BG Steyr

A Farewell to Arms
[If The Sun Also Rises was one of the best books I have ever read, then A Farewell
to Arms is Truth. I simply cannot believe that these books existed so long without my
knowledge of how grand they are. I consider myself to read constantly, more than
almost anyone I know, literature and simple, and here in less than a month I read two
books that are undoubtedly among the best I have encountered. How many other
good books exist that I have yet to read? Am I really a reader? Will I ever finish them
all? What will I do if I tire of reading?] When I finished FTA I was of course stunned
by the death of Catherine and the baby and Henry's sudden solitude. "What happens
now?" I felt, as I so often do when I finish a book that I want to go on forever. This is
infinitely more difficult with a book that has no conclusion, and FTA leaves a reader
not only emotionally exhausted but also just as alone as Henry and with nowhere to
go. The entire work was aware of where it was going and what was going to happen
next, and then to stop the way it did was unfair. Now, I've read enough essays while
deciding which would be the topic for my class presentation that I know many people
see that the unfairness of life and the insignificance of our free will are apparently the
most important themes in the book, but I don't agree. I also don't agree that it is a war
story or a love story. Exactly what it is, though, is not clear to me. Can't art exist
without being anything? "There isn't always an explanation for everything." War and
love are obviously important themes in the book, and the relationship between the
two is explored by Hemingway and, somewhat, by Henry. In the first two Books we
are in the war and the war is overwhelming. In the last two Books we are in love.
And, just as the first two Books are peppered with love in the time of war, the last two
Books are tinged with war in the time of love. The third Book is the bridge between
the two 'stories' and it is not surprising that it centers on the escape. It is during the
escape that Henry resolves that he is through with the war (a war in which he really
has no place) and decides that all he wants is to be with Catherine. Until the third
Book Henry doesn't seem to be agonizingly concerned with matters of right or wrong
in the war and it seems, in fact, separate from him. Even when he is injured it doesn't
appear that he is really a part of the war which surrounds him. He maintains a
distance from it and this distance isn't really closed until Aymo is killed by his own
army, he discovers that Bonello is only staying with him out of respect, and he is
almost killed as a spy. After this he resolves to desert the army and be reunited with
his love, Catherine. Henry is no dummy and he could easily tell that everything was
not all correct with Cat, which leads to the question of his love for her. You must
admit that Cat is a bit...well... flaky when they first meet. She loses that persona soon
enough, although I couldn't help but distrust her integrity until somewhere in the
middle of the fourth Book. It is also difficult to believe wholeheartedly in his love for
her until much later in their relationship, and it leaves me wondering if he is leaving
his involvement in the war because of his unfailing love for Cat or if Cat and any
feelings he has for her are just excuses to escape the insanity of the war he
experiences in the third Book. When he is with Catherine, they are in another place,
untouched by the war, both symbolically (in the tent of her hair) and literally (in
Switzerland). [It seems like I don't ever say anything earth-shattering, or even critical,
in these response papers, and I'm not sure if I'm supposed to do that. The line, "The
war seemed as far away as the football games of some one else's college," is
beautiful.]

BG Steyr

John Stubbs' "Love and Role Playing in A Farewell to Arms" John Stubbs' essay is
an examination of the defense which he believes Henry and Catherine use to protect
themselves from the discovery of their insignificance and "powerlessness...in a world
indifferent to their well being..." He asserts that "role-playing" by the two main
characters, and several others in the book, is a way to escape the realization of
human mortality which is unveiled by war. Stubbs thinks that Hemingway utilized
role-playing as a way to "explore the strengths and weaknesses of his two
characters." Stubbs says that by placing Henry's ordered life in opposition to
Catherine's topsy-turvy one, and then letting each one assume a role which will bring
them closer together, Hemingway shows the pair's inability to accept "the hard,
gratuitous quality of life." Stubbs begins by showing other examples, notably in In Our
Time and The Sun Also Rises, in which Hemingway's characters revert to role-
playing in order to escape or retreat from their lives. The ability to create characters
who play roles, he says, either to "maintain self-esteem" or to escape, is one
Hemingway exploits extraordinarily well in A Farewell to Arms and therefore it "is his
richest and most successful handling of human beings trying to come to terms with
their vulnerability." As far as Stubbs is concerned, Hemingway is quite blatant in
letting us know that role-playing is what is occurring. He tells that the role-playing
begins during Henry and Catherine's third encounter, when Catherine directly
dictates what is spoken by Henry. After this meeting the two become increasingly
comfortable with their roles and easily adopt them whenever the other is nearby. This
is apparent also in that they can only successfully play their roles when they are in
private and any disturbance causes the "game" to be disrupted. The intrusion of the
outside world in any form makes their role-playing impossible, as evidenced at the
race track in Milan, where they must be alone. The people surrounding them make
Catherine feel uncomfortable and Henry has to take her away from the crowd. He
goes on to describe how it is impossible for them to play the roles when they are
apart and how they therefore become more dependent upon each other's company.
Stubbs goes on to explain how, "neither mistakes role-playing for a truly intimate
relationship, but both recognize that it can be a useful device for satisfying certain
emotional needs." He says that originally Henry and Catherine are playing the
"game" for different reasons but eventually move to play it as a team. Henry is role-
playing to regain the sense of order he has lost when he realizes the futility of the war
and his lack of place in it. Catherine is role-playing to deal with the loss of her fiance
and to try to find order in the arena of the war. When they are able to role-play
together, "the promise of mutual support" is what becomes so important to them as
they try to cope with their individual human vulnerability. He also analyzes the idyllic
world introduced early in the story by the priest at the mess and later realized by
Henry and Catherine in Switzerland. They fall fully into their roles when they row
across the lake on their way to their idealized world. The fact that they actually are
able to enter this make-believe world strengthens their "game" and allows it to
continue longer than it would have otherwise. And once they are in this new world
they adopt new roles which allow them to continue their ruse. They also need to work
harder to maintain the "game" because far from the front they are both still aware the
war is proceeding and they are no longer a part of it. The world in which they exist in
reality (!) is not conducive to role-playing because it tries repeatedly to end their
"game". Stubbs manages to uncover numerous instances in which the two are role-
playing and he makes a very interesting case that this is exactly what they are doing
and not just his imagination reading into the story. He does make certain
assumptions, that their love is not "real", that the characters are searching for order,
which are not completely justified or even necessary to prove his point. He also

BG Steyr

forces an intentionality upon Hemingway which could have been avoided without
harming his theory. Towards the end of the essay Stubbs infers that their role-playing
is "inferior to true intimacy," which is a point that, although he defends well, is not
central to his theory and seems to detract from his objectivity. The essay is a
valuable tool to help the reader understand this view of what is happening through
Henry and Catherine's relationship and how they use each other to maintain their
self-images, provide themselves with psychological support, and in a way escape the
war. Hemingway may not have been trying to purposely create a role-playing
scenario, but Stubbs' essay will benefit someone wishing to explore this aspect of the
relationship of the two main characters in greater depth. Bibliography: Bruccoli,
Matthew J. and Clark, C.E. Frazer (ed.), Fitzgerald / Hemingway Annual 1973, pp.
271-284, Microcard Editions Books, Washington, D.C., 1974

A Farewell to Arms The overall tone of the book is much different than that of The
Sun Also Rises. The characters in the book are propelled by outside forces, in this
case WWI, where the characters in SAR seemed to have no direction. Frederick's
actions are determined by his position until he deserts the army. Floating down the
river with barely a hold on a piece of wood his life, he abandons everything except
Catherine and lets the river take him to a new life that becomes increasing difficult to
understand. The escape to Switzerland seemed too perfect for a book that set a tone
of ugliness in the world that was only dotted with pure love like Henry's and Cat's and
I knew the story couldn't end with bliss in the slopes of Montreux. In a world where
the abstracts of glory, honor, and sacrifice meant little to Frederick, his physical
association with Catherine was the only thing he had and it was taken away from him
long before she died. The love that Frederick and Catherine had for each other was
more than could be explained in words and Frederick makes it known that words are
not really effective at describing the flesh and blood details. Their love during an ugly
war was not to be recreated or modeled even as much as through a baby conceived
by their love. The baby could not be born alive because their love was beautiful yet
doomed so that nothing could come out of it. Hemingway's language is effective in
leaving much to the readers interpretation and allowing a different image to form in
each readers mind. The simple sentences and incomplete descriptions frees your
imagination and inspires each person to develop their own bitter love story.