A Farewell To Arms By Ernest Hemingway: Character Analysis

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In the novel, A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway, the protagonist Lieutenant Frederic Henry is an ambulance driver in Italy. He and a couple friends were enjoying some off time eating cheese and drinking wine when they were attacked by a trench mortar shell. Henry was badly wounded and was sent to a hospital in Milan for surgery. Three doctors came to look at his knee, and decided that they should wait six months to operate. On the other handotherhand, another doctor came in and claimed he could operate the following day. Frederic Henry chose to be operated on immediately. Hemingway’s decision to have Henry’s surgery right away was beneficial to plot of the story and character development. Many plot events would have been different if Henry decided to be operated on after six months. The nurses and house doctor at Ospedale Maggiore suggested the three doctors to come in to check on the Lieutenant. However, since Frederic Henry didn’t like their decision, he went back to the nurse saying he wanted a better doctor. He was able to get one, thus he had his surgery right away. During this time, Catherine Barkley and Frederic Henry got to know each other a little better. She was transferred to this hospital from the villas, where they had previously met. Originally, they met through Rinaldi who pushed Henry to visit when they had the conversation, “‘You will come with me to see miss Barkley.’ ‘No.’ ‘Yes. You will please come and make me a good impression on her’” (Hemingway 17). Ironically, …show more content…

CertainCetain plot events wouldn’;t have happened and the reader wouldn’t learn as much about the characters. Catherine and Frederic may have never had a relationship, they would have, most likely, not gotten pregnant, or they may have never even met. In the end, Hemingway’s decision to have Lieutenant Frederic Henry’s surgery immediately was favorable to the plot and the character

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