away from the army.
- He wonders if life is simply a series of unconnected nights and days that don’t mean
anything. The war has obliterated any sense of values.
Book 1, Chapters 4-6 Analysis
- In these chapters, Frederic has returned from leave, only to discover that he is not
needed; everything seems to be running fine without him.
- Despite this feeling of insignificance, he knows the spring offensive is coming, and he
knows he has to have the ambulances ready to carry the wounded men from the
front.
- His questioning of his value to the war effort runs throughout these chapters. He
seems acutely aware of his position as hovering on the periphery of the army. Of
course, he is an officer, and he is clearly identified as one by the stars on his uniform,
the gas mask, and the steel helmet.
- He doesn’t quite inhabit his role fully, and he often seems to be acting the role of a
soldier. It’s never quite clear why he is in the Italian army anyway, especially as he is
an American.
- Throughout the novel, his identity is questioned, as people wonder if he’s American,
Italian, English, Austrian, or German. Frederic never reveals his motivations for being
in the army.
