Works of Hemingway -- Farewell to Arms

Author: Hemingway
Translator: Lin Yijin
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-07-01
Features: American youth Frederic Henry volunteers to join the Red Cross and drive an ambulance during the later stages of World War I, rescuing wounded soldiers on the northern Italian front and falling in love with British nurse Catherine Barkley. During a mission, Henry is injured by artillery fire and, while recovering in Milan Hospital, receives devoted care from Catherine, deepening their romance. After recovering, Henry returns to the front and, witnessing the horrors of war during a retreat with the Italian forces, decides to desert and flee Switzerland with Catherine. Tragically, Catherine dies in childbirth.
Hemingway, drawing from his own war experiences, weaves a poignant tale centered on war and love, a story that has been adapted to film multiple times and is considered a classic of modern literature. Lieutenant Frederic Henry is a young American serving with an Italian mobile medical unit on the Italian front. With an impending offensive, upon his return from leave, Lieutenant Renatati informs him that British nurses have arrived to form a British medical unit. Renatati introduces Henry to a nurse named Catherine Barkley. Henry often drives his ambulance to forward evacuation points and, upon returning, visits Miss Barkley. He enjoys the candid, young British girl but only holds a general affection for her, not falling deeply in love. When he is sent to the front to prepare for the offensive, she gives him a medal of St. Anthony.
On the front, while dining in an underground bunker with several Italian ambulance drivers, an Austrian shell explodes above them. Henry is severely wounded and sent to a field hospital. Later, he is transferred to a hospital in Milan. Before the doctors examine Henry, the nurses forbid him from drinking, but he bribes a fellow worker to buy some alcohol, hiding it behind his bed. Catherine Barkley arrives at the hospital, and Henry realizes he has fallen in love with her. The doctor tells Henry he must stay in bed for six months before his knee surgery can be performed. Henry insists on finding another doctor, who says the surgery can be done the next day. During this time, Catherine frequently visits Henry. After the surgery, Henry recuperates in Milan, with Catherine as his nurse. They dine at secluded restaurants and take outings together. At night, Henry is restless and feels lonely, and Catherine often visits his room.
As summer turns to autumn, Henry's wound heals, and he is scheduled for a convalescent leave in October. He plans to spend the holiday with Catherine, but before leaving the hospital, he contracts jaundice and is confined to bed. The head nurse accuses him of deliberately drinking to induce jaundice to avoid returning to the front. Before leaving for the front, Henry and Catherine share a room in a hotel, where she reveals she is pregnant. Henry returns to the front, ordered to transport hospital equipment in three ambulances south to the Po River region. The morale is low. Renatati praises Henry's work during the war's failure and remarks that his behavior is like that of a married man. War weariness hangs heavy over all.
On the front, when the Italians learn that German divisions have reinforced the Austrians, they begin a disorderly retreat from Caporetto. Henry drives an ambulance carrying medical supplies. During the southward retreat, his ambulance is repeatedly stuck for miles in a line of stationary trucks, cannons, and trucks. Henry picks up two lost Italian lieutenants. That night, the retreating troops are stranded in the rain for hours. In the morning, Henry detaches his ambulance from the long convoy and drives off-road, attempting to take a shortcut to Udine. The ambulance breaks down on a muddy road. The two lieutenants decide to leave, but Henry asks them to help free the vehicle from the mud. They refuse and run off. Henry fires, wounding one, while another flees. An Italian orderly with Henry shoots the wounded lieutenant in the back of the head. Henry and his three companions set out on foot for Udine.
On a bridge, Henry sees German vehicles and bicycle troops crossing another bridge over the same river. When they spot Udine, one of Henry's companions is killed by an Italian sniper. The others hide in a grain silo, waiting for the situation to calm before bypassing Udine and joining the main retreat force along the Tagliamento River. The Italian army is in complete disarray. Soldiers drop their weapons, officers tear off their insignia. At a wooden bridge on the Tagliamento River, guards arrest officers and conduct a field military trial, executing them by the river. Henry is detained but escapes in the dark that night, diving into the river and clinging to a log to swim to safety. He walks across the Venetian plain, boards a freight train, and arrives in Milan, rushing to the hospital where he once lived. There, he learns that the British nurses have gone to Sterlazzo.
During the retreat from Caporetto, Henry bids farewell to his weapons. He borrows a civilian suit from an American friend in Milan and takes a train to Sterlazzo to find Catherine, who is on leave there. The bartender at his hotel warns Henry that authorities plan to arrest him the next morning for desertion and advises him and Catherine to escape to Switzerland in his small boat. Henry rows all night. By the next morning, his hands ache so badly he struggles to even hold the oars. Catherine, despite his protest, takes the oars from him. They arrive safely in Switzerland but are soon arrested. Henry tells the police he is an athlete who loves rowing and came to Switzerland for winter sports. Their valid passports and ample funds prevent much trouble with the authorities.
For the rest of that autumn and the winter, they live in a small inn outside Montreux. They discuss marriage, but Catherine is unwilling to marry while pregnant. They travel on foot, read, and talk about what they will do after the war. As Catherine's due date approaches, she and Henry move to Lausanne to be closer to the hospital. They plan to return to Montreux in the spring. In the hospital, Catherine's contractions prompt the doctor to administer anesthesia. After hours of pain, she delivers a stillborn child. The nurse asks Henry to go get something to eat. When he returns, he learns Catherine is hemorrhaging heavily. He rushes inside, stays with her until she dies. He has nothing to do, no one to talk to, nowhere to go. Catherine is dead. He leaves the hospital and walks back to the inn in the dark. It is raining.