Religion In Hemingway's The Things They Carried

The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines religion as “the belief in a god or in a group of gods.” Informally defined, religion is the basic worship of a main figure or multiple figures. In Ernest Hemingway’s intricate novel, The Things They Carried, his main character, Fredric Henry, redefines conventional religion. A self-proclaimed atheist, his conversion begins the second he falls in love with an English nurse, Catherine Barkley. The circumstances of their passion add to the complexity of their relationship, as they both try to mask their individual past and present issues with a seductive romance. As the story progresses, Fredric transforms into a highly religious man, but not in the accustomed way. Instead of joining a predetermined faith, Catherine becomes his …show more content…
I 'll do anything you say if you don 't let her die. You took the baby but don 't let her die. That was all right but don 't let her die. Please, please, dear God, don 't let her die.” (Hemingway 215).
In this moment, Fredric is left hanging onto Catherine as he fears for her life. Henry begs God not to let her die, but when he gets to see Catherine, she stoically tells him she 's dying and asks him never to say the things he said to her to anyone else. This reiterates their special connection. Fredric turns to religion, the only thing he has left, as his own “religion” grasps onto the last moments of life. Although a tragic ending, A Farewell to Arms depicts the transformation of Fredric Henry through experiencing love. He learns to experience religion through love. It engulfs him so that love and religion are no longer two separate things because Catherine is love, and love is his religion. Fredric’s religious transformation is a full circle by the end of the novel, and his religion ends up no better than what it was at the beginning. War killed off any little hope there was of a God before Catherine, and death took away his new religion, leaving him empty yet