Girls Rule and Boys Drool with Catherine Barkley in Hemingways A Farwell to Arms

In A Farewell to Arms, Catherine is not fully appreciated by Henry though her portrayal as a woman is strong and logical. She has been through her first love and death of a finance which has made her much more realistic about what she wants in life and what is important to her, even if it doesn’t match with the society roles at the time.  As you really get into critiquing the details of her actions throughout the book you realize she is not a submissive woman and actually has a lot of control in the relationship.

               In Sandra Spanier’s critic Catherine Barkley and the Hemingway Code: Ritual and Survival in A Farwell to Arms she points out that “[Henry] is blithely oblivious to the fact that she is using him.” Catherine at one point is just feeling lonely and wants Henry to say he loves her though she completely knows that he means nothing by saying it. Henry follows as she says even though he feels guilty for being so submissive. Catherine does have control in this relationship and this is the first sign to proving it. She also talks about regretting to save herself from marriage and this leads to the point that she really wants Henry for a physical love. She does seem to care for him more as the novel progresses but initial this girl just wants to have fun.

               Henry does not realize that Catherine really is a smart woman and this kind of just makes him look less important and not as knowledgeable. She is a well-known nurse which was probably the best job for a woman during the war and she assisted in taking extra time to check on Henry. He did not exactly respect her career the way he should have, he called on her when he was lonely and made her entertain him on her off hours rather than allowing her to sleep basically.  Catherine never complains and remains working and by Henry’s side, which is way more than most women today can even handle.  Her boss eventually tells Henry he needs to let her rest but never once does she complain to him and say he wants to much from her. This is not depicting her as passive or submissive but stronger than him because she is providing for his needs and many others.

               Catherine may not be viewed as smart from Henry but she is much more realistic than him. When she informs Henry that she is pregnant and going to have his child he immediately thinks marriage is the answer to the problem. Catherine knows that getting married would solve nothing just wants to to fulfill the social expectations of the time. Spanier’s says, “Catherine is beyond that point.”  She convinces Henry that it is not a good idea to get married while still playing the submissive and gentle woman. The book goes farther to say that she had tried to already eliminate the situation, with an abortion, but it didn’t work. This really highlights her independent thinking, without his approval she almost took away their chance of having a child. She does not want the responsibility of bringing up a child, though she knows she can handle it, especially with henry out fighting. Realistically she knows it is dangerous and bringing up a child possibly as a single parent is not her cup of tea. Henry only begins to feel guilt about having a baby and considering her part when she starts getting very sick. Catherine ends her life having his child that she never wanted to have to begin with. Spanier describes her as a ‘Hemingway code hero’ and this ending only magnifies that argument.  

All You Need is the Fantasy of Love with Ernest Hemingway in A Farwell to Arms

            In the poem “Sweet and Low” Alfred Tennyson creates a lullaby meant to sooth a child to sleep but more so to sooth the concerns of the mother herself. Her love is away and you can feel the mother’s yearn for him to return again and soon. Ernest Hemingway, in “A Farewell to Arms”, has Henry use this technique many times, although he is the one away at war, to try to alleviate the loneliness and anxiety that comes with loving someone through a great geographical separation. Tennyson creates a metaphor to represent the distant of the father from family, the western winds are to blow him back home. Hemingway directly references to the metaphor and poem when Henry is away at war and is thinking of Catherine. His thoughts sound beggingly when he says to himself, “Blow blow ye western winds,” he wants her to be with him desperately and goes on to say for a second time, “Blow her again to me.”(197) It emphasize their love, for the mother and Henry alike, because wind blowing is something you can feel but not see, and that is exactly the situation they are stuck in at the time. In “Sweet and Low” Tennyson capitalizes on the repetition of the phrase, “Father will come to thee”, and “Father will come to his babe…” to reassure the mother and her child that he will come back.(12,13) The mother use the dying moon to reference to the time of day and display that the night will be over soon, and she desires that as the morning arises her love will also return. This is visible when she says, “Sleep and rest… Father will come…” (9,10) Henry displays this similar longing for Catherine when he compares her to basic survival needs, all he wants is to, “Eat and drink and sleep with Catherine.”(223) At this time in the novel Henry has escaped down the river and given up on fighting in the war efforts. He fantasizes being back together with Catherine that very night but realizes it is not possible so he goes on to dream by thinking, “But to-morrow night, and a good meal and sheets and never going away except together.”(233) When Henry goes as far as to say they will never go away except together he is again mixing his fantasy and reality worlds. Catherine is alluded as perfect in his head, like a fantasy, since the time apart and made him miss her so deeply. Henry and the mother are in similar positions with distance separating them form their loves. Each longs to be with their significant other, they each fantasize that in just one day, tomorrow, they will be together again though in reality it’s a method of self-reassurance to just get through the day. The separation has caused love to display an ironic connotation and has become a feeling of pain and distance that is fills their every thoughts. This draws the connection to a major theme of the book, Henry’s focus on Catherine throughout the novel, rather than the war. He personally battles with fitting into the male social standards such helping with the war efforts but really just the want to be with his love takes over, as shown when he runs away from the war and straight back to Catherine.

Toy Soldiers Escaping the Game in A Farewell to Arms

           Trusting soldiers with the lives of a whole country is what all nations do but in reality most these men never grow up very much and focusing on the war for such a long time period seems highly unlikely  because life still goes on such as with woman, friends, family, and health. These men in particular get away from the war, maturely of course, with drinking, eating, and joking about death even as it surrounds them. This meal, as many usually do, began with quite a few drinks. When dinner is not ready on time Rinaldi solves the problem with an in-depth resolution by saying, “I’ll go get the bottle” (172). Although Federico is not supposed to drink he trust Rinaldi’s advise as a doctor, which is obviously good thinking when he explains, “It burns out the stomach completely”, “nothing is worse for you”, “Drink it down, baby, and look forward to getting sick”(172) These are all reassuring from a trained professional. Rinaldi even easily persuades the priest when has a glass of wine when he offers it to him. As an escape from reality these men really do just enjoy drinking together.

               When the major comes in to eat, before the priest, the three decided to make up for the quietness of the mess and are already on a right track. Frederic and the major don’t enjoy the difference in setting of the mess from loud and full and entertaining when the war began to now very few men, “Is this all we are?” asks the major(172). Frederic notes, “I miss the noise of the mess,” and of course Rinaldi again has the perfect solution, “I will be noisy” (172). This not only displays the toll the war is taking on their army and friends but also that the best and maybe only way for them to get away from the devastation even if only for the night is drinking. Once the food is brought out these men eat like teenage boys, where no portion is ever satisfying. As soon as the soup was set down the major was focused and got to business, he “ladled out a full plate” and was “busy with his soup” (172).  Of course he was not the only one, “The spaghetti came in and we were all busy” (172). Busy could be defined as actively or attentively engaged in work so that fact that Hemingway uses this word to describe their eating habits gives the reader a perfect visual of starving men scarfing down supper. The priest arrives late and is just as eager to get in on the good grub, when he is brought soup he said he would just start with spaghetti, so basically is saying just give me the real meal and he gets to work like the others. They tease the priest like always and Frederic sticks up for him however the priest seems little concerned since his thank you consists of, “The priest looked up from his stew and smiled at me”173) Normal dinner settings you eat slowly and chat throughout the meal but these men only do between the separate servings and are consumed, physically and mentally in the food.

               Of course these mature men go on to joke that the meat they are eating is the killed enemy. Rinaldi begins with “Its’ dead Austrian” (174). And his buddy Frederic finishes it off with “The white meat is from officers”174). Rinaldi, as a surgeon, deals with wounded and dying men all day yet when he gets with his friends and has a couple drinks it can become a joking matter. The seriousness of the war and situation is extremely down played and would never be known at this meal. These soldiers act as though the war they are fighting in is just a game and can be forgotten at the end of each day with drinks, food, and good company.