Love Affair Between Henry And Catherine example essay topic
Frederic Henry meets a beautiful English nurse named Catherine Barkley near the front between Italy and Austria-Hungary. At first, Henry's relationship with Catherine is an complicated game based on his attempt to seduce her, but when he is wounded and sent to the American hospital where Catherine works, their relationship progresses and they begin a passionate affair. After his recovery in the hospital, Henry returns to the war front. During a massive retreat from the Austrians and Germans, the Italian forces become disordered and chaotic. Henry is forced to shoot an engineer sergeant under his command and in the confusion is arrested by the Italian military police for the crime of not being Italian.
Disgusted with the army and facing death at the hands of the battle police, Henry decides he has had enough of war. He dives into the river to escape. After swimming to safety, Henry boards a train and reunites with Catherine– now pregnant with Henry's child– in Stress. With the help of an Italian bartender, they escape to Switzerland and attempt to put the war behind them forever. They spend a happy time together in Switzerland and plan to marry after the baby is born.
When Catherine goes into labor things go terribly wrong. The doctor announces that her pelvis is too narrow to deliver the baby. He attempts an unsuccessful Caesarean section, and Catherine dies in childbirth. To Henry, her dead body is like a statue. He walks back to his hotel without finding a way to say good-bye. The overall tone of the book is sad, confused and love.
Frederick's actions are determined by his position until he deserts the army. Floating down the river with barely a hold on a piece of wood his life, he abandons everything except Catherine and lets the river take him to a new life that becomes increasing difficult to understand. The love that Frederick and Catherine had for each other was more than could be explained in words and Frederick makes it known that words are not really effective details. Frederic Henry is one of the main character in the story.
He is an American ambulance driver and a lieutenant in the Italian army. Catherine Barkley is the other main character. She is an English nurse serving at the Italian front. A minor character in the story is the priest. He is a friend of Henry. The priest often serves as counselor to Henry, explaining to him the difference between love and.
Another minor character in the story is Henry's roommate, Rinaldi. He is a surgeon at the Italian front and often serves as problem to both the priest and Henry. There is one more minor character in the story, Helen. She is a friend of Catherine, but unlike Catherine does not share her disregard for social conventions.
She strongly disapproves of the love affair between Henry and Catherine, but ultimately chooses to help the lovers. One of the symbolism's in A Farewell to Arms is when Henry tries to escape from the Italian army by jumping off one of the ships the army was traveling on and running away from the army. This water symbolized new, clean life that he was going to live from now on. In the novel, there are two major types of conflict.
One is man verses man, which is seen constantly in the battles of the war, and the constant fighting that takes place as a background in the story. The other type of conflict that we see is man verses himself, which is shown in Frederick's constant struggle within himself. Since we are told of Frederick's thoughts we know constantly of the internal struggle within himself over everything from his love for Catherine to his thoughts during battle in the war. The conflict that Frederick experiences within himself starts at the beginning of the novel and is not resolved until Catherine's death. The theme that Hemingway points out throughout the novel is the search for order in a disordered world. Hemingway express this through Frederick's own personal search during the chaos of World War I. Catherine has found strength within herself to lead her through life.
This is what Frederick must come to realize. Through his involvement with Catherine, Frederick slowly finds his own inner strength. Frederick's affair with Catherine prompts him to leave his wild life of prostitutes and drink. A Farewell To Arms was a well written novel that gives people a whole different look about the people and events of World War I in Italy. The book was not the least bit confusing when it came to the text and was really an enjoyable book to read. This book could be enjoyed by both the average high school student or an adult looking for a great book.
It had an interesting, moving plot that kept the reader interested in the book, and has been cherished and read for many years by people of all ages.