Wars and armed conflicts have always been a part of human history. When two groups firmly believe in two radically different ideas and the differences are unable to be reconciled peacefully, war usually is a result. A common notion of the battlefield is that it is a grandeur place filled with gallant people and valor. Ernest Hemingway however, personally experienced the genuine side of war, the side not often talked about, and then survived to write about it. Hemingway uses elements of a realistic war novel and thus incorporates some aspects such as the grim combat conditions. However, A Farewell to Arms is actually presented as a protest novel. Hemingway creates a story that opposes war by using the character of Henry to express his view that no honor or glory can come from war, that it instead causes devastation and suffering to all involved, and only brings disillusionment and irrational behavior to the soldiers.
Due to his participation in the army, Hemingway attempted to describe the actual conditions of the area around the frontlines. He writes how "how all the country [was] wet, and brown, and dead" and how "the troops were muddy and wet in their cape" (Hemingway 4). The author wanted the readers to feel the miserable situation that most of the soldiers had to confront everyday. In an effort to be realistic, Hemingway utilizes the names of real places and events. He also wrote about the morale of the soldiers and how it dropped as the war lingered on. Hemingway describes what the soldiers do to entertain themselves when not on the battlegrounds. Rinaldi says to Henry that "here now we have beautiful girls…we will go now this afternoon and see" (12). Hemingway wrote that the reality was that the soldiers visited brothels and continually drank alcohol when they were not placed at the front. Being a soldier in the army was not a place where one would want to be at.
There is one soldier set apart from the rest and that is Frederic Henry. Henry' character is based off Hemingway himself. As such, Henry holds the same opinions as the author. One view of Henry is that "abstract words such as glory, honor, courage, or hallow were obscene" (185). These words had no place among the battlefields and Henry did not have much patience with people who believed that these qualities could be gained from war. Ettore Moretti believed in those notions and therefore serves as a foil to Henry. Moretti chases after the very honor that Henry disregards. Unlike Henry, he is boastful and thinks that medals bring a person respect and fame. Henry knows better than this because he felt no emotion when he heard that he was going to be decorated for being injured and even protested when Rinaldi tried to get Henry to earn more awards. "You must have done something heroic" but Henry replies, "I did not" (65). The modest and reserved Henry knows that one has to earn honor and courage for oneself from the things one does and that no award can grant this.
The Italian retreat of Caporetto shows war at its lowest point. It during this demoralizing moment that men become irrational and disillusioned. Their ability to reason is diminished and thus senseless violence is rampant. "I… took the pistol, aimed at the one who had talked the most, and fired" (204). Henry remorselessly shoots an engineer for disobedience which is surprising because Henry usually does not succumb to violence. However during wartime, people become selfish and put their needs and wants before others and will do anything to achieve what they want. The Italian rear guard shooting Aymo is another example of ridiculous violence. Under normal circumstances the soldiers would have not shot at Henry's group but fear weakens their capacity to reason and think. They panic and act on instinct alone. Chaos also reigns as the dissatisfied soldiers eliminate their commanding officers. The Italian defeat disillusions and frustrates them and so they unreasonably blame the loss on their leaders.
When Hemingway was describing the retreat, he took away all romantic ideals about war and just gave the audience cold, hard facts. Hemingway also tried to expand "the implications of Caporetto beyond the battlefield" (Reynolds 282) to the whole war. Caporetto was a defeat for the Italians and Hemingway implies that having a war is a defeat for the world. The victorious nation may have won at the military level but each soldier that participates in war experiences a defeat inside of them. They had to take the life of another human being away and they helped to contribute to the devastation that only war can bring. In addition to the damage war causes, it also crumbles the many foundations of life including religion and love. After some time, even the priest's devout faith somewhat wavers and the armed conflict certainly undermines the relationship that Catherine and Henry share.
After all of Henry's hands on experience with the wartime effort, he finally concluded that "[he] had seen nothing sacred" (185). He abandons the army and makes his "separate piece" with the war (243). By making his own farewell to arms, Henry wishes to have nothing to do with the war, to put the past behind him, and to move on.
When asked how really thinks of the war, the old and wise Count Greffi summarizes his opinions in one word, "stupid" (262). What Count Greffi probably meant to say was that war is "a world of suffering and absurdity in which natural events and humanity's irrational actions collide" (Dow 82). War really is unnecessary. It almost never has a positive outcome and so many factors have to sacrificed so that a "victory" can be achieved. "Farewell is fundamentally not a realistic narrative about World War I… Frederic's voice… emphasizes much more than 'coming to terms emotionally with the events'" (Nagel 171). Frederic's voice is actually that of the author's and his opinions of the war. Hemingway wants to show to his readers the "bullying, murderous, slovenly crime of war" (Hemingway, "Introduction", p. x-xi). He wants his audience to realize that war is not to way to solve large disputes and that in the end, "war was a defeat, no matter who won" (Reynolds 282).
