Hemingway’s, A Farewell to Arms: Does The Film Do Justice To The Novel?

The fundamental root of discrimination is prejudice. Prejudice starts with cognition and our thoughts towards another group which often leads to a generalization or stereotyping (Myers, 2014, pg.572). Stereotyping leads us to emotions directed towards a particular group or person; including fear, hatred, and hostility, fundamentally this is negative prejudice (Myers, 2014, pg.572). Myers (2014) states that if we believe our thoughts to be true, our emotions will lead to the actual act of discrimination. Taking action on prejudice is discrimination; it is the behaviours or actions directed towards a specific distinction of a group (Myers, 2014, ph.572). We do know that discrimination can take many forms, some acceptable and others purely inexcusable.

The protagonist in this story is Lt. Frederic Henry who happens to be the narrator is an American ambulance driver who is in the Italian army during WWI. Although he is courageous and heroic, Henry does not want any part in boasting about medals and such. Henry meets a girl named Catherine and it changes his aspect on love, and we see his character transform into new perspectives throughout the book. Henry is a good caregiver and leader among his peers also.

Imagine a really embarrassing moment or a time that resulted in a lot of trouble. Does it bring on chills or a shudder? Most people understand everyone makes mistakes in their life, though, like saying or doing that one thing they know they should not which got them into a lot of trouble. Fortunately, it is typical that people have a parent or parent figure in their life to tell them what they are doing is wrong and why so next time they learn and make the right decision or do not do it again.

Having left the war behind, Frederic is finally ready for peace and quiet. Hemingway, however, has other plans for his character. Catherine dies during childbirth, as does the baby. Thus, Frederic is confronted again with death. This time, however, he is unable to detach himself emotionally as he did with the deaths he witnessed in war. His neat and happy world is collapsing and there is nothing that he can do about it.

At first look, Catherine Barkley, the woman from Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, appears to be an example of a dream girl. She emerges as a mindless character who asks nothing of her man and exists only to satisfy his needs. Therefore, it has been propounded that Catherine's character is demeaning to women. By analyzing the actions of only one of the characters, however, the special relationship that exists between Frederic and Catherine is overlooked. If Catherine is Hemingway's manner of demeaning women then one must also examine the manner in which Frederic is described, for he too is very dependent and dedicated to Catherine as she is to him. The mutual love between Frederic and Catherine

Hello My name is Shane Reynolds. I hope all is well and you are happy in your heart.

I. Ernest Hemingway shows the prosaic and fruitless nature of war and how the outcomes of war can affect people by using damaged characters. II. In A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway uses Henry’s life story to show how war can lead to a tragedy. The war is nothing but a cause of destruction and deaths. People begin war in order to live their further life in peace, but instead, war just leads to unexpected concerns and problems.

Catherine’s life before Italy was very difficult for her considering the grief she carries with the memories she left. Catherine worked and lived in France and unfortunately her fiancée died in battle, “He was going to marry me and he was killed in the Somme” (Hemingway 18). She discusses that her initial move to Italy was out of solidarity for her dead fiancée. Catherine continues to pursue her medical career as a V.A.D.. When Frederic is asked why he, an American, is working for the Italian army, he claims that “There isn’t always an explanation for everything” (Hemingway 15). Frederic’s past is shielded from the novel but more is revealed later on while he is staying at his friend Simmon’s home. He is asked why he used to live in Rome to

Ernest Hemingway's WWI classic, A Farewell to Arms is a story of initiation in which the growth of the protagonist, Frederic Henry, is recounted. Frederic is initially a naïve and unreflective boy who cannot grasp the meaning of the war in which he is so dedicated, nor the significance of his lover's predictions about his future. He cannot place himself amidst the turmoil that surrounds him and therefore, is unable to fully justify a world of death and destruction. Ultimately, his distinction between his failed relationship with Catherine Barkley and the devastation of the war allows him to mature and arrive at the resolution that the only thing one can be sure of in the course of life is death

     There is great power in being an author; you can make things happen which do not necessarily occur in real life. Hemingway felt throughout his life, powerless, and so to escape this, he created alternative lives by writing stories. Hemingway, who fell in love with Agnes, an American nurse, seven years older than he, while wounded in Milan, was deeply hurt after she didn't return his affections. While the beginning of A Farewell to Arms, up until this point is similar, this is where the story changes. In the book, Frederic and Catherine are both in love with each other. Hemingway continued his affair with Agnes through Frederic and Catherine. He put his dreams of what his faded love affair would have been like in the love scenes between Catherine and Frederic:

    There are two major themes in A Farewell to Arms that Hemingway clearly conveys: war and love. The war theme is obvious because the book is set during the World War. The theme of love is less obvious, it begins faintly because of the uncertainty between Frederick Henry and Catherine Barkley. Neither desire love or commitment to anyone, but act upon their desires of passion. As the story progresses, so does their love. The strength of their love is enforced by various understandings and agreements. Love is the theme that closes the book, leaving a final allusion of what their love is about.

Novels published after a major war are often the most deeply emotional, profound ruminations on human nature. The authors of these novels were once soldiers, living in fear and enduring sleepless nights. These authors channel their experiences and emotions into their work, often creating masterpieces of literature. A Farewell to Arms is one such novel. Its author, Ernest Hemingway, was in the Italian ambulance corps in World War I, much like the protagonist of A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry. The themes in A Farewell to Arms reflect his mentality and the typical soldier’s disillusionment in the institutions and values he had always held close. A Farewell to Arms explores the far-reaching disillusionment that seems to plague Frederic. The theme of Frederic Henry’s disillusionment of all that he believes in appears through his desertion of the war, the deterioration of his relationship with Catherine, and his thoughts on life.

In terms of characters and characterization (versus plot and theme), A Farewell to Arms is the story of Lieutenant Frederic Henry and the way he grows and changes, lives and learns, in order to catch up to the Nurse Catherine Barkley with respect to experience and the wisdom that it brings. Especially considering that Ernest Hemingway has been accused of misogyny, it is fascinating to note that Catherine is the more mature of the two characters when they meet; therefore, it is Henry who must struggle to match her level of maturity. Returning from his leave near the start of the novel, Henry knows he should have traveled to the priest's home region of Abruzzi, a "place where the roads were frozen and hard as iron, where it was clear and cold

Ernest Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms covers a romance that takes place during World War I. The novel itself came out shortly after the war, and was the first of Hemingway’s books to become a best-seller. Essentially, the novel contrasts the horrors of war with the romance of Henry and Catherine. Throughout the plot, Hemingway, a World War I veteran himself, uses the events of the book to make a statement about his thoughts on war. The core message of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms is that war damages the soldiers who fight in it both physically and emotionally, which is primarily illustrated by the number of deaths caused directly and indirectly by the war, the actions Henry is forced to take over the course of the book, and Henry’s growing cynicism towards war.

Ernest Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms, a celebrated historical fiction, amidst a time of war and personal suffering. Hemingway believed at this time that “life is a tragedy that can only have one end” (Hemingway, VIII). He continues further, calling war a “constant, bullying, murderous, slovenly crime” (Hemingway, IX). Hemingway also suffered at home, in addition to his issues regarding the state of the world. His wife had just endured a difficult pregnancy and delivery, which contributed to the last bitter chapter of his story. Keeping in mind the tortured and surly mental state of Hemingway, it is difficult to swallow the idea that he would write a wholesome, well founded love story that attracts people. To some readers, A Farewell to Arms tells of a whirlwind romance between an ambulance driver and a nurse that is based on an unbreakable foundation of love, trust, magnetism, and compassion. Anxious modernists, like Trevor Dodman who are cited in Joel Armstrong’s nonfiction text, will come up with a remarkably different outlook on this tragedy. With aid from “‘A Powerful Beacon’ Love Illuminating Human Attachment in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms”, the loveless relationship between Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley will be seen as rushed, meaningless, and mentally destructive to the parties involved.