Symbols of a Farewell to Arms

A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemmingway is a romantic and tragic novel that takes place in World War I. The protagonist and main character, Lieutenant Frederic Henry, an American ambulance driver who works for the Italian army, is a passionless person until he meets Catherine Barkley. Catherine Barkley is an English nurse’s aid who falls in love with Henry. Their love becomes a serious of complicated games due to Catherine’s loss of her fiancй. Eventually, their love grows so strong, every scary and tragic moment Henry passes through, he is thinking of her.

The story starts out with Henry describing a small town in Italy where he lives in. Then, Rinaldi, a friend of his comes up and talks to him about how English nurses have been sent to the front line. Later that night, Henry meets Catherine and immediately falls in love with her. Catherine has been grieving for her fiancй’s death, so meeting Henry has waken up her desire for eternal love.

Henry is brought to a hospital in Milan from the battlefield after being wounded. His doctors tell him he must wait a period of six months before operation, so he seeks more advice. Dr. Valentini then agrees to operate on him the next morning. In the hospital, he meets with Catherine where for the next few months, their love becomes strong, real and powerful. Then, Catherine tells him that she is pregnant, and he asks her if she wants marriage but she denies.

Henry then is accused by a nurse, Miss Van Campen , that he has jaundice because of his excessive drinking to avoid being sent back to the front. Once he arrives to the front, the bombardment starts. The German troops are breaking through, so they have to evacuate. He and some ambulance drivers with two engineering sergeants and two young girls take the ambulance and drive. A column falls on the vehicle, so Henry orders the men to help, but refuse, so he shoots one of the engineers. Then he and the other man give money to the girls, and they go to Udine. One man is shot, while the other fears of death, so turns himself in. Henry and another driver hide in a farmhouse. Then they encounter the Italian army, but shoots at them because they are very frightened. They are captured by the police, but then Henry escapes and dives in the river.

Henry then hides in a train on its way to Milan. After, he reunites with Catherine, and then because they are persecuted, flee on a beat lend by a friend to Switzerland. They move to Lausanne, where one morning, Catherine goes into labor. They rush to the hospital, where she has a very complicated and painful delivery. Catherine delivers a dead baby and dies later that night. Henry, saddened cannot say goodbye, so walks away.

A Farewell to Arms has many abstract concepts that symbolize other ideas. Nature, itself, represents what the characters are going through. The rain is one of the most important concepts of the book. It represents death. Catherine herself quotes this, “I’m afraid of the rain because sometimes I see