In Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms, Fredrick Henry, the story’s character, is an American ambulance driver who served in the Italian army during the First World War. He takes a different perspective on the war due to the unprecedented struggles that ensued then. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway narrates how Henry grows up and changes internally based on acquired experience and knowledge about the war as something that carries a powerfully destructive force.
Henry’s change of attitude toward the war was caused by the harsh reality he experienced. For instance, Henry felt that his military paramedic duties were not valued. In addition, he was almost executed after the military police said he spoke Italian with an American accent, which meant he might be an unforeseen traitor (Uddin and Karmakar 49). The other specific traumatic events in A Farewell to Arms are closely related to the terrible scenes during the war and the job threatening the protagonist’s life. In particular, Henry described shellings and a series of explosions, horrific moments in which soldiers were torn apart by bombs, and many deaths of fellow soldiers, on which others stepped like garbage bags. Indeed, these events radically changed his personality due to the violence and cruelty he saw on the battlefield.
I had a similar experience with Fredrick Henry while in high school. I worked hard to ensure that the school administration listened to students’ concerns every time. As a student leader, I devoted myself to serving my fellow learners in the perfect body. Nevertheless, the night before the elections in the school, I faced an experience that risked my health. Someone sprayed my bed with a significantly poisonous chemical, and I lost the elections. That experience benefited me because I noted that people do not reciprocate moral good with the same.
In conclusion, Ernest Hemingway’s message about the war is that participation in a modern war and death for the fatherland is not so glorious because a person dies like a dog for nothing. Even if an individual survives, memories of the horrors will remain. Frederick Henry’s change of attitude toward the war was brought about by a lack of recognition for his efforts in the army and the mental and physical challenges he met while working. Furthermore, I can understand the feelings and emotions of the protagonist since I had a similar experience while being a leader in the school.
Work Cited
Uddin, Md Azim, and Kamol Karmakar. “War-love Dichotomy in A Farewell to Arms and Arms and the Man: A Comparative Study.” Journal of Noakhali Science and Technology University (JNSTU), vol. 4, no. 1&2, 2020, pp. 49-57, Web.