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War as Seen in A Farewell To Arms - Ernest Hemingway


            In A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, Hemingway depicts war as a senseless day to day tragedy. He does not romanticize war, instead he describes the realities of what happens, which many authors before him failed to do. Hemingway repeatedly emphasizes the devastation that war has on the characters of the novel, especially on the two main characters Frederic Henry, a young American soldier, and Catherine Barkley, an English nurse. War is used as a catalyst for the love Henry and Catherine develop and eventually share. Through his description of the deep and complex relationship between Henry and Catherine, Hemingway is able to comment on the power of love and relationships to escape the pain that accompanies war. However, through Catherine's untimely death, Hemingway additionally shows that although love during war can be powerful and passionate, it is only temporary.
             When Henry is first introduced he is described as this detached solider who does not even know the reason of his own existence. He seeks only worldly pleasures and does not even know why he is fighting this war; perhaps he is ignorant on purpose so he does not have to face the realities of what is going on around him. He even says that the war is much like a movie and it does not really have anything to do with him (Hemmingway 39). When Henry meets Catherine he is physically attracted to her but she is just a distraction of war for him, no love is initially there. Fortunately everything changes when Henry gets injured, not only does he meet Catherine again, but this time his perspective has changed so he realizes that he loves her. This demonstrates that even war can lead people to one another. Henry and Catherine's love is used as means of escape from the cruel reality that surrounds them. Hemmingway also uses Catherine's hair as a symbol for escape, especially when they are together and Henry puts her hair in his face its as if he was using her hair to protect himself from the fact that he eventually has to leave.


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