Hemingway’s story A Farewell to Arms gave a new way of thinking about and discussing war. After enlisting, Fredrick Henry saw the actual cost of freedom and seen personally the suffering and loss of life that soldiers undergo for the nation. The novel A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway demonstrates the similarities between my life and Henry’s, resulting in a metamorphosis due to improved knowledge.
A Farewell to Arms is generally on the impossibility of retaining virtue under trying conditions. During the disorganized retreat of the Italian army, Frederic shoots an engineer who refuses to assist with a vehicle and then abandons the exact vehicle (Hemingway 218). Later, he concludes he can make a separate peace with war and leaves his post (Hemingway 220), meaning that his morals trump whatever legal duties he may have to remain in the military. However, the encounter with the engineer illustrates that Frederic is morally adrift in an incoherent environment.
In 2020, the world was ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic, which badly affected many individuals. I had to bear witness to the anguish and agony my beloved family endured after contracting the sickness since I, too, was not spared. Knowing that losing a loved one to the illness was only a matter of time was terrible, and it meant making the most of the remaining time with those who meant the most. My faith in God was greatly shaken, and I wondered why He would permit His creation to undergo such violent upheavals. I had much time to contemplate since I was too busy grieving for my friends and family and trying not to think about what was happening. During this time, I learned to appreciate my closest friends and the gift of life itself. Similarly, Fredrick finds himself in the middle of the war, hence enlisting as a soldier, during which he loses his morality due to the experiences he witnesses.
Hemingway demonstrates how a person’s outlook and perspective can shift significantly due to painful experiences. Frederic Henry’s perspective on war undergoes a profound transformation as a direct result of his exposure to horrifying images while serving his country, and as a consequence, he gradually loses his sense of morality. Therefore, the story demonstrates how quickly people can adapt their thinking when presented with a catastrophe like the COVID-19 epidemic.
Work Cited
Hemingway, Ernest. “A Farewell to Arms. (1932 Edition).”Open Library, Modern Library, 1970. Web.