Intro to Lit Blog

A Farewell to Arms, Book Four

One of the most notable changes in Book 4 is the general attitude of Henry, which has gone from playful and charming to serious and depressed. After experiencing the events of the war, he no longer has his care-free attitude and becomes strangely dependant on Catherine. He feels he loves her very much, but I’m not sure I’m convinced and I think he’s clinging to her because she is the only thing he really has. He even admits this on page 257 when he says, “My life used to be full of everything… Now if you aren’t with me I haven’t anything in the world.” The ironic part is the things he has now are the same as before he went to the front. He still has many “friends” that are willing to do him favors. We are even introduced to three new friends in this book: the barman, Count Greffi, and Simmons. All of these men actually knew him before the war and are more his friends than any of the other people that would do him favors. The only thing that has changed is himself. He’s come back hating the war and he looks at everything a little differently.

One of the more interesting parts of Book 4 was on page 249. This part is interesting to me because it is one of the only parts of the book where Henry exposes his thoughts and emotions. He goes on for quite a while about what it means to be lonely. He reveals here that he doesn’t feel lonely with Catherine at night like he has with other girls in the past. He then says, “If people bring so much courage to this world the world has to kill them to break them, so of course it kills them.” I’m not sure if I’m interpreting this correctly, but I think he is saying the cruelty of the world eventually gets to you and you have to live with it, if you don’t – if you resist it, then it kills you. I feel this sums up Henry’s change quiet nicely. He used to ignore the real world and used his charm to get what he wanted and brushed everything off. After his experience in the war, he realized he could no longer do that. He couldn’t get what he wanted when people with guns were hunting him down. Now that he is hiding from the army, he realizes that he has to deal with the world he has hidden from for so long. This also explains Henry’s change in behavior. It’s like he has given up on his old way of life and now has to cling on to Catherine for a chance at happiness.

I don’t necessarily like the change Book 4 has brought to the story, but I appreciate it in the sense that it has greatly developed not only his relationship with Catherine, but it has also made him a much stronger and real character. The past two books have greatly changed the story and I can’t wait to see how the book ends.

posted by rcunning @ 4:49 PM