Farewell to Arms

There are times when the tumultuous emotion of a novel hinders an honest opinion. There are even times when the unexpected twists of an author’s imagining leave the reader with a quiet sense of baffled awe. Combined, these factors may result in a truly interesting review. Being only the second novel by Hemingway I have had the chance to read, A Farewell to Arms has left a powerful, albeit mournful impression.

The story of a troubled ambulance driver during World War I, coupled with a thoroughly depressing conclusion, is classic Hemingway. Various themes including the morbid nature of war, the relationship between love and hurt, and the patterns of human nature can be found in this novel and even recurring in much of Hemingway’s literature. The unemotional male protagonist, Henry, is the the product of these themes, a victim of life’s suffering and its many complexities.

There are aspects of A Farewell to Arms that require a slow mental digestion to appreciate the soul of the novel. Overall, I found the direct and terse prose of the writing a very accommodating feature to Hemingway’s themes. Henry’s mental dialogue quickly gives insight into the persona of the character. He is constantly besotted with various internal conflicts, all of which could lead to a certain self-understanding, but fail to do so as the book draws to a closure. The reader is left unpleasantly perplexed, in an unsatisfying way. This was obviously Hemingway’s intention as an artist; he was a crafting a portion of his spirit into words. The ending of the novel could be likened to the author’s state of mind itself.

One of the most poignant themes or messages of A Farewell to Arms is the terrible price of war. Throughout the plot, readers will notice that Henry is progressively distancing himself from the harsh realities of blood and warfare. With his highly direct method of writing, Hemingway uses powerful imagery in a casual way to provoke understanding within his readers. The pain, brutality, and at times utter chaos of Henry’s situation is seen as a character building (or possibly degrading) force in his life.

A Farewell to Arms was by no means written by someone who fully condemned war, but rather embraced the inevitability of it. Throughout the novel, Hemingway expresses his sentiment that war is merely the product of an already dark and tyrannous world. He accurately portrays the fickle nature of humanity; at times we can be cruel, and at times we can be murderers. However, we are also capable of compassion, integrity, and even nobility, despite society’s frequent attempts to forget or dispel true love. Yes, in a nutshell, A Farewell to Arms can be said to condemn war. However, I believe this sentiment is deeper and much more faceted in the mind of Hemingway.

A second theme prevalent in the novel, and also one of Henry’s chief struggles, is the often correlating relationship between love and hurt. In the beginning of A Farewell to Arms, Henry and Catherine (his newfound lover) find comfort in each other. They find solace from their own mournings and inner demons. This relationship evolves dramatically throughout the course of the book, and soon becomes a driving force in either’s life. Henry becomes torn between this unprecedented love for a woman, and his drive to get back to the front as soon as possible.

Henry understand the importance of his love for Catherine and how meaningful this type of bond can be in times of war. He realizes the emptiness of concepts such as honor and duty in the face of true love. This realization results in a terrific internal struggle. Henry repeatedly must come to terms with the “numb” mentality he adopted during war in order to open his heart for the woman he loves. Henry struggles with openness and sincerity but always manages to make a connection with Catherine.

I believe Hemingway was expressing one of the great morals of life: love in the face of fear, destruction, and tyranny can compel the inner compassion of a person to manifest. There is no force as powerful as love, save possibly fear. Henry is besotted by both, an onslaught of emotional turmoil that rips apart his conviction and decimates his previously held superficial values. The genius of Hemingway is his tendency to be completely realistic. He has the remarkable ability to capture the true essence of human nature.

All in all, A Farewell to Arms is a powerful symbol of the relationship between love and war in a man’s heart. It is an accurate description of the havoc a relationship can wreak on a man’s mentality. This novel is an incredible sentiment to what it means to be human, and the subtle intricacies of the human psyche are portrayed with striking accuracy. Hemingway captured the mutual destruction of both love and war. I could recommend this timeless classic to any reader, just for its invigorating if depressing breath of reality. However, some may dislike the harsh honesty in the authors word’s and cold precision in which he utterly nails human nature. I for one, appreciate this sincerity, this side of the story that only a few of the great classics sometimes expound upon. A Farewell to Arms is truly one of the most powerful pieces of literature when it comes to the effects of war on humanity. Readers should look for the connections and cause & effect relationships in this destructive, yet powerfully insightful novel.

Compared with more modern writings, I found A Farewell to Arms to be refreshing. Hemingway's minimalist style is in full force here and will continue to polarize the reading public. Sure, one could complain that it is lazy writing (a few years ago, I would have been in the same camp). Done properly it is artful, necessary for the story, and not insulting to the reader.

What do I mean by insulting to the reader? Too often, authors assume that whoever reads their books are the remnants of a Neanderthal race. So they'll tone down the art, the structure, the vocabulary, and always explain exactly what is going on ad nauseum. As an example, after being injured in battle, Henry (the narrator of this novel) is visited by a priest and notes that he is tired. It was very... very refreshing to not have Hemingway beat it into my skull that this would be because there were a lot of deaths after the battle and he was therefore performing last rites for an extended period of time over and over, tiring him physically and spiritually. Nope, Hemingway just noted he was tired and trusted that the reader would be intelligent enough to make the connection. And I do appreciate the flattery.

Further, this lack of narrative details drew me further into the story. By having to work to fill in the blanks, I became more involved with the character and with events going on. The war scenes were much more suspenseful, the escapes more exciting, and the gloomy certainty hanging over the novel more poignant. As a result, every little detail was more important (and let's face it: the novel is mostly little details). To hear Catherine say that the doctor approved of her drinking some beer to keep the developing baby small all ready tells the reader that the eventual birthing is going to be brutal.

Is there some sappy symbolism? You bet. Is the actual love story kinda strange and bizarre? I think it was meant to be, it did start off as a means of distracting the participants from the suffocating gloom of World War I. Is Hemingway clearly an alcoholic? Misogynistic? Etc? At that point, you may want to realize that what you are reading is not a morality tale. Then, you need to realize that it can not fail at what it never set out to do. Hemingway, like in The Sun Also Rises, is writing as a member of the Lost Generation. He and his characters do not know how they fit into a world that cares little for them, and mostly doesn't even notice they exist with wants and needs. A Farewell to Arms helps to show how certain historic events can give birth to a host of persons lost culturally and spiritually.

Now that I have said what I wanted, I think I should also post the poem from whence the title came from. It was written by George Peele addressed to Queen Elzabeth I:

HIS golden locks Time hath to silver turn'd;
O Time too swift, O swiftness never ceasing!
His youth 'gainst time and age hath ever spurn'd,
But spurn'd in vain; youth waneth by increasing:
Beauty, strength, youth, are flowers but fading seen;
Duty, faith, love, are roots, and ever green.

His helmet now shall make a hive for bees;
And, lovers' sonnets turn'd to holy psalms,
A man-at-arms must now serve on his knees,
And feed on prayers, which are Age his alms:
But though from court to cottage he depart,
His Saint is sure of his unspotted heart.

And when he saddest sits in homely cell,
He'll teach his swains this carol for a song,--
'Blest be the hearts that wish my sovereign well,
Curst be the souls that think her any wrong.'
Goddess, allow this aged man his right
To be your beadsman now that was your knight.