book

Henry in A Farewell to Arms

21 Pages 1418 Words 1557 Views

Frederic Henry is an American ambulance driver during the Italian World War I in the early 1900’s, who undergoes a transformation through experiences with love and war. At the beginning of the novel, Henry is described as a selfish, self-centered, and immature young man that has been thrown into war and life with no known purpose. Then moving through the novel he transforms his behavior and personality through certain events in his life. Lt. Henry’s development in A Farewell to Arms is learning about the game of love and war and having a better understanding of the world around him. He changes through his feelings toward the war, his relationship with his lover, and his friends. In the beginning of the novel Lt. Henry does not show any passion for the cause he is serving. He is described as a “tourist through life, a man committed to a war for no real reason” (Jackson J Benson). Lt. Henry does not have a realistic view on war. “His perceptions of his surroundings are vague, limited, and detached” (Jackson J Benson). His views on war show his youth, ignorant, and narcissistic attitude towards the war and life when he states: “Well I knew I would not be killed. Not in this war. It did not have anything to do with me. It seemed no more dangerous to me myself than war in the movies” (Hemingway 37). This view that Henry shows about the war shows that he believes that if he is not battling in the war it does not affect him. And just because he is an ambulance driver he will not die. Another example on Henry’s feeling toward the war is when Passini and he are talking and he tells Passini that being conquered in the war is worse and they should end it, but Passini tells him that war is worse than being defeated so when Henry keeps insisting that being conquered is worse. Passini states that: “We in the auto-ambulance cannot even realize at all how bad it is. When people who never realize how bad it is they cannot do anything to stop it because they go crazy” (Hemingway 50). This shows you that Henry has not reached this emotional realization of war yet because he does not understand the effects. Henry’s view on the war changes after he is wounded in an explosion on the front line. When he is hit he says: “I tried to breathe but my breath would not come and I felt myself and I knew I was dead and th

Read Full Essay