In Ernest Hemingway’s novel A Farewell to Arms, the main character experiences a significant change in attitude and perception of war. Initially, Frederic Henry’s position in the war could be described as a bystander role. However, with the change of events in history, the author emphasizes the importance of gaining first-hand experience for changing controlling ideas and a person’s position on war or considering alternative points of view.
The main character finds himself troubled in defining his position in the war due to being a foreigner in Europe. Henry’s reflections on the war initially center on defining which side he would like to be in the conflict. Thus, Henry states that he wishes he was “with the British” because then things “would have been much simpler” (Hemingway, 1997, p. 39). However, Henry immediately refutes his reasoning, deciding that he would have already been killed if he were in the British troops. Furthermore, when facing the military police, Henry decides to run away out of fear of young men who were saving their country. Thus, even though Henry was willing to contribute to the war at the beginning despite having no personal interest, he fled after encountering people for whom war was a way to protect their country.
In my experience, I had a similar change of perspective when I tried to understand the causes of wars and political conflicts. Thus, being an outside observer, it seems that you can always determine the correctness of actions and condemn one of the parties. However, when you put yourself in another person’s position, you understand that the opinions of third-party observers may not correspond to reality. Therefore, I started trying to look at the situation from both sides before sharing my opinion about the problem with other people.
Thus, in A Farewell to Arms, the author forces the main character to change his perspective on war by letting him feel what it is like to be on the other side of the conflict. When Henry was in the position of an outside observer, he could freely think about both sides. However, when Henry faced the execution dressed as a German in Italian uniform, he realized that war means more to those defending their country. Thus, his position as an outside observer does not guarantee his safety in conditions where every life is equally threatened.
Reference
Hemingway, E. (1997). A farewell to arms. Scribner.