Free Essays - Ernest Hemingways A Farewell to Arms :: Farewell Arms Essays

Farewell to Arms A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, is a typical pick out story. A Romeo and his Juliet placed against the odds. In this novel, Romeo is Frederick Henry and Juliet is Catherine Barkley. Their recognise affair must survive the obstacles of orbit War I. The background of state of war-torn Italy adds to the tragedy of the love story. The war affects the emotions and set of each character. The love between Catherine and Frederick must outlast long separations, spartan war-time situations, and the uncertainty of each others whereabouts or condition. This novel is a beautiful love story of two people who need each other in a period of upheaval. Frederick Henry is an American who serves as a deputy sheriff in the Italian troops to a group of ambulance drivers. Hemingway portrays Frederick as a lost man searching for order and place in his feel. Frederick disagrees with the war he is fighting. It is too chaotic and immoral for him to rationalize its cause. He fights anyway, because the ground forces puts some form of discipline in his life. At the start of the novel, Frederick drinks and travels from single house of prostitution to another and yet he is discontent because his life is very unsettled. He befriends a non-Christian priest because he admires the fact that the priest lives his life by a set of values that give him an bully lifestyle. Further into the novel, Frederick becomes involved with Catherine Barkley. He slowly falls in love with her and, in his love for her, he finds commitment. Their relationship brings some order and value to his life. Compared to this new form of order in his life, Frederick sees the losing Italian army as total chaos and disorder where he had previously seen discipline and control. He can no longer remain a part of something that is so disorderly and so, he deserts the Italian army. Fredericks desertion from the Italian army is the turning point of the novel. This is th e significance of the title, A Farewell to Arms. When Frederick puts aside his meshing in the war, he realizes that Catherine is the order and value in his life and that he does not need anything else to give meaning to his life.