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| Hemingway, Ernest: A Farewell to Arms
Hemingway, Ernest: A Farewell to Arms
A Farewell to Arms
[If The Sun Also Rises was one of the best books I have
ever read, then A Farewell to Arms is Truth. I simply cannot believe that these
books existed so long without my knowledge of how grand they are. I consider
myself to read constantly, more than almost anyone I know, literature and
simple, and here in less than a month I read two books that are undoubtedly
among the best I have encountered. How many other good books exist that I have
yet to read? Am I really a reader? Will I ever finish them all? What will I do
if I tire of reading?] When I finished FTA I was of course stunned by the death
of Catherine and the baby and Henry`s sudden solitude. "What happens now?" I
felt, as I so often do when I finish a book that I want to go on forever. This
is infinitely more difficult with a book that has no conclusion, and FTA leaves
a reader not only emotionally exhausted but also just as alone as Henry and with
nowhere to go. The entire work was aware of where it was going and what was
going to happen next, and then to stop the way it did was unfair. Now, I`ve read
enough essays while deciding which would be the topic for my class presentation
that I know many people see that the unfairness of life and the insignificance
of our free will are apparently the most important themes in the book, but I
don`t agree. I also don`t agree that it is a war story or a love story. Exactly
what it is, though, is not clear to me. Can`t art exist without being anything?
"There isn`t always an explanation for everything." War and love are obviously
important themes in the book, and the relationship between the two is explored
by Hemingway and, somewhat, by Henry. In the first two Books we are in the war
and the war is overwhelming. In the last two Books we are in love. And, just as
the first two Books are peppered with love in the time of war, the last two
Books are tinged with war in the time of love. The third Book is the bridge
between the two `stories` and it is not surprising that it centers on the
escape. It is during the escape that Henry resolves that he is through with the
war (a war in which he really has no place) and decides that all he wants is to
be with Catherine. Until the third Book Henry doesn`t seem to be agonizingly
concerned with matters of right or wrong in the war and it seems, in fact,
separate from him. Even when he is injured it doesn`t appear that he is really a
part of the war which surrounds him. He maintains a distance from it and this
distance isn`t really closed until Aymo is killed by his own army, he discovers
that Bonello is only staying with him out of respect, and he is almost killed as
a spy. After this he resolves to desert the army and be reunited with his love,
Catherine. Henry is no dummy and he could easily tell that everything was not
all correct with Cat, which leads to the question of his love for her. You must
admit that Cat is a bit...well... flaky when they first meet. She loses that
persona soon enough, although I couldn`t help but distrust her integrity until
somewhere in the middle of the fourth Book. It is also difficult to believe
wholeheartedly in his love for her until much later in their relationship, and
it leaves me wondering if he is leaving his involvement in the war because of
his unfailing love for Cat or if Cat and any feelings he has for her are just
excuses to escape the insanity of the war he experiences in the third Book. When
he is with Catherine, they are in another place, untouched by the war, both
symbolically (in the tent of her hair) and literally (in Switzerland). [It seems
like I don`t ever say anything earth-shattering, or even critical, in these
response papers, and I`m not sure if I`m supposed to do that. The line, "The war
seemed as far away as the football games of some one else`s college," is
beautiful.]
John Stubbs` "Love and Role Playing in A Farewell to
Arms" John Stubbs` essay is an examination of the defense which he believes
Henry and Catherine use to protect themselves from the discovery of their
insignificance and "powerlessness...in a world indifferent to their well
being..." He asserts that "role-playing" by the two main characters, and several
others in the book, is a way to escape the realization of human mortality which
is unveiled by war. Stubbs thinks that Hemingway utilized role-playing as a way
to "explore the strengths and weaknesses of his two characters." Stubbs says
that by placing Henry`s ordered life in opposition to Catherine`s topsy-turvy
one, and then letting each one assume a role which will bring them closer
together, Hemingway shows the pair`s inability to accept "the hard, gratuitous
quality of life." Stubbs begins by showing other examples, notably in In Our
Time and The Sun Also Rises, in which Hemingway`s characters revert to
role-playing in order to escape or retreat from their lives. The ability to
create characters who play roles, he says, either to "maintain self-esteem" or
to escape, is one Hemingway exploits extraordinarily well in A Farewell to Arms
and therefore it "is his richest and most successful handling of human beings
trying to come to terms with their vulnerability." As far as Stubbs is
concerned, Hemingway is quite blatant in letting us know that role-playing is
what is occurring. He tells that the role-playing begins during Henry and
Catherine`s third encounter, when Catherine directly dictates what is spoken by
Henry. After this meeting the two become increasingly comfortable with their
roles and easily adopt them whenever the other is nearby. This is apparent also
in that they can only successfully play their roles when they are in private and
any disturbance causes the "game" to be disrupted. The intrusion of the outside
world in any form makes their role-playing impossible, as evidenced at the race
track in Milan, where they must be alone. The people surrounding them make
Catherine feel uncomfortable and Henry has to take her away from the crowd. He
goes on to describe how it is impossible for them to play the roles when they
are apart and how they therefore become more dependent upon each other`s
company. Stubbs goes on to explain how, "neither mistakes role-playing for a
truly intimate relationship, but both recognize that it can be a useful device
for satisfying certain emotional needs." He says that originally Henry and
Catherine are playing the "game" for different reasons but eventually move to
play it as a team. Henry is role-playing to regain the sense of order he has
lost when he realizes the futility of the war and his lack of place in it.
Catherine is role-playing to deal with the loss of her fiance and to try to find
order in the arena of the war. When they are able to role-play together, "the
promise of mutual support" is what becomes so important to them as they try to
cope with their individual human vulnerability. He also analyzes the idyllic
world introduced early in the story by the priest at the mess and later realized
by Henry and Catherine in Switzerland. They fall fully into their roles when
they row across the lake on their way to their idealized world. The fact that
they actually are able to enter this make-believe world strengthens their "game"
and allows it to continue longer than it would have otherwise. And once they are
in this new world they adopt new roles which allow them to continue their ruse.
They also need to work harder to maintain the "game" because far from the front
they are both still aware the war is proceeding and they are no longer a part of
it. The world in which they exist in reality (!) is not conducive to
role-playing because it tries repeatedly to end their "game". Stubbs manages to
uncover numerous instances in which the two are role-playing and he makes a very
interesting case that this is exactly what they are doing and not just his
imagination reading into the story. He does make certain assumptions, that their
love is not "real", that the characters are searching for order, which are not
completely justified or even necessary to prove his point. He also forces an
intentionality upon Hemingway which could have been avoided without harming his
theory. Towards the end of the essay Stubbs infers that their role-playing is
"inferior to true intimacy," which is a point that, although he defends well, is
not central to his theory and seems to detract from his objectivity. The essay
is a valuable tool to help the reader understand this view of what is happening
through Henry and Catherine`s relationship and how they use each other to
maintain their self-images, provide themselves with psychological support, and
in a way escape the war. Hemingway may not have been trying to purposely create
a role-playing scenario, but Stubbs` essay will benefit someone wishing to
explore this aspect of the relationship of the two main characters in greater
depth. Bibliography: Bruccoli, Matthew J. and Clark, C.E. Frazer (ed.),
Fitzgerald / Hemingway Annual 1973, pp. 271-284, Microcard Editions Books,
Washington, D.C., 1974
A Farewell to Arms The overall tone of the book is much
different than that of The Sun Also Rises. The characters in the book are
propelled by outside forces, in this case WWI, where the characters in SAR
seemed to have no direction. Frederick`s actions are determined by his position
until he deserts the army. Floating down the river with barely a hold on a piece
of wood his life, he abandons everything except Catherine and lets the river
take him to a new life that becomes increasing difficult to understand. The
escape to Switzerland seemed too perfect for a book that set a tone of ugliness
in the world that was only dotted with pure love like Henry`s and Cat`s and I
knew the story couldn`t end with bliss in the slopes of Montreux. In a world
where the abstracts of glory, honor, and sacrifice meant little to Frederick,
his physical association with Catherine was the only thing he had and it was
taken away from him long before she died. The love that Frederick and Catherine
had for each other was more than could be explained in words and Frederick makes
it known that words are not really effective at describing the flesh and blood
details. Their love during an ugly war was not to be recreated or modeled even
as much as through a baby conceived by their love. The baby could not be born
alive because their love was beautiful yet doomed so that nothing could come out
of it. Hemingway`s language is effective in leaving much to the readers
interpretation and allowing a different image to form in each readers mind. The
simple sentences and incomplete descriptions frees your imagination and inspires
each person to develop their own bitter love story.
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