Why Can’t This Be Love?

While reading A Farewell to Arms I noticed some peculiarities in the so called love story. The story seemed more of one of lust than love. Even though the protagonist repeatedly claims that he loved the nurse Catherine Barkley there seems to be a sense that neither one really loved the other. I found it almost hard to enjoy the story because of the lack of what I could see as a true love but rather a lust shared by both characters.

One example of this is demonstrated on page 154. The scene has Henry and Catherine drinking wine and Catherine mentions how wine had given her father gout. Henry then asks “Have you a father?” Catherine says she does and asks Henry if he also has a father. Henry replies that he has a stepfather. I think if the two characters truly in love both would probably have already asked each other about these things, or even shared them without being asked. By now Henry and Catherine had been together for some time and the fact that neither one knew anything at all about the other’s family shows that the couple’s conversations rarely got too personal.

Hemingway seems to show the shallowness of the two’s relationship in many of their conversations. Hardly any of the conversations between the two main characters involve anything deeper than a constant lust for each other; although both seem to believe they are in love. I think that possibly neither of the two really knows what love is. Both of them are so tired of war and fighting, and possibly tired of being alone they are willing to claim love and talk themselves into thinking they are in love to justify the fact that they are constantly just kissing, fondling, and having sex. Both are looking for an escape from the horrors of the war they are experiencing. By preoccupying themselves with each other they both can forget about the war for awhile. A good example of the shallowness of their conversations can be found on page 92. Catherine asks “You do love me?” He replies “I really love you. I’m crazy about you. Come on please?” She says “Feel our beating hearts.” “I don’t care about our hearts. I want you.