Someone once said, “All of us are looking for an escape; usually, we find it in each other.” This proves to be true for both of the main characters in Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley – Frederic’s escape from the war and Catherine’s escape from her fiancé’s death the year prior. In Joel Armstrong’s article, “‘A Powerful Beacon’: Love Illuminating Human Attachment in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms,” he argues that “love is the centering principle of Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms” (Armstrong, 79). This proves to be true – however, not a romantic, happily-ever-after love, but rather a tragic one – even more calamitous than Romeo and Juliet, one would argue, for in this narrative, one of the characters
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Evidence of this can be seen throughout the novel – for instance, when Frederic decides to abandon the Italian Army. If Frederic did not have Catherine to look forward to, he might have not jumped in the river and instead, risked getting shot. Furthermore, instead of going to Stresa first, Frederic would have straight away gone to Switzerland and would not have stayed there as long as he did, or maybe he would not have gone to Switzerland in the first place, altogether. If Catherine had not been a significant part of Frederic’s life, then he may have just gone back to the United States. This shows that Catherine and Frederic’s tragic love heavily influenced their decisions and consequently, the plot of Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. Furthermore, in chapter 11, Hemingway describes “When you love you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for. You wish to serve” (Hemingway, 62) and Armstrong uses this to support his theory about “…love illuminates [illuminating] all of life…” (Armstrong, 79) to differentiate Frederic’s feelings in the start and the end. Both Catherine and Frederic prove through their actions that they will sacrifice anything for each other. For instance, Catherine sacrifices her career and her honor for Frederic and Frederic, in turn, loses his career safety and risks being caught by fleeing to Switzerland. Catherine and Frederic’s relationship is the quintessence of love illuminating both of their lives, and although they sacrifice much to gain this illuminating love, it definitely is worth the
Evidence of this can be seen throughout the novel – for instance, when Frederic decides to abandon the Italian Army. If Frederic did not have Catherine to look forward to, he might have not jumped in the river and instead, risked getting shot. Furthermore, instead of going to Stresa first, Frederic would have straight away gone to Switzerland and would not have stayed there as long as he did, or maybe he would not have gone to Switzerland in the first place, altogether. If Catherine had not been a significant part of Frederic’s life, then he may have just gone back to the United States. This shows that Catherine and Frederic’s tragic love heavily influenced their decisions and consequently, the plot of Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. Furthermore, in chapter 11, Hemingway describes “When you love you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for. You wish to serve” (Hemingway, 62) and Armstrong uses this to support his theory about “…love illuminates [illuminating] all of life…” (Armstrong, 79) to differentiate Frederic’s feelings in the start and the end. Both Catherine and Frederic prove through their actions that they will sacrifice anything for each other. For instance, Catherine sacrifices her career and her honor for Frederic and Frederic, in turn, loses his career safety and risks being caught by fleeing to Switzerland. Catherine and Frederic’s relationship is the quintessence of love illuminating both of their lives, and although they sacrifice much to gain this illuminating love, it definitely is worth the