A Farewell to Arms 1

When I finished the first few chapters of “A Farewell to Arms” I knew that I was going to enjoy following Lt. Henry’s story. On my first sitting I had trouble putting the book down, so I read 280 pages. I have always liked reading books set in war time and this is no exception. The settings in the novel are so strange in that they are both dominated by the beautiful Italian countryside yet surrounded by a raging world war. All of the characters in the book, and I mean all of them, add something unique to the plot and simply make the novel interesting to read. Every character has his or her own bizarre mannerism or personality that helps to keep the reader hooked to every scene.

Lt. Henry is quite complex not only because he is an American fighting in the Italian army, but also because his motives for being in the war are so ambiguous. It took a lot of determination to take it upon himself to enlist in the army but on the second hand it seems as if he could careless about the war. No one forced him to join the fight so it would imply that he had some strong desire to serve and be a hero. Although he is courageous in battle and selfless when it comes to his men, Lt. Henry is not looking for honor or to be a hero. Even when he is recommended to receive a silver star he seems to care little at all. When he is at the front all he can do is think about leaving and yet once he is wounded all he can think about it getting back to the fight as quickly as possible. Lt. Henry is a very contradictory and complex man. It seems as if he has no real direction or purpose in life, that is until he meets Catherine.

Although at first he thinks she is crazy, for some reason he continues to visit her habitually. He tells her he loves her even though he doesn’t and he has no intentions whatsoever of falling for her. But once he is away from her for three days he begins to notice how much he truly misses her and I think that it shocks him greatly. Never before has he ever loved anyone or has know what it is like to love until now. When Lt. Henry is again sent to the front and is wounded badly in the legs, he can think of nothing but Catherine. From that point on he knows that he wants nothing more than to be with her. As he heals at the hospital their relationship quickly builds into something serious I believe that they both did not anticipate. I found it strange that they could fall in love so quickly and they never have any serious dialogue. Yet they both agree that they are essentially married. After spending many months with her he is finally healed enough to go back to the front and they cannot bear to separate. When the Italian lines break and Lt. Henry and his men are forced to retreat hastily, he is determined to survive only so that he can see Catherine again. Lt. Henry risks everything to return to her, even deserting from the army and possibly facing the firing squad. He finally realizes that the military was not his true calling, but it is to run away and be with Catherine. It seems as if Lt. Henry has found a genuine direction in his life and he is no longer wandering from place to place looking for something that he thinks might fill the void. (617)