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A Farewell to Arms Post #6

Ian Rocha

Blog Post #6 A Farewell to Arms

Throughout all my experience blogging and reading A Farewell to Arms, the book has been building up to an infamous and tragic ending. Although I was lucky enough to stay away from spoilers for this 90 year old novel, I’ve always assumed that as the book starts with the drifting, lone narrator Frederick Henry, it would end him alone as well. Sadly, I was correct, and at the end of my reading I was left feeling as heartbroken and frankly nihilistic as readers have for years at the death of his true love and stillborn son. Through a portrayal of failing escapism and tragedy, Hemmingway elaborates the inevitability of death, especially in context of the time the novel was written.

A pattern throughout book five, and a theme throughout the novel as a whole, is escapism, and Henry’s efforts to separate himself from the war and his own worsening outlook. Henry particularly fits the role of someone completely disinterested in the world as a mild-mannered guy chasing the most normal life possible. He isn’t particularly patriotic, noble, or emotional, something that is quintessesized in his role as an American ambulance driver thrown into the Italian army. Yet, no matter how much he would move with Catherine to get away or abandon the war, he would be forced to constantly deny the reality of the world. This culminates in the last chapter, where during Catherine’s childbirth in death he loses grasp of any way to avoid his new, empty reality.

Right off the bat, Henry is constantly ushered out of the hospital room from Catherine during her childbirth. He would leave to get breakfast or grab a beer all whilst maintaining a “everything is fine” dialogue with Catherine, referring to each other as “lovely”or “darling”, and, near the end, repeating to himself and Catherine that “she will not die.” Yet, each time he came back into the room, her state was worse than when he left. His efforts to escape the ongoing tragedy worked less and less as she came nearer to death. A related metaphor was shown through the gas anesthetic, which started as almost playful in helping the light pain and making Catherine act “drunk”, but would devolve into her pleading to make the pain stop and Henry being forced to turn the gas dial all the way up to give her a second of relief against doctors orders. Concluding with the ultimate symbol of Catherine’s death, Henry’s world of escape and running was crashing down.

With nothing left to turn to, Hemingway elaborates the true tragedy of Henry, and his realization that in the end there is no way to escape death and the tragedy of life. Throughout the birth itself there would be multiple efforts to survive and save Catherine, just as there were countless efforts to avoid the death of the war in the novel as a whole. Despite the adaptation and decisions made by Henry, like moving closer to a hospital or switching to a caesarean operation, in the end, they wouldn’t matter. Henry was forced to come to this realization, and did so harshly.

“Now Catherine would die. That was what you did. You died. You did not know what it was about... They threw you in and told you the rules and the first time they caught you off base they killed you. Or they killed you gratuitously like Aymo. Or gave you the syphilis like Rinaldi. But they killed you in the end.. You could count on that. Stay around and they would kill you.” (180)

With an unconditional and nihilistic perspective, Henry see’s the inevitably of his own wife’s death. Corroborating this passage with the heartbroken panics he was sent into, and contrasting the mentioned experience of Rinaldi syphilis and Aymo’s sudden death, Catherine was closer to Henry than anyone else. This is why this experience left him as nihilistic as he was; death was the machine that took away his everything. The final quote sums up Henry and the tone of the book in just a short two sentences, “It was like saying good-by to a statue. After a while I went out and left the hospital and walked back to the hotel in the rain.” (284) With Catherine a symbol of a “statue”, perpetually meaningless and only a life meant to die, and the “rain”, which resembles the harshness of the outside world never letting anyone escape, Henry fully is submerged into his climaxing philosophy.

Reading and writing about A Farewell to Arms has given me an intense focus on Henry, as for the most part this is his story. His ultimate nihilism and heartbreak he experiences exists as a symbol for grander meanings onto our world and the world of Ernest Hemmingway. As tragic as this is, the book is very much Hemmingway’s most personal novel. Not only directly through his parallel to Henry in being a WW1 ambulance driver, but in his tragic view on death as well. Something tough to read at points were Henry’s suicidal blips as he portrayed himself onto the death of others. Researching Hemmingway’s death and his family history with suicide, one can assume this novels dark theme as something related to that trauma and perspective that someone can go through. Knowing this, on a surface level the reader gets a heavy, and real perspective of the impact of war onto people. The constant reference to “they will kill you” in the novel can often be summarized to an abstract philosophical viewpoint, but also to the concurrent role of WW1 and WW2 onto people living and serving in those times. Life was really rough and traumatic for many people in times of war. And the way it shaped people was a story in itself. I hesitate writing on this topic because my modern experience, frankly, is nothing like this. I by no means experienced the tragedy of war or death upfront, and my worldview is optimistic and joyous. It’s hard to draw a greater significance when the message of the story, to me, was an experience on how tragedy can shape a person. So, in the end I feel the most respectful thing to comment on in Hemmingway’s writing is the realness of it all. Feeling for the tragedy of Catherine’s death and understanding the horridness of war is the greatest significance I can gleam, as multifaceted as it might be.

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A Farewell to Arms Post #5

Blog Post #5 A Farewell to Arms

This past week I read book four of A Farewell to Arms, in which Henry finally escapes the war and ultimately arrives in Switzerland to live “happily ever after” with Catherine. Unlike a typical fairy tale, however, the book doesn’t end here, and subsequently this section would be filled with some of the most beautifully written and tragic passages foreshadowing the ending. Despite Henry’s efforts to detach from the war and his focus on love with Catherine, Hemmingway foreshadows the impossibility for this to happen and their inevitable farewell.

As soon as Henry enters Milan, it’s clear that he wants nothing to do with the war anymore and only has his eyes set on a life with Catherine. The war was a hugely traumatic experience and forced Henry to abandon for his own life, so, naturally, he returned with no intent of going back. This is displayed right off the bat with his conversation with the bartender. The bartender heedlessly gives unwanted help and advice by offering Henry proper war papers and letting him know everyone can easily tell he’s military by his coat. Henry ignores everything he says and repeats the phrase “I’m alright”, dusting off the bartender's well-intentioned motives which he wants no part of. Even small reminders, Henry shuts out and disregards. On a similar token, he ignores the war whenever Catherine asks him about it, “I had the paper but I did not read it because I did not want to read about the war. I was going to forget about the war. I had made a separate peace.” (211) The key phrase “separate peace” depicts Henry as beyond and done with the war. However, in reality, it’s much more likely that he is in denial of it’s impact on him and it’s impending doom. He constantly reaches for the ideal of a perfect life with Catherine, even in their trip to Switzerland, but Hemmingway goes on to show how this simply wasn’t realistic, philosophically or contextually.

Even though Henry wants to chase a perfect getaway life with Catherine, Hemmingway foreshadows his inevitable failure to do so through the world around Henry and his own internal distress. Henry has a newfound detachment towards the war’s ongoings, one that would contrast characters like Ferguson or Count Greffi who remind of the real presence of the war. Ferguson despises Henry and Catherine’s relationship and is torn apart by the similarity she sees in them in her own situation, “‘You do want to go. You see you want to leave me even to eat dinner alone. I’ve always wanted to goto the Italian lakes and this is how it is.’ she sobbed, then looked at Catherine and choked.” (215) Ferguson parallels a situation where the war has stripped someone of a lover or a life. Tragically, she sobbs about her fear of loneliness and her look at Catherines symbolizes the parallel that this reality could happen to them as well. Not only would this be mirrored with Count Greffi, who resembles cynicism even in old age, but also in Henry himself. “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places. But those that will not break it kill. It kills the very good and the very gentle and the very brave impartially.” (216) In this moment in meditative and almost clairvoyant reflection, Henry comes to the dark conclusion that the world is a cruel place which breaks or kills everyone. The “very good and gentle” of course referring to Catherine, the one love he finds life in. In these chapters Henry appears to be moving as far away from the war as he’s ever been, yet the characterization and world tells a story of a building, inevitable tragedy.

Partially through writing and partially through the reader's own interpretation, Hemmingway passes on his own contemplation of war and philosophy onto the reader. Reading brought me back to the essay I read before I started this book, in which Hemmingway himself states that the true evils of war aren't the people fighting at the front lines, but the people profiting from their honor. This unique brand of cynicism is one much more human and easily relatable than a more close minded view. 

When cynicism it’s easy to think of the angsty and needlessly emotional teenager or reddit poster or whatever comes to mind. In reality, though, cynicism can represent an intelligence and natural response to a messed up system. Just as there is an instituted belief in A Farewell to Arms that all love must depart and war ruins all, there is also a developed discussion of the war’s impacts which lead people to these conclusions. In a grander sense, we can use this as a way to see outlooks and philosophies as a product of their time. Yes, Hemmingway was known for being cynical and tragic, but you also have to consider the horrible state the world was in at the time of his artistry. For us and any of our outlooks on 2020, it’s important to be considerate of backgrounds and experience which could lead someone to their own beliefs. The modern problems of the functioning of capitalism and the bizarreness of internet culture, of course, make everyone’s conclusion much more left field, but ones that we can be understanding and intellectual of nevertheless.

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A Farewell to Arms Post #4

Blog Post #4 A Farewell to Arms

The title of this book seemingly hints at much of the book’s themes so far. The tragic relationship between Henry and Catherine and their inevitable separation characterize the “farewell” in war in the truest sense. In this previous segment of the book, however, the reader is exposed to the flip side of that idea for the first time with Henry returning back to war and the company (“arms'') of his best friend Rinaldi. Through their reunion, Hemmingway showcases the impact of the war on Rinaldi in Henry’s absence and the coping mechanisms separation incites.

Immediately, Henry is reimmersed in the frontlines he left not so long ago, yet is ominously different in response to an ongoing and heightening war. Similar to the case of Rinaldi, who has lasted in the frontlines since Henry left and is despaired in his endless work as surgeon, “‘We never get anything. We are born with all we have and we never learn. We never get anything new. We all start complete.’” (149) Rinaldi is imbued with a sense of nihilism and hopelessness, presumably from the repetitive brutality of the war. Especially in contrast with his jovial character at the start of the book, and in remnants currently, Rinaldi is closed into a world of war and nothing else, where he now believes in a dull existence. In similar parallelism, Rinaldi references back to the lively dinners and spirals, beckoning back for that sense of community he found, “‘Where are all the good old priest-baiters? Where is Calvalcanti? Where is Brundi? Where is Cesare? I don’t give a damn, to hell with this whole business.’” (152) With damning the entire war and breaking down at a calm dinner as example, Rinaldi has gained a lot of despair and distress from the past months of war. His questioning of “Where is Brundi, Cesare…” can be interpreted with a dark tone, not only referencing their absence, but death over the past summer. Sadly, his time away from Henry transformed Rinaldi away from his initial joyousness.

Subsequently, Rinaldi looks to relief and the memory of Henry in order to try to maintain happiness in his life. In the midst of the frontlines, I assume there isn’t much to do in the vein of leisure and normalcy. Rinaldi responds to this by reaching for the few things available to him, “‘I am only happy when I am working… No. I only like two other things; one is bad for my work and the other is over in half an hourse or fifteen minutes.’” (149) The “two things'' Rinaldi refers to are sex, more specifically through prositution, and drinking. Both of which fuel an addiction and provide only temporary relief. By filling his life with these two things and working, Rinaldi attempts to deny the horrible reality of his situation and cope with the ways available to him. On the same token, he copes with the memory of Henry. Henry, unlike Rinaldi, is very level headed and holds himself to a standard of decency, so Rinadi looks up to him in contrast to his own despair, “‘I kept this to remind me of you trying to brush away the Villa Rossa from your teeth in the morning, searing and eating aspiring and cursing harlots. Every time I see that glass I think of you trying to clean your conscience with a toothbrush.’” (147) Rinaldi recognized the impact of Henry even when he was gone, and kept the reminder of Henry’s opposition to prositution and drinking as a way to hold onto the sense of cleanliness and purity Henry symbolizes for him. In such a war-ridden environment, Rinaldi was forced to cope in whatever way was nearest to him, even if one of things happened to be a memory.

Like much of this book, a lot of these theme’s elaborate the multifaceted impact and tragedy of war. However, through the characterization and responses, more wider-reaching messages can be revealed. Henry and Catherine’s relationship reveals much about love and comfort. Rinaldi’s presence, on the other hand, elaborates loneliness and survival. Rinaldi was forced to cope as a method of survival from the trauma of war. Coping as a whole, however, is something everyone experiences. Whether it’s as drastic as addictions, or simply a beer at dinner to take the edge off, relief is something everyone needs from the stressors of life. Perhaps learning from the healthier tendencies Rinaldi sticks to, such as holding onto the memory of Henry, coping can be something both healthy and rewarding for everyone.

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A Farewell to Arms Post #3

Blog Post #3 A Farewell to Arms

This past week I read through book two of A Farewell to Arms, in which Lt. Henry and Barkely temporarily live in Milan, separate from, but still feeling, the effects of the war. Their relationship flourishes with love and closeness throughout their leave, but beneath it’s growth, subtle conflicts and anxieties persist. In hopes of peace and normalcy, Henry and Barkely grow codependent and attached to their love, a tragic trait abused by the war’s presence and Henry's inevitable departure to serve. 

Because of their leave, Henry and Barkely are able to grow their attachment into a married lifestyle, constantly reaching for a relationship to hold onto in the midst of the ever-persisting war. Henry is initially hesitant over Barkely's “craziness.” After being wounded, however, he’s infatuated with her, “God knows I had not wanted to fall in love with her. I had not wanted to fall in love with anyone. But God knows I had.” The repeated phrase “I had not wanted” emphasizes Henry’s change and contrasts just how in love he is. Although unsaid, the brutality of the war and his exposure to men dying took a part in him finally opening up to Barklely, as the married life in Milan romanticized a better existence. Barkely enforces a similar bliss onto their relationship, constantly reaching for any sort of stability, “‘I’ll say just what you wish and I’ll do what you wish and then you will never want any other girls, will you?... I’ll do what you want and say what you want and then I’ll be a great success, won’t I?’” Here Barkely showcases her love and attachment. At the root of her questioning, however, anxieties plague Barkely. She’s offering her complete devotion because she’s worried that Henry will leave her, whether it’s for another girl, due to herself, or, ultimately, because of the war. Such is the case with much of the couple’s happiness: blissful on the surface, but in denial of grander worries and inevitabilities.

As the title of the book suggests, Henry inevitably needs to leave Barkely and return to war. The rain in Milan, and Barkely’s fear of it, served as a metaphor elaborating this omnipresent quality of the war: “‘Because I can keep you safe. I know I can… It’s only nonsense. I’m not afraid of the rain. I’m not afraid of the rain. Oh, oh, God, I wish I wasn’t.’ She was crying. I comforted her and she stopped crying. But outside it kept on raining.” Barkely obvious denial of her fear and stress have no effect on the rain itself. Henry attempts to comfort, “but outside it kept on raining.” Such is the nature of war. As much as Barkely demands to keep Henry safe or wants to live happily married after, the war doesn’t care. Henry later quotes a poem by Marvell in his goodbye, which sums up their tragedy: “‘But at my back I always hear Time’s winged chariot hurrying near’” Characterizing his leave as a matter of “Time” as a proper noun elaborates the third worldliness of the war controlling their life. In tandem with this, the wording of “at my back” alludes to the tragedy and death characterizing their relationship from the start, which would be a tragic foreshadowing if either of the characters were to die (Haven't been spoiled for this book, but oh boy is this looking grim). 

In a grander sense, Hemmingway implies that Henry’s and Barkley’s relationship, no matter how separated or blissful they could make it, is defined by the war and the turmoil it entails, even “doomed” if that’s what the ending has in store. Perhaps because of this quality, is why the book is known as such a hallmark, modern tragedy. It’s not a lighthearted message, but showcases Hemmingway’s thoughts on war. The evilness isn’t just the number of deaths or needless killing it brings, but also the love which it fosters in response, and which it inevitably destroys.

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A Farewell to Arms Post #2

For today’s blog post I decided to write about my favorite pages of the book so far, pg. 23 (attached). Here the reader gets their first introduction to Lt. Henry and Miss Barley’s romance and how bizarre it would be in context of their place and time. Through the characterization displayed through their romance, Hemingway elaborates the effect of war on the main characters and their own intimate predispositions.

Unlike a typical romance, Barkely is wrought with a depressed intensity over her relationship with Henry from the start. Yet, this seemingly wouldn't be caused by Henry, but rather her own history. I found this displayed in the nature of their first kiss, which follows not only a cold, regretted slap, but her description of the loss of her childhood love in war. Subsequently, the kiss is “shivered”, “closed tight”, and “hard”. By describing the kiss with an overall hesitation, Hemmingway builds on the context of Barkely’s past lost love and her own vulnerability. She allows Henry to kiss her, but at the same time is brought down by the rawness of the act. Because of this, she peculiarly breaks into tears immediately after. The phrase “You will be good to me, won’t you” sticks out through the sobbing, displaying Barkely giving into the relationship, but still feeling the inner hesitation and regret. This quote can be interpreted as Barkley’s cautious hope for love with Henry, but also a fear over losing him like she did her last love. Through this lens, one can attribute her characterization to the impact of the war, and how it can affect even one’s romance.

Lt. Henry, unlike Barkely, is affected by their relationship and the war in a reactionary manner. Continuously characterized as a mild-mannered medic who fell into the war without a strong reason, he contrasts Barkely stark emotions and baggage. His reaction to her sobbing was mostly confused, “What the hell, I thought. I stroked her hair and patted her shoulder. She was crying.” Taken off guard, he observes her behaviors and questions their meanings. His naivety can symbolize his innocence to the war, as he hasn’t experienced any of the combat yet and is chasing a “normal” romance. His contemplation is further displayed by Rinaldis description of him, “You have that pleasant air of a dog in heat.” This metaphor can represent Henry dog-like nature, being male-minded and simple, in context of the “heat”, the confused stress Barkely puts on him. In a grander sense, the heat can represent the war, the constant background factor controlling their lives. Regardless, Henry is subject to his environment and showcases his newness to it with his peculiar romance.

At first read, Barkely and Henry’s relationship seems bizarre and a complete 180 from what you would expect of a novel’s romance. Sobbing after a first kiss? Forcing the other to say I love you the next visit? One can first assume this is part of a retrospective look at older traditions, but this is  not the only factor. Part of the weirdness to their interactions is due to the war and the background of each of the characters. In a grander sense, we can all relate to this. With love, or any relationship, it survives within a context. If that context happens to be a crisis or struggle, such as being on the front lines, or even the forbiddenness of classic love like Romeo and Juliet, it can make that relationship all much stronger or specific.

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To start my read of A Farewell to Arms and in order to first delve myself into the author’s, Ernest Hemmingway, style and world, I read the introduction of the book written by Hemmingway himself. More specifically, the 1948 introduction which was written about 20 years after its first publication in 1929. His retrospective onto his writing and the 20 years since publication would go on to reveal a lot about Hemmingway and introduce his reputation for dark and heartbreaking writing, especially surrounding this book, his most remarked work.

Firstly, the short intro was an opening into Hemmingway’s expression and philosophy, something I anticipate is associated directly with the book’s themes and plot. When describing his time writing the novel, the phrase “I remember living in the book and making up what happened in it every day” stood out to me as to show how cuttingly expressive Hemmingway is shown to be right from the start. Knowing that he served in WW1 as an ambulance driver and that the book follows a character in the same position, the line “living in the book” reflects how intimate and synonymous I expect the book to be to his own life. Simultaneously he elaborates the time from which the novel was written, which characterizes Hemmingway himself. Alluding to his father’s suicide, mentioning how the book was published on the same day the stock market crashed, and focusing on the two major wars all give contextualiation to the terrible times both Hemmingway, and the world wass experiencing.

I also got more insight into his own personal experience when he elaborated on his thoughts on war, which I believe he did both as an introduction to himself, and as precursor for the book’s tragedy. He notably introduces the book's name and points out that there has only been three years since he first published that there was not a war of some kind in the same line. This is immediately followed with him describing war as a “constant, bullying, murederous, slovenly crime.” By juxtapositioning the book and these details, the focus of the book is further revealed and I expect his anti-war and cynical tone to continue on into the book itself. At the same time, he claims he would “gladly take charge of the shooting” himself for those who instigate and capitalize on war, but still believes the people fighting in a war are some of the best in the world. He’s clearly passionate and experienced on the subject. And he elaborates both his own admiration for humanity and happiness, in tandem with the horridness of war and how much it soils his outlook.

By all means, this introduction was heavy and real. I’m excited to start my read, but part of me even feels a little fearful of how tragic this classic can get.