Farewell 2 Essay, Research Paper

The book A Farewell to Arms by Hernest Hemingway, is one of the greatest love stories of its time. It shows how love can preserve through even the worst of times. This book is set in the middle of a war, but is not a war story: it is a love story. This is true for a multitude of reasons. The main character is Frederick Henry, an ambulance driver for the war. Before the war, Henry meets Catherine Barkley and he falls in love with her before he leaves for the war. A day never passed that he didn t think of Catherine during the war. When Henry was escaping for the war his main concern was the safety of his love, Catherine. This are some of the reasons that help substantiate the fact that this book is indeed a love story set in war times. Before going to the war, Henry met Catherine through his friend, Randini. Shortly after he met her, he realized he loved her and knew he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. They started to kid around and say they loved each other, but they both knew it would take time for the words to become true. They began seeing more of each other and became more attached. Whenever they were apart he thought of her and wanted to be with her. He didn t want to go to the war, for fear of losing her, but did because he knew he had to. These aspects of their relationship support the idea they were in love with each before the war and support the overall idea that this book is a love story. Henry went to help in the war as an ambulance driver. He thought about Catherine all the time and thought about how she was and what she was doing. He had time to think and realized that he was in love with her. He wished he could go and see her but knew there was no way out of the service. When he was holding up in a brigade he was injured by the shrapnel of an exploding bomb. He was taking away from the front and brought to an army hospital, then to a hospital back in the States. He kept thinking what would happen to Catherine if he didn t make it. When he arrived at the American hospital he found that Catherine was a nurse there. He was overjoyed. Catherine spent a lot of her time with him and helped him through many things: such as rehabilitation and his surgery. She could spend as much time with him as he wished, because she needed to help the other patients, but they treasured every moment together. After several months, Henry had to go to the back to the front, but by now both had realized the great love they had for each other. When he was back in the war, he still thought of her every day and greatly missed being with her. The emotions shown by him during the war show he loved her and help further support the idea that this is indeed a love story and not a war story. While traveling with the his companions during the war, Frederick was stopped by some men and questioned. He felt that he was in immediate danger and fled from the men. He managed to escape unharmed with his companions. They now began a trek to safety. All the time he thought about Catherine. They made their way through the terrain, unharmed, and finally to a city. But they still weren t safe; they felt like they had to leave the country. He was afraid the men would come for him, so he caught Catherine and made a secret escape to Switzerland. Through the whole trip is was worried more for the well-being of Catherine than for the well-being of himself. He was afraid that if he was caught Catherine would be harmed. This shows his deep love and compassion for her. They made it safely to Switzerland and started a new life toget5her. They bought a house in the mountains and lived a normal life. By now they were deeply in love and got married. Soon after they found out Catherine was pregnant. They were overjoyed to be having a baby together, but during the birth the baby died and shortly after, Catherine. This made Henry deeply sorrowful and he was distraught from what had happened. His actions after the war showed how much he loved Catherine and his reaction to her death showed how deep that love was. These help strength the idea that this story is a love story. This book is not a war story, but indeed one of the greatest love stories of its time. Their love showed that love is stronger than anything and true love is something indescribable. This point is proven throughout the book: before going to war Henry knew he loved Catherine, throughout the war he constantly thought of her and realized how deeply he loved her, and while escaping from the war his first priority was her safety. These show that the book A Farewell to Arms is a great love story.