Victims Of War In Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell To Arms

Catherine and Frederick: Victims of War When there is a war, soldiers fighting at the front are not the only ones affected, but many others are too in some way. Friends and families of soldiers, workers who have lost business due to war, and people forced to leave their homes and everything they know because of war are amongst those victims of war people do not think of right away. Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms is a fictitious novel which tells the story of war victims. The characters of Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley in the World War I-based novel both are affected by the war. In his successful novel, Hemingway makes a point of how war victims are not only soldiers who pass away while serving; he expresses this concept …show more content…
Frederic was a lieutenant serving in the war and for this reason lived an undesirable life. Resources are limited and commonly scarce for troops. Beds, if available, are usually uncomfortable. The food troops eat typically does not have the taste of food that they would eat if at home. Along with these conditions, Frederic had to live his life away from his friends, family, and relatives. Also, in this altered life he had to see the pain of other fellow troops where some were physically feeling the pain of an injury, others were feeling the mental, physical, and emotional pain of facing the fact that they would die, and yet others were facing the emotional pain of being forced to witness their loved one dying and not being able to do anything about it. Adding insult to injury, Frederic had to face the fact that any minute where he was serving could be his last. Life as he knew it would end and he could lose all the people and things he loved. His whole life as a lieutenant was mentally scarring which is demonstrated in his necessity for drinking. Through drinking alcohol, Frederic attempted to escape his problems. His addiction progressed to the point where he developed a medical condition known as jaundice that was caused by his consumption of excess alcohol, and yet the reader still found him drinking after this development. Miss. Van Campen, the head nurse who does not get along with Frederic, even …show more content…
Catherine lost her fiancé-probably the most significant person in her life-to war, Frederic lived a miserable life as a lieutenant due to war, and both characters were forced to live their lives in hiding like criminals because of the war. The war destroyed the lives of these two character to the point where death could seem like an appealing idea, making Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley victims of war without a