Friday, September 21, 2012
A Farewell to Arms - Book Three - DUE MONDAY SEPTEMBER 24th
Comment on the transition in Book Three from Love to War. What impression of war are you given? What are Henry's beliefs on the war? What does Henry's abandonment at the end of Book Three suggest? Were you surprised? Use quotes and page numbers to support your comments.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In book three of “A Farewell To Arms” by Ernest Hemingway, the transition from love to war is almost immediate. During Henry’s time in the hospital his days were full of love for Catherine and they would go on walks, and she would visit him a lot. But as soon as he left the war took over his life and had no time to think of her, and in any case couldn’t afford to because of the loneliness he would feel. “Rinin, I said. Please shut up. If you want to be my friend, shut up.” (Pg. 169, Hemingway) This is what Henry said when Rinaldi started to tease him about him and Catherine, he couldn’t take the teasing nor the thought of her because she wasn’t with him. Many people talked about the war being over soon because all the soldiers were mentally and physically done and wanted to give up. Henry disagreed with this though, because he took it from the view of the winning soldiers on the opposing side. “No one ever stopped when they were winning” (pg. 178, Hemingway). The transition from love to war furthered when Henry lost the cars and he and his other men had to walk. This situation put them in a seemingly hopeless situation and one of the men decided it wasn’t worth it and gave himself up. When Henry was called out for having an accent he would have been shot had he not jumped in to the river and floated downstream. When he eventually came to shore his attitude about the rest of his life changed dramatically. He thought of how, since he could not go back to the Italians, because they were the ones who wanted to shoot him, the rest of his life would be different. He wondered what people would hear about how he died, he guessed drowning because that’s the last place the army had saw him. His reaction surprised me a little because he seemed to have completely given up his old life so easily and I thought that if not anything Rinaldi, his friend, would make him stay. He didn’t plan to though, but he did want to go back for Catherine. He planned on grabbing her and running away. “ She would go. I knew she would go. When would we go? That was something to think about.” (Pg. 233, Hemingway) He didn’t know where they would go, or even when but he knew he couldn’t return to his old life, because by saving himself, when he jumped in the river, he also made himself look guilty. To say the least, war takes over everything, but one thing it cannot take over is you heart. And that is why Henry plans to return to Catherine, no matter when the war ends or how his attitude changes.
ReplyDeleteThe detail you go into about Henry's shooting is great, I like the quote Henry says to Rinaldi, it really shows how Henry couldn't even think about Catherine!
DeleteI love the part which you included about the conversation that Henry had with Rinaldi. It shows a lot about Henry's Thoughts and i didnt even think aobut it.
DeleteIn the book Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, the transition from love to war happens very quickly and changes the whole story. Henry and Catherine were deeply in love while Henry was injured in the hospital. Then everything changes when he goes back out on the front. The war overpowers him, and he forgets about his life with Catherine. The war is on its last strand. The soldiers are going crazy and the conditions keep getting worse and worse. Soldiers are drained and starved, they barely have any energy left to fight. “It has been bad,” the major said. “You couldn’t believe how bad it’s been. I’ve often thought you were lucky to be hit when you were” (165). Not only is the war bad, but Henry and the other soldiers are basically giving up and excepting defeat. At first they were all optimistic about the war, but now once they’ve seen what it really entails they are excepting defeat. Just to make matters worse their car gets stuck in the mud, and now they have no means for transportation. “We have to try it,” I said. “She won’t come out another way” (205). Henry’s abandonment suggests that war is awful. Henry leaves the war to be with Catherine. I was not really surprised by this action because the title of the book is A Farewell to Arms so I thought someone was going to leave the war. I was a little surprised it was Henry though. He seemed very tough and dedicated. I didn’t think the war would crack him, but that just shows how terrible war is. In the end love prevails over war. I wonder how Catherine will respond to Henry’s actions. I bet she will be very happy and surprised. Henry’s thoughts at the end of Book Three show what he was feeling about the war, and why he left. "Probably have to go damned quickly. She would go. I knew she would go. When would we go? That was something to think about. It was getting dark. I lay and thought where we would go. There were many places." (233). Henry’s thoughts show he is missing Catherine, he wants to leave the war, and the war makes your thoughts a little crazy. Overall, the war seems like a terrible place, and if I were Henry I would also miss my friends and family. I would probably also make the decision to abandon war just like Henry did. The main message in book three, and throughout the story, is love prevails over war.
ReplyDeleteIn book three of A Farewell to Arms, there is a definite transition between love and war. In book two, Henry was injured and in the hospital away from the harsh reality of war. He got to see Catherine everyday and even went into town to spend time with her and have fun. Aside from knowing that he had to back into war when he was healed, life was good. It was like he was in a utopia. His relationship with Catherine progressed and got more intense, and he believed she was the one for him. However, as book three starts, you can see how Henry’s mind becomes occupied with not love, but the terrifying thought of war and survival. The transition is immediate as he starts to see the world as dark and gloomy, rather than sunny and free: “Now in the fall the trees were all bare and the roads were muddy” (pg. 163). His thoughts and his actions start to suggest the feeling of being alone and being depressed. Henry isn’t the only one that sees war as horrible and meaningless. On page 165, the major makes this comment to Henry: “’You are very good to say so. I am very tired of this war. If I was away I do not believe I would come back’”. All Henry and others seem to talk about is war, and not the love of his life. He says he doesn’t like to think about her all the time because he doesn’t know when he’ll see her next. It also seems as though the weather is always rainy and gloomy, does this reflect the way Henry is feeling throughout the war? As he starts to get back into the swing of war, he quickly realizes that just because he had a break, doesn’t mean the violence has slowed down. “Guns were firing from the field behind the village and the shells, going away, had a comfortable sound” (pg. 186). One of the few times Henry talks or thinks about Catherine really demonstrates how much he cares about her, “Christ, that my love were in my arms and I in my bed again. That my love Catherine. That my sweet love Catherine down might rain” (pg. 197). War was everywhere for Henry, and he could not escape it. It comes out of nowhere and takes the lives of those around him, and this makes him realize how fragile life really is. When Aymo is killed on page 213, it frightened me to think people were just dying left and right. Bonello even left to become a prisioner because he feared that he would be killed if he didn’t. War was a very dark time for Henry and book three has some of the most disturbing and scarring events in the entire book so far. Guns firing, people screaming, and the sound of bombs raining down around them are some of the sounds Henry has become accustomed to. The harsh reality of war made transitioning from loving Catherine, the fighting in the war very hard on Henry mentally and physically.
ReplyDeleteI like the point you made about book three having some of the most disturbing and scarring events in the book so far, I agree!
DeleteI love the quote from page 197 that you used about Catherine. I agree that it was a really good example of how he feels about her!
DeleteIn Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, the transition from love to war in book three to book four is clear and prominent. Throughout book three, Henry is injured and undergoing surgeries and recovery in a hospital where Catherine Barkely happens to be a nurse. They spend every day and night together and fall deeper and deeper in love, to the point where they feel as if they are already married! Their love develops so greatly and all they can think about is each other. This great life that they are living together is not for long, though. Henry is accused of drinking himself jaundice purposely just to not go back out to war. This accusation leads to Henry being kicked out of the hospital and sent back out to war, and that’s when the transition begins.
ReplyDeleteFor the soldiers and officers and majors who have been fighting in the war consistently, it has had a rough impact on them. “It has been bad,” the major said. “You couldn’t believe how bad its been. I’ve often thought you were lucky to be hit when you were.” (Pg.165) The war has been so terrible that they consider him lucky to have been injured! “This war is killing me,” Rinaldi said, “I am very depressed by it.” (Pg.167) The descriptions by many make it seem like the war has been absolutely awful-and I’m sure its just as bad as they say.
“Now I am depressed myself,” I said. (Pg.179) Henry is talking to the priest and the priest said, “I don’t believe in victory anymore.”
“I don’t. But I don’t believe in defeat. Though it may be better.” Said Henry.
Henry doesn’t believe in victory nor defeat; though they believe defeat may be better.
The overall impression given by all the characters in the book is that the war has lasted for what seems like a lifetime and they all cannot wait for it to end. Some do not care in victory or defeat as long as they get to go home! That’s pretty desperate, showing that they have had absolutely enough of this war.
Throughout his journey in the war, Henry rarely thinks of Catherine for sometimes the thought of her was too painful because he never knew if/when he’d see her again. His feelings for her are still as strong, if not stronger, but he does not wish to raise his hopes of seeing her soon just to be let down. The war has overtaken his life for the most part, and everyone else’s too. Towards the end of book three, it tells all the details of retreating and the struggles that went along with that. Aymo was shot in the neck and killed, and Bonello handed himself over as a prisoner because he feared being killed. That means two of Henry’s comrades are gone and that just puts even more of a weight on his shoulders. It was tough enough to survive each day but this makes it seem impossible. On page 222, Henry is grabbed by a carabiniere and taken to a line of officers by a riverbank. The carabiniere were questioning these officers and shooting them! Henry waits in line to be questioned and shot, but somehow manages to jump into the ice-cold river and be dragged by the speeding current away from his death. He escaped successfully! He got onto the shore and jumped onto a train and laid down in one of the freight cars. He lay, starving, and dreaming about Catherine. He believes that he has left the war and has no intentions of going back- ever. The end of book three kind of leaves you hanging and really makes you wonder where Henry is going, and what is going to happen next with his own life and between him and Catherine.
I love how your beginning paragraph is a smooth transition into book three, great job!
DeleteI like how you pointed out that many of the soldiers don't care whether they win or lose. It really shows how tired they are of the war
DeleteI really like how you included the part about how Henry does not beleive in victory or defeat but that defeat was possibly the better option.
DeleteIn A Farewell to Arms by Earnest Hemmingway book three, it is quite obvious in the book where the sense of love turns to war. Once Henry gets removed from the hospital and put back on the front, he never sees Catherine anymore and does not even have time to mention her. He hates the fact that she isn’t with him anymore and can’t bare to think about it. It is interesting because not only is he at war physically, but he is also at war mentally. This is because the Italians tried shooting him and he jumped into the river. He wanted to abandon his old life but he did not want to leave behind Catherine. This conflict is “man vs. self”. This is demonstrated when Henry wants to run away with Catherine, and he thinks to himself, “Probably have to go damned quickly. She would go. I knew she would go. When would we go? That was something to think about” (233). He wants to leave with Catherine and he knows that she will go for it, too. Henry is also at war with the population, which would be an example of “man vs. society”. This is shown in two cases, one of the examples is when Henry is being physically attacked by a group of Italians who are shooting at him, and another is when everyone is saying the war will end soon. Even though it seems like Henry is alone with his opinion that it will not, some of the characters still support his viewpoint, like when the Henry says, “Now I am depressed myself,” and the priest replies, “I do not believe in victory anymore”(179). An example of Henry’s opinion is when he states, “No one ever stopped when they were winning” (178). This shows that he is not optimistic about his beliefs on the war. When Henry says, “Now I am depressed myself,” it becomes apparent that the transition from love and comfort to war and grit is extremely hard for him mentally as well. Due to his beliefs and views of the end of the war, it is not surprising that he abandons the war to be with Catherine. It is obvious that he is in love with her and does not see a light at the end of the tunnel for the war. He is quick to say, “Christ, that my love were in my arms and I in my bed again. That my love Catherine. That my sweet love Catherine down might rain”(197) When he says this about Catherine, you know that he will do anything to be with her. She is the best option he can think of and he only wants to be with her. By leaving the war to be with Catherine, it shows that love is stronger than war/conflict in all circumstances, even extreme ones.
ReplyDeleteI love how you said what type of conflicts he was having like man vs. self and man vs. society. Your response was really good!
DeleteI agree with Megan. I also really like how many quotes you used to back up your support.
DeleteIn book three of A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway, the theme goes straight from love to war. He spends most of his time in book two in the hospital with Catherine Barkley to keep him company. Book two talks a lot about their love for each other and all the time they spend together. They think and have eyes only for each other. However, when it transitioned into book three, he hardly ever mentions Catherine and thinks mostly of the war. Through the conversations of Henry and the war people he sees, everyone seems tired and sick of the war. "You [Henry] are very good to say so. I [the major] am very tired of this war. If I was away I do not believe I would come back" (165). I also get the impression that they are looking forward to America joining the war. "I [the major] hope we get some of them [the Americans]" (165). Another think that I noticed is that the soldiers seem to be losing trust in one another. They questioned men on their side if they even had the slightest doubt that they were loyal or that they were not spies. They shot them with hardly a fair questioning. Henry believes the fighting may cease, but not by both sides at once. He thinks the Austrians will continue to fight. "I [Henry] don't know. I only think the Austrians will not stop when they have won a victory" (178). Henry's abandonment at the end of book three suggests that he has no hope left for the war, and he is disgusted and sick of all the fighting. He says he did not love the smell of the guns in the flat-car, and he takes off the stars on his uniform. “I [Henry] was not against them. I was through” (232). I was not that surprised at Henry’s abandonment at the end of the book three. It seemed like he was becoming more and more frustrated with the war and the other soldiers as the events unfolded. “I [Henry] did not know whether I should wait to be questioned or make a break now. I was obviously a German in Italian uniform. I saw how their minds worked; if they had minds and if they worked” (224). In this quote, his annoyance and frustration with the carabinieri is palpable. I think that at that point, I too would have abandoned the war.
ReplyDeleteYou backed up your points very well with the quotes you chose. For example, how to described how they wanted the Americans to join the war.
DeleteIn Book 3 of Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemmingway there is a definite transition from love to war. During the chapters leading up to this Catherine came to the hospital to be with Henry while he has injured his knee. Throughout this time Catherine and Henry’s love for each other grows more and more deep and profound. To the point where Henry mentions that the two of them ought to marry and Catherine is about to have Henry’s baby. However she is 3 months along and will probably have the baby while Henry is away at war. Their feelings for each other have definitely progressed from just something to pass the time to a real relationship which could and probably will last even after the war. This transition from love to war begins even before section three does. “There was a soldier standing with his girl in the shadow of one of the stone buttresses ahead of up and we passed them. They were standing tight up against the stone and he had put his cape around her. ‘They’re like us,’ I said. ‘Nobody is like us,’ Catherine said. She did not mean it in a happy way” (Hemmingway 147). This passage shows that the romantic and idealistic ideas behind their relationship have started to go away. It has turned from some sort of a dream back to the more realistic and depressing state which the war has created their relationship into. “’It has been bad,’ the major said. ‘You wouldn’t believe how bad it’s been. I’ve often thought you were lucky to be hit when you were’ (Hemmingway 165). This quote was one of the biggest points that showed just how bad the war really was. Everyone who was involved was just holding out to see when the war would truly come to an end. “’I’m glad to see it. I am glad to be back with you again Signor Maggoire.’ He smiled. ‘You are very good to say so. I am very tired of this war. If I was away I do not believe I would come back’” (Hemmingway 165). This quote also indicates that many of the men would have left the war if they could, and given the opportunity to leave this long and grueling war almost all of the would have in a second. This quote also said a lot about how Henry himself feels about the war. Even though he was injured and was given a near perfect opportunity to abandon the war effort he chose to come back and continue fighting alongside his friends and for the country which his ancestors have come from. It shows that even though he acts like he hates the war and really just wants to be with Catherine and their baby there is some reason that he keeps coming back to the war. In this passage you get a sense of Henry on a deeper level, he is not just someone passing the time with a woman named Catherine. He is a man who has fallen in love and is having a baby but has still decided to go back to war.
ReplyDeleteI like that you included the fact that Catherine is still pregnant, throughout everything that is going on.
DeleteIn book three of “A Farewell To Arms” by Ernest Hemingway, the transition from love to war happens so quickly. In book two, Henry and Catherine are in love. Henry is in the hospital injured, and in love. But, he knows that once he is better he must go back to the war. During the way Henry misses his love with Catherine, “Christ, that my love were in my arms and I in my bed again. That my love Catherine. That my sweet love Catherine down might rain” (Pg. 197). While in war, there really is no source of love or sincere emotions. The killing and deaths are something no one could even forget. It is scary to think that he would have to live through something like that. No wonder he missed Catherine. Henry says, “Now I am depressed myself,” and the priest replies, “I do not believe in victory anymore,” (Pg. 179).
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how Henry goes from thinking about the war and forgetting about Catherine to thinking about Catherine and trying to forget the war.
War is not something that should be taken lightly, and it is hard to deal with, especially when you are right in the middle of it witnessing it all happen. No soldier wants to kill another man. But in war, they are forced to look past the worth of human life and just kill. That is not something any average person should learn how to do. So I feel that Henry constantly wanted to be with Catherine is a good thing, because she is his way of getting his thoughts away from all of this cruelty. She is his escape. She is his love.
I like that you noticed that he never really thinks about war and Catherine at the same time yet switches back and forth.
DeleteEarnest Hemingway makes the transition from love to war almost immediately in Book Three of A Farewell to Arms. In Book Two Henry and Catherine were able to spend a lot of time together because Henry was getting and recovering from the surgery that he needed after his knee was injured from a trench mortar shell. Catherine was a nurse at the hospital so they were able to take walks and talk more often. She even took the night shift so that she would be able to sneak off and see him. In this time Henry and Catherine's feelings for each other changed immensely to a pure, intense love. Yet Henry would soon learn that their feelings for each other weren't the only thing that changed. While he was gone the war had intensified as well. As Henry tried to get readjusted back to war life he unknowingly seemed to forget about Catherine. Yet, later on, its obvious that the reason he does not think about her often is not because he does not care, but that it hurts too much to do so. "In bed I lay me down my head. Bed and board. Stiff as a board in bed. Catherine was in bed now between two sheets, over her and under her. Which side did she sleep on? Maybe she wasn't asleep. Maybe she was lying awake thinking of me."(197) Because Henry was not around as the war turned from bad to worse he did not realize how bad the it had gotten until he arrived back at the villa and was told so by the major. "'... I'm tired of this war. If I was away I do not believe I would come back.' 'Is it so bad?' 'Yes it is so bad and worse.'"(165) The war had drained the soldiers of the energy and optimism they once had before, and Henry experienced this in the retreat from the line of Bainsizza. After Henry, Bartolomeo, Piani, and Bonello's cars got stuck in the mud they were forced to carry on by foot, and, if that was not bad enough, on their path to Udine they ran into German soldiers. Ironically though it was not the Germans who they had to worry about yet the soldiers on their own side. "'We're more in danger of the Italians than Germans,' I said. 'The rear guard are afraid of everything. The Germans know what they're after.'" This was proven true on page 213 when an Italian soldier shot and killed Aymo. "He was hit low in the back of the neck and the bullet had ranged upward and come out under the right eye. He died while I was stopping up the two holes." This loss hit Henry hard. "Aymo lay in the mud with the angle of the embankment... He looked very dead... I had liked him as well as any one I ever knew. I had his papers in my pocket and would write to his family."(214) and as if it wasn't hard enough to loose one friend Bonello left Piani and him that night and decided to be taken as a prisoner. Nonetheless Piani and Henry carried on walking even through the pain and physical exhaustion they felt. Soon they came to a bridge and "battle police" pulled Henry out of the crowd to be questioned. Henry had seen that all the people before him had been shot no matter what they said and knew he would have the same fate if he did not act so he ran to the river that the "battle police" shot people near and jumped in and floated down it to escape. He walked until he came across a railway and jumped onto a passing train and hid in an open car. By now his feelings about the war had changed immensely. He responded to someone saying that there is nothing worse than war with defeat is worse. Now though he was happy to have found a way out. "You were out of it now. You had no more obligation."(232)
ReplyDeleteI agree with your depiction of the war completely! I am glad you used the quote, "'We're more in danger of the Italians than Germans,' I said. 'The rear guard are afraid of everything. The Germans know what they're after.'"
DeleteIn the Third book of "A Farewell to Arms" war is the main theme. The Italians try to hold the line as best they can, but it is rumored that the Germans are helping and this causes panic through out the ranks. The given representation of war is the it is mass confusion and death. Then the Italian line breaks and the exodus from the line is incredible. In Chapter XXVIII Hemingway gives the description of it. "When we were out past the tanneries onto the main road the troops, the motor trucks, the horse-drawn carts and the guns were in one wide slow-moving column. We moved slowly but steadily in the rain, the radiator cap of our car almost against the tailboard of a truck that was loaded high, the load covered with wet canvas. Then the truck stopped. The whole column was stopped. It started again and we went a little farther, then stopped. I got out and walked ahead, going between the trucks and carts and under the wet necks of the horses."
ReplyDeleteThe retreat is more a block of slight movement than a retreat. This reveals the true sight of war, which is panic and desperation. Instead of the fictional retreats with men running and horses galloping we are shown the slow column retreat that is typical of a WWI retreat. Later another exhibition of desperation is shown with the bridge guards. They call Henry over for having an accent, and at that point he knows he is either going to be shot or he can flea in the river. His desertion is not surprising to me in the slightest.