A Farewell to Arms--An Analysis of the Title
Leah Smartt
Words can carry great meaning whether subtle or profound, written or spoken. Words connect one to another and have the power to rip everything apart. When analyzing the title of the novel “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway, the statement is proved true. The title “A Farewell to Arms” holds several great meanings for the main protagonist of the novel, Lieutenant Frederic Henry. Henry has to say his farewells to the arms of war and figuratively say his farewells to the arms that protect him, the arms that are hostile towards him, and the arms that strangle him.
A farewell is a permanent goodbye. A farewell can be either sweet or bittersweet depending on the outlook the person has on life and his or her mood at the moment of the farewell. Lieutenant Henry is a character who faces many trials and goodbyes in this novel. In Chapter 21 Catherine and Henry are discussing cowards and the brave. Catherine makes the reference that, “...The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths if he’s intelligent. He simply doesn’t mention them.” Henry is a brave character; Henry figuratively dies two thousand deaths and he faces his farewells and his trials with confidence and steadfastness. He believes that better things are to come after the hardships. Henry possesses the power that many lack; he can move on and forget the troubles of his past. His trials ultimately shape him as a person and shape him for the better.
Lieutenant Henry has to literally say his farewells to the arms of war in this novel. As an American driving an ambulance in the Italian army, Henry felt distanced from America. When Catherine Barkley was introduced to his life on the Front, Henry realized that he was slightly homesick for America. Catherine Barkley later became Henry’s love interest. She was an English nurse and Henry felt less homesick when he was with her. He never says in particular that he is homesick for America, though upon meeting Catherine he explains to her that he never gets to speak English on the Front, which is clearly upsetting for him. That statement is a snippet of Henry’s feelings. I believe that he leaves the Front because he loves Catherine and wants to be with her. He also leaves because he needs to feel the connection to America that Catherine offers him despite the fact that Catherine is English. The farewell that Henry has to say to the Italian Front is bittersweet. He is homesick, but the Front is all he has known for a time. His love for Catherine eventually becomes the deciding factor in Henry’s decision to leave the Italian Front.
Catherine is a strong female character whose weakness is to fall completely in love. Her weakness directly relates to Henry. Catherine’s arms figuratively protect Henry from himself and her arms also strangle Henry in a way. Henry is not very apt to love, for whatever reason. In a way, Henry is afraid to love Catherine. Through her devotion to him she shows him that there is no reason to fear love. Thus Catherine protects Henry from his own fears. Alas, Henry has to say farewell to his protector at the end of the novel. Catherine dies in childbirth along with their son. Having to say farewell to the protecting arms of his lover strangles Henry. He invested a great amount of time in her; he opened up to her and for the first time actually let somebody see who he really was. Despite all that Henry had given to her, Catherine died. Henry could never again fall into Catherine’s arms, figuratively or literally. Catherine now resided in the arms of death. Henry had given Catherine his heart and Henry almost died mentally along with her. He was figuratively strangled by Catherine’s death; he found it easier to walk away from the hospital than to stay and watch Catherine’s lifeless body. Catherine was his life, and without her he felt dead. Some may consider Henry a coward because he walked away from Catherine’s death and his child’s death. However, the fact that he moved on actually exemplifies bravery, the kids of bravery that Catherine describes when she teaches that, “...The brave dies perhaps two thousand deaths if he’s intelligent. He simply doesn’t mention them.” The experience of Catherine’s death can be considered but one of the “two thousand deaths” that Henry will come to experience in his lifetime. Henry is brave, and because of this he realizes that moving on would be the only way to completely heal.
When Henry’s son is born, Henry openly expresses his lack of interest in his son. He says that he feels no fatherly feelings toward the boy. What Henry finds out later is that his son was not able to breathe at birth, and died. Henry would have been an uninvolved father with a hostile attitude if his son had lived. Henry would not have been the father that protected his son or the father that opened his arms to lend. The reason for his hostile arms would be that his son would have been the only connection that Henry had to Catherine. Catherine had become such an integral part of his life and he would have hated to still be connected to her after her death. Henry’s son would have made it impossible for Henry to move on after Catherine’s death and his son would have made it impossible for Henry to learn from his trials. Henry would have adopted a hostile attitude if his son had lived, despite the fact that before her death, Catherine gave Henry a new perspective on life. If he became hostile, he would not have grown into the strong character that is seen at the end of the novel.
Throughout the novel, Henry became a stronger character by saying farewell to the different arms in his life. By walking away from the war he got to spend more of his time with Catherine. Spending time with Catherine left Henry with a new perspective on life and she helped his personality and his character grow. The death of his son made it possible for Henry to love again. Henry lost his lover, but he would not have been the person that he was if Catherine had lived. Henry lost Catherine. Henry lost his son. Henry was forced to say farewell to the woman he loved and the son he was never given a chance to know. Henry was hurt. Henry was brave and like Lord Tennyson said, “It is better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all.”
