Catherine And Frederick example essay topic

The book Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway is the story of a young American Lieutenant ambulance driver in the Italian army during World War 1. The setting of the story is Gorizia, a small town that had been captured by the Italian Army. The town looked across a river and in the plains to the mountains, in which fighting was taking place, not more than a few miles away. The young Americans name was Frederic Henry; his companion who shared the same occupation Rinaldi introduced Frederic to an attractive nurse by the name of Catherine Barkley. Frederic began seeing Miss Barkley on a regular basis.

Frederic received orders to take two ambulances and three other drivers to the war front up the river Plaza. They were instructed to acquire as many wounded as possible and deliver them to hospitals. Once they arrived at their destination they were ordered to remain even longer because a military air strike was to take place. All the drivers were to stay in a dugout by the riverbank while the strike was going on.

The drivers were in the dugout eating and drinking wine while gun fire and bomb shells were being shot back and forth when a bomb shell hit the dugout killing one driver and wounding two, one was Frederick. The peices from the bomb hit Fredrick in the leg and one of his knees was blown down around his shin. The army sent Frederick to an American hospital in Milan, there was a shortage of nurses at the fairly new establishment son one nurse that was transferred there was Catherine, she became one of the nurses looking after Frederick. Frederick was operated upon for two and half-hours to have all the fragments out of his leg. Most of that year was spent in the hospital recuperating and Catherine's nights were spent in Frederick's room with him. In autumn when Frederick had fully recovered he was sent back to the war front.

Also he discovered that Catherine was pregnant with his child. Mr. Henry was once again ordered to bring three ambulances and drivers to the front. Other military troops and equipment were moving slowly so the drivers decided to take back roads, which was probably a mistake since they got the lead vehicle stuck in a ditch and had to leave it behind. The other two ambulances did not last too much longer, they became stuck in a muddy field which they were forced to try to drive across. So they ended up walking. After one day of walking they found an abandoned farmhouse where they stayed the night.

In the morning one of the drivers had run off. The other three continued walking through the fields and trees, but they ran into some Germans. They were shot at and one of the drives was killed. When they had to cross a crowded bridge Frederick was picked out by soldiers who were questioning people and shooting them afterwards. He made a dash into the river and swam to safety. He continued towards Pordenone the driver's original destination.

However when he ran into Catherine after getting off a train in Stress he didn t go to Pordenone. Late one night the man from the bar came up to the room where Catherine and Frederick were staying and told him that the army was going to arrest him for not carrying out his orders. Frederick then bought the man's rowboat. They packed their bags, and left in the evening rowing 35 kilometers to make it safely to their destination, Switzerland.

There they were start their family. When it came time for Catherine to have her baby it had to be done by Cesarean section because the baby just would not come. A very tragic incident for the mother, especially since the baby was still born, a large baby boy, but deceased. After the birth Catherine had complications, she too died soon after.

Which is what Frederick had feared even before her giving birth because of the extreme pain she had been in. An incredibly tragic ending to a book that could have blossomed from a war set love story to the beautiful life and future and family of Frederick and Catherine.