A Farewell to Arms short summary & analysis

A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway

A Farewell to Arms Analysis

Many of the novels that depict the bitter side of the war are on the shelves, and Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms novel by the world-renowned author is one of the best novels to tell the true face of the war.

A Farewell to Arms is a great way to explain what happened to Henry and the cruelty of war. A love trying to flourish in the war, and reading how those experiences for the sake of love have faded away because of the war, prevent many readers from keeping their tears.

A Farewell to Arms Short Summary

The theme of the book A Farewell to Arms is set during World War I and tells the story of Lieutenant Henry Tenente of the Italian Army. Henry was the lieutenant in charge of combat injuries between Germany and Italy in 1915. The lieutenant, who was not fully involved in the war, was, however, one of the first witnesses of the war. Together with his best friend, doctor Rinaldi, they try to escape the brutality of war whenever they can.

Britain, one of Italy's allies, sends two nurses to the region to help the wounded. One of the caregivers is called Catherine and she is a beautiful woman. Doctor Rinaldi falls in love with her at first sight but asks his best friend Henry for help because of his shy personality. But as Henry has seen Catherine, he is very impressed.

As Henry and Catherine work together, a love emerges in time. When Rinaldi realizes that he has no chance, he backs off. Henry and Catherine fall in love in the front line between the wounded. However, the brutality of the war somehow finds them, and with an exploding cannon, Henry is injured in the leg. He immediately is taken to the hospital and Catherine never leaves his side.

This painful situation makes Catherine and Henry to get even closer. Henry’s purpose is to get better soon and live a happy life with Catherine. In the meantime, Catherine gets pregnant and Henry is looking for an opportunity to propose. But they cannot find the time because of the war.

When Henry gets better he is force to go back to the front line. In the front lines the things get worse and Italians are not successful against Germans. Italians decides to forfeit. While Henry and soldiers forfeit, the German army set out to capture them.

Germans catch the Italian soldiers and there is a clash between them. Henry escapes and saves his life. But then he gets captured by the Italian soldiers he does not know. Italians thinks Henry is a German spy and they want to execute him. However, Henry finds a way and escapes them too.

After a long time Henry finds Catherine and takes off his uniform and continues his life as a civilian. But he is now a soldier fugitive. That's why she and Catherine flee to Switzerland. Here they are caught by the Swiss police, but by using their financial situation, they escape from the police and settle in Switzerland.

There is no longer any obstacle for them to be happy, but this difficult escape has exhausted Catherine. She enters a risky pregnancy and therefore has to give birth by caesarean section. But that's not enough to save the baby. Also because of the blood lost Catherine also dies.

Comments