A Farewell to Arms
The novel Goodbye Weapon should be classified as a historical novel. Many people reading this book could interpret it as a war novel, when in fact it was one of the great novels written in its time. Reading this book, you notice how every important event of the war is overshadowed by a strong love story.
The love story went around two people, Frederick Henry and Catherine Barkley. Frederick is a young American ambulance driver with the Italian army in the First World War. He meets Katherine, a beautiful English nurse, near the front of Italy and Austria. At first, Frederick's relationship with Catherine consists of a game based on his attempts to seduce her. He makes one attempt to kiss her, and she was quickly struck offended by Katherine. Later in the story, Frederick was injured and sent to an American hospital where Katherine works. Here he finds part of what he never had, the ability to love. It was here that his feelings for Catherine became extremely obvious. Their relationship progresses, and they begin a passionate romance.
After his stay in hospital, Frederick returns to the military front. During this period, Hemmingway strongly points to the love that Frederick has for Catherine. Obviously, Frederick is distracted by his love for Catherine.
During the mass retreat of the Austrians and Germans, the Italian troops became erratic and chaotic. Frederick is forced to shoot a sergeant engineer under his command and in confusion arrested by the Italian military police for a crime that is not Italian. Frederick, in disgust at the Army and before his death, decides that war is enough for him; he dives to the river to escape.
After sailing to safety, Frederick gets on the train and reunites with Catherine. She is pregnant with her child. With the help of the Italian bartender, Catherine and Frederick flee to Switzerland and plan to get married after the birth of a child. When Catherine goes to work, the doctor suddenly discovers that her pelvis is too narrow to deliver the baby. He is trying unsuccessfully to conduct a caesarean section, and she dies during childbirth with a child. For Frederick, her dead body is like a statue; he returns to his hotel, not finding a way to say goodbye, seemingly forever lost.
It seemed to me that there was a lot of omen and symbolism in this story, especially with regard to the rain. It always rained around when something bad was happening and when Catherine and Frederick were separated. When they were together, the rain suddenly disappeared. It seems Hemingway used the rain as a means of transportation to show that Frederick usually hid emotions.
I really liked this book, but at the end of this story I was confident in many ways. Catherine really loved Frederick? Did he really love her? Were they both just looking for closure at a difficult time in their lives? I truly believe they loved each other, but Hemingway makes some things obscure.
