The setting of A Farewell to Arms heavily affects the relationships and themes in the novel. As stated in my introduction I am a HUGE romantic, and I am obsessed with tragic love stories. Although this novel portrays the war and the demoralization of those fighting in it, I choose to focus on the romantic aspects of it. Personally, the picturesque Italian countryside makes Henry’s and Catherine’s relationship even more romantic- yes, I understand that this “countryside” is a war battlefront, but I simply don’t care.
The aspect of the war is used by Hemingway to advance Henry’s character development, as he experiences the hardships first hand. At the beginning of the novel Henry doesn’t really care about the war and doesn’t fully understand the effects of it. He is ignorant to the horrors that come from war and is serving the army with no real honor. This is surprising to me because as an ambulance driver, you would think that he could literally see first hand how awful the war is. Even after getting seriously hurt himself he still doesn’t see the importance of the war. I’m not really sure why he is putting himself at such a disadvantage by serving, when he feels no moral commitment to the war. This changes though the more battles he is involved in, mostly the German attack on Gorizia, and his act of killing another man. Taking the life of a man is eventually what makes him comprehend his involvement in the war. Before this he had allowed himself to disassociate from what was going on around him, being brought to kill forces him to recognize the consequences of war.
“ I was always embarrassed by the words sacred, glorious, and sacrifice and the expression of vain.”
“I had seen nothing sacred, and the things that were glorious had no glory and the sacrifices were like the stockyards at Chicago if nothing was done with the meat except to bury it. There were many worlds that you could not stand to hear and finally only the names of places had dignity.”
Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
The setting of this novel is crucial to Henry’s character development. His continuing experiences in the war demoralize him and make his character transition from indifferent to resentful. By the end of the book, he decides that his love for Catherine is more important than the war and flees in battle.
A Farewell to Arms 