Thursday, September 22, 2005
"A Farewell to Arms" by Ernest Hemingway - Book Four
Having just finished Book 4 of Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to Arms,” I have completely lost all interest in Catherine Barkley as a character. It almost seems as if Hemingway has just given up on Catherine as a character. Her presence now just seems like a formality. If Catherine wasn’t there, much of Henry’s dialogue and action would revolve around missing and searching for her, and the reader would wonder what is happening with her and her baby; but since Henry manages to make it over to Stresa to reunite with Catherine, Hemingway is no longer burdened with having to detail his longing for her, and instead, she just seems to be there, without doing much else. She no longer as clingy and relentlessly inquisitive (“Are you happy, darling?” “Do you love me, darling?”) as she has been in the previous books. Instead, she is now dependably submissive, with much less to say.
Another thing that I find odd (and I also suspect may have been intentional on Hemingway’s part) is the fact that no matter where Henry finds himself, he always manages to be surrounded by people both willing and eager to go completely out of their way to assist him in his travels. For example, Simmons, his singer friend, and his wife Mrs. Simmons, offer Henry a place to stay and give him Simmons’ own clothes so that he will not be discovered. Also, Emilio, the barman, not only informs Henry of his imminent arrest, but also gives him and Catherine his boat, as well as sandwiches and brandy. He then allows Henry to pay him for the boat later, despite the fact that he and Emilio hardly even know each other. In fact, it seems that the only people who pose any kind of obstacle to Henry are his fellow soldiers, who shoot at him, abandon him, and attempt to arrest him, among other things.
I’m sure that it is no accident that Hemingway makes all of Henry’s antagonists in support of the war and all of his allies in opposition to it. It’s details like these that dispel any confusion whether or not “A Farewell to Arms” is a pro-war or an anti-war book. However, I think that this detail feels false when I consider that Henry isn’t so likable a character that people feel the urge to bend over backwards just to make his life easier. Perhaps it’s the fact that I oversee his interactions from a third-person point of view as opposed to interacting with him like his generous friends, but nothing about his personality or actions makes me see why a person would go to such lengths to help him, especially to the extent that Emilio goes after such a short time being acquaintances. My only guess is that it’s just an Italian thing.
Another thing that I find odd (and I also suspect may have been intentional on Hemingway’s part) is the fact that no matter where Henry finds himself, he always manages to be surrounded by people both willing and eager to go completely out of their way to assist him in his travels. For example, Simmons, his singer friend, and his wife Mrs. Simmons, offer Henry a place to stay and give him Simmons’ own clothes so that he will not be discovered. Also, Emilio, the barman, not only informs Henry of his imminent arrest, but also gives him and Catherine his boat, as well as sandwiches and brandy. He then allows Henry to pay him for the boat later, despite the fact that he and Emilio hardly even know each other. In fact, it seems that the only people who pose any kind of obstacle to Henry are his fellow soldiers, who shoot at him, abandon him, and attempt to arrest him, among other things.
I’m sure that it is no accident that Hemingway makes all of Henry’s antagonists in support of the war and all of his allies in opposition to it. It’s details like these that dispel any confusion whether or not “A Farewell to Arms” is a pro-war or an anti-war book. However, I think that this detail feels false when I consider that Henry isn’t so likable a character that people feel the urge to bend over backwards just to make his life easier. Perhaps it’s the fact that I oversee his interactions from a third-person point of view as opposed to interacting with him like his generous friends, but nothing about his personality or actions makes me see why a person would go to such lengths to help him, especially to the extent that Emilio goes after such a short time being acquaintances. My only guess is that it’s just an Italian thing.
# posted by Kevin5671 @ 3:30 PM 
