Ernest Hemingway’s, A Farewell to Arms, though fictional in nature, is based upon non-fictional events that took place over the course of Hemingway’s life. The novel portrays the life a young American man, Frederick Henry, during World War I. Though Henry is an American, he is not enlisted in the American army. Instead, he is an ambulance driver for the Italian army. During the course of the war, Henry’s legs are injured after a mortar explodes near him. He is sent to a hospital in Milan where he meets a young nurse, Catherine Barkley, who he ultimately falls in love with. After healing, Henry is sent back to the Italian front. The Austrians, meanwhile, had advanced forcing the Italians to retreat. While retreating, Henry decides he is fed up with the war and chooses to desert to be with his love, Catherine. He meets up with her again, and to avoid being caught, they decide to travel to Switzerland via rowboat. Before leaving, he learns that Catherine is pregnant with his child, making travel harder; however, they successfully arrive in Switzerland. Later, Catherine goes into labor for an extraordinarily long time. She gives birth, but unfortunately the baby does not survive. Meanwhile, she develops a hemorrhage and soon after dies.
Hemingway’s life took a very similar course to Henry’s, but there were distinct differences. Like Henry, Hemingway, an American, served in the Italian Army. After being wounded in the legs, he was sent to a hospital in Milan where he met a nurse named Agnes von Kurowsky; she would later become his wife. Instead of dying like Catherine, Agnes left Henry for another man. At first, Hemingway’s life apears to be portrayed through Henry in A Farewell to Arms, making it completely autobiographical; however, despite the many similarities that exist, Frederick Henry’s life does differ from that of Hemingway’s.
Ernest Hemingway’s public life and beliefs were strikingly similar to those of Frederick Henry; though there was not many differences, they were very significant changes between the lives of Henry and Hemingway. Hemingway was, in fact, an American that drove an ambulance for the Red Cross on the Italian front (Allen 2). While on the front, Hemingway, and his fellow soldiers took fire from an Austrian attack; this was the same way in which Henry had been injured. A mortar was fired, exploding only feet from him, wounding his knees (Desnoyers 2). Hemingway was then sent to Milan to recover. He was at the hospital for a long time, and “While recovering from being wounded… Hemingway picked 227 metal fragments out of his right leg” (Allen 2). While recovering Henry had met a nurse that would become the love of his life, Catherine Barkley. At first, he had no intention to fall in love with Catherine. She asks him if he will be good to her. Upon hearing the question, Henry thinks to himself, “what the hell” and strokes her hair (Hemingway 27). Later, he tells Rinaldi, his close friend that introduces him to Catherine, that him and Catherine were just friends. Likewise, Hemingway met Agnes von Kurowsky, a nurse in Milan. She was an American as well, and was about seven years older then Henry. In the same way Henry had fallen in love with Catherine, “Hemingway, a friend to her A Farewell to Arms, he shows how so many Italian citizens attempt to help him escape. The barman Henry meets after returning to Milan tells him, “If you are in trouble stay here with me” (Hemingway 238). In addition to offering Henry a place to stay, the barman offers him fake leave papers and advises him to change clothes to avoid being caught. Later the barman saves Henry from being caught by warning him in the middle of the night that men would come after him in the morning. He gives Henry and Catherine his boat, carries their luggage, and supplies them with enough food and drink to get them to Switzerland, showing how dedicated the people were to helping the deserters.
Ernest Hemingway’s private thoughts and actions were also noticeably portrayed through Frederick Henry. Hemingway had earned the reputation of a heavy drinker from his peers (Allen 3). Likewise, Henry is constantly drinking throughout the novel. Very rarely is he seen not having a quick glass of cognac, or sharing a drink with an acquaintance. Hemingway’s alcoholism could have been related to his depression, which could have ultimately been the cause of his suicide. Hemingway was also a fairly insecure man and was concerned with his manliness (Allen 1). He depicts this characteristic through Henry. In A Farewell to Arms, Hemingway discusses Henry’s beard for nearly half of chapter thirty-nine, proving what a great importance it is to him (Hemingway 302). He was also a hunter, fisherman, and adventurer. Because of these tendencies, “We associate him with masculine adventurous activity” (Allen 3). Hemingway was also apparently a fan of war, even though he had been a deserter, and despite being severely injured during the World War I. He decided later, by choice, to be involved in World War II. Frederick Henry, unlike Hemingway, was not excited to go back to the front after healing. Instead, Henry wishes to stay with Catherine and lead a much more mild life without the war.
Literary critics have debated whether or not A Farewell to Arms is autobiographical for many years, but still have not, and will never for certain, reach a definite answer. One critic, Robert E. Fleming, argues that the novel is definitely not autobiographical, saying, “Although Hemingway was in Italy during the war and sustained serious injuries at the front while serving on canteen duty with the Red Cross, his total service in Italy consisted of less than six weeks” (Fleming 2). However, he does admit that Henry’s injuries are very similar to those that Hemingway sustained (Fleming 2). Fleming also admits that while in Milan, Hemingway met and fell in love with a young nurse just as Henry had done (Fleming 2). Fleming claims that these are the only major similarities between Henry and Hemingway, saying, “But his biography from that point on bears little resemblance to the novel he wrote ten years later” (Fleming 2). Another critic that examined A Farewell to Arms in depth was Millicent Bell. Unlike Fleming, Bell sees the novel as partially autobiographical in nature. She says, “All fiction is autobiography, no matter how remote from the author’s experience the tale seems to be” (145). Like Fleming, Bell mentions Hemingway’s wounds and relationship with the nurse in Milan, proving that it is related to Henry’s wounds and experiences (147). A major difference between the portrayal of Henry’s life, she argued, was that “Hemingway’s style seems most realistic in describing the retreat, in which Hemingway himself did not participate, and less realistic when describing a hospital in Milan and Switzerland where he had actually been” (147).
Frederick Henry’s life in A Farewell to Arms is not identical to Ernest Hemingway’s. Hemingway simply based the core of the novel off of his experiences, then, using research, elaborated upon his experiences to create an interesting, yet believable wartime story. If Hemingway had made the novel completely autobiographical, it would not be regarded today as one of the greatest works of literature ever written. His great literary works led him to be the recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in Literature in 1954. Hemingway’s work will continue to be studied and criticized for thousands of years to come, yet no definite answer will ever be found to the many questions that seek answers.
Works Cited
Allen, Jamie. “CNN – a Hemingway Retrospective – Hemingway Biography.” CNN. 1999. 18 Mar. 2006 .
Bell, Millicent. Critical Essays On Ernest Hemingway’s a Farewell To Arms. New York: G.K. Hall & Co., 1994. 145-160.
Desnoyers, Megan F. “Ernest Hemingway: a Storyteller’s Legacy.” JFK Library. 06 Mar. 2005. John F. Kennedy Library. 18 Mar. 2006 .
Donaldson, Scott, and Donald Noble. Hemingway: a Revaluation. New York: Chelsea House, 1987. 97-112.
Fleming, Robert. “Literary Encyclopedia: a Farewell to Arms.” Literary Encyclopedia. 17 July 2001. University of New Mexico. 19 Mar. 2006 .
Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. USA: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1929. 3-332.
Von Kurowsky, Agnes. Letter to Ernest Hemingway. 07 Mar. 1919.
