A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway

Published 1929

American Novel

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

A Farewell to Arms has been on my shelf for so long, and I no longer remember where or when I acquired it. It's an old copy, too.

Understandably, some readers cast Hemingway off as difficult to appreciate. His writing style is unusual and his plots seem too elementary and pointless; but I know there is more to it than appears. Furthermore, his stories, which are told through his flawed and troubled characters, are quite effective (for a reader like me). My preference is to make relational connections to characters and undergo something emotional through their story; hence, I find that this has been my experience, thus far, with Hemingway.

The following review contains spoilers:

The plot is quite plain: the main character, Frederic Henry, is an American ambulance driver, in Italy, during World War I. He is interested in a beautiful nurse named Catherine. When he is severely injured, he is sent to a brand new hospital, in Milan. Catherine follows him there, where he spends several months in recovery, and cares for him. It is then that their relationship becomes serious and sexual.

Near the end of Frederic's recovery, Catherine tells him she is pregnant, and they plan to spend time off together. Unfortunately, as is typical with Hemingway's characters, Frederic is caught drinking a lot and abusing drugs, and he is sent back to work, away from Catherine.

In one event, Frederic and the Americans are helping the Italians retreat, but the vehicles in the convoy become stuck. Two soldiers won't obey Frederic's orders to help push the vehicles, and one attempts to flee; Frederic makes the terrible decision to fire on the soldier, killing him.

Now Frederic must either run or face the consequences; he decides to abandon the army. He sets out in a disguise to find his pregnant girlfriend, Catherine, which he does. Shortly after, they learn that he is to be arrested; therefore, he and Catherine make a wild plan to escape to Switzerland, by rowboat.

All seems like it is going well since they are permitted to stay in Switzerland, but when the time comes for Catherine to give birth, life takes a turn for the worst. You can only imagine. And that is sadly how the story ends.

End spoilers.

Again, I understand why this story would anger readers and cause them to write off Hemingway. I won't even make a case against it. But it was disquieting enough to leave a deep impression.

So, what is the point? 

A Farewell to Arms is partially autobiographical because Hemingway was an ambulance driver, in Italy, during World War I, and was injured, just as Frederic his main character was injured. I think he wrote this book specifically for his generation. The message was clear: war is ugly and corners people into uncompromising situations. War is disturbing and it messes people up. Even romantic relationships are complicated and tricky, especially during war, and it hurts just the same. Neither is there a guarantee that anything will turn out right or good. His point may have been that this is why [his generation] was considered to be so confused and lost.

Hemingway was correct: war is miserable, and relationships are complicated. But Hemingway was an atheist and disliked "religion" because he believed it limited man's personal happiness. He probably only saw religion as a set of rules and restrictions, but faith may have given him different eyes to see life's difficulties, like war, pain, and loss. 

Hemingway never found a way to cope, and he committed suicide in 1961.