She's Always Just A Woman to Me: An Examination of the Weak Character of Catherine in Hemingway's "A Farewell to Arms"

Judith Fetterley is surely correct about Catherine being a weak feminine character who goes against the strong ideals of feminism because, during the novel, Catherine proves to be emotionally weak, doesn't hold firm to her own beliefs, and allows other men to view her as less of a person due to her gender. Working as a nurse during World War I, Catherine demonstrates weak characteristic qualities that emphasize the lack of strength or integrity. Consider a scene where she explains to Henry that she carries around the stick of a "very nice boy" who was originally "going to marry [her]" but was "killed in the Somme" (Hemingway 18). When Henry compliments on Catherine's hair, she asks if he really likes it, and when he replies yes, she bluntly mentions how she was " 'going to cut it all off when [the boy] died.'' (Hemingway 19) While losing someone one cares about to war is truly devastating, it doesn't mean that Catherine can't put her grief aside and try to act stronger than she really is. The fact that Catherine confesses she wanted to cut off all her hair displays her frail emotions and how they are more in charge of her state of mind than sound logic. Henry compliments her in a chivalrous way, and Catherine is still unable to let go of the one she loves, still holding onto the stick of someone who may or may not have loved her as much as she did him. Plus, why would a lovely woman want to shave off her hair in response to one soldier's death? Shouldn't she try to shift the conversation towards a lighter area where she doesn't allow her depressed emotions to spill out? The way with which Catherine handles her ex-lover's death demonstrates a lack of inner strength as further proved by future encounters with others. Helen Ferguson later criticizes Catherine for allowing Henry to desert the Army. She scolds Catherine for having " 'no shame and no honor' " and being " 'as sneaky as he is.'" (Hemingway 247) Catherine simply retaliates, " 'Don't denounce me. You know we like each other.'" (Hemingway 247) As Helen continues to express her outrage, she ends up in tears, and Catherine tries to comfort her saying, " 'I'll be ashamed. Don't cry, Fergy.'" (Hemingway 247) As Helen insults her for staying with her husband, even through his crime of desertion, Catherine doesn't defend herself or her husband as well as she should. A marriage means that both people involved are dedicated to doing whatever it takes to express the power of their love for one another, and that means going above and beyond to defend your spouse when someone berates his decisions. Catherine simply states that she and Henry "like" each other, instead of loving each other. Not using the word "love" may well infer that Catherine may not hold as strong of a passion for Henry as the book might try to emphasize.  And, when Helen cries out of frustration, Catherine instantly folds. She says that she'll be ashamed if it makes Helen feel better. Her response to Helen's outburst shows she doesn't stick firm with her own beliefs, and she can easily adjust to the opinion of others if their own emotions break down as a result of trying to convince her. She should have been stronger and defended her husband and herself more instead of letting her guard down when others emotionally crumble. Furthermore, Catherine emphasizes her own weak persona when she allows other men to openly think of her as less than a woman with values. When Catherine visits the doctor, she pulls on a mask, feeling a little short of breath, and after taking it off, she jokingly says. " 'I'm not going to die now, darling. I'm past where I was going to die...'" (Hemingway 319). More serious than her, the doctor says. " 'You will not do any such foolishness...You would not die and leave your husband.'" (Hemingway 319). Catherine replies. " 'Oh no. I won't die. I wouldn't die. It's silly to die...'" (Hemingway 319). Note that Catherine speaks so quickly about not dying as though she had unjustly objected to something important and she was trying to make up for it. Clearly, the doctor believes Catherine doesn't have a right to die because, as a woman, she fulfills Henry's needs as a wife and person who looks after the house. As far as the doctor is concerned, any death on her part is unacceptable, since she doesn't fight in war or accomplish anything her husband does. In other words, the doctor views Catherine's death as foolish and as less of an important fact of life than the deaths of the men at war. Catherine hastily responds that she won't die, as though she has a choice about her own life and death. Although she holds a good career as a nurse, she apologizes for her own death and allows the doctor and Henry to see her possible death as petty compared to someone who has fought in combat or done something she hasn't been able to do because of her gender. Why should she apologize for her frail physical condition in the first place? Catherine demonstrates she is not as headstrong as she should be, and she emphasizes she doesn't hold the feminist ideals of independence or pride she should clearly hold.

Somewhere Out There: The Intertextual Exploration of A Faraway Poem in A Farewell to Arms

Two types of literature, Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem, "Sweet and Low" and Hemingway's novel A Farewell to Arms, express the similar message of loving someone special from afar. The character of the former literature expresses a venturing man's deep love for his child back home, while the latter work alludes to the aforementioned poem when the main character reflects on his beloved from afar, Catherine, emphasizing a theme of keeping love alive in the midst of difficult conditions. Henry, the main character of the story, is driving down the road of a tranquil town, while he reflects on how a war pal f his, Barto, got together with "a couple of  fine girls." (Hemingway 157). Thinking about those girls leads to Henry thinking about his girlfriend from far away, Catherine. Henry wonders if "Catherine [is] in bed now" or if she was "lying" awake "thinking about him." (Hemingway 157). He then says, "Blow, blow ye western wind...Blow her again to me," directly alluding to "Sweet and Low" lines "Wind in the western sea,/ low, low, breathe and blow,/ Wind of the western sea...Blow him again to me"(Tennyson 2-4, 7) (Hemingway 157). In a time where Henry tries to rest in the humble town, he still can't fight the passionate feelings for the woman he loves. He knows he can't escape his duty at war and is willing to do anything to be closer to Catherine, even if that means something as imaginary as asking a wind to bring his love directly to him. Directly alluding to the poem, "Sweet and Low," Hemingway reflects on how the poet wishes for the western wind to carry his son his way across vicious seas and visualizes a loving image that is not too different. He examines the emotional and physical boundaries both characters wish to cross in getting home to the people they love the most. Under confusing times, Henry thinks of Catherine, just as the speaker in the poem thinks about his son while sailing across open seas. The wind is a powerful force of nature and has the ability to whisk away the smallest of leaves or other things off the ground. In his imagination, Henry wishes for the strongest elements of nature to help him be with Catherine, and so, the text refers to the poetic speaker's love for his son to echo the pain and longing that comes with wanting to be with someone who's so physically distant. Continuing to express his love, the main character of the story whispers aloud, " 'Good night, Catherine. I hope you sleep well...In a little while, it will be morning and then it won't be so bad...Try and go to sleep, sweet." (Hemingway 157). The way Henry openly pines for Catherine alludes to a similar way in which the speaker of "Sweet and Low" speaks aloud to his distant son, "Sleep and rest, sleep and rest,/ Father will come to thee soon;/ rest, rest, on mother's breast,/ father will come to thee soon...sleep, my little one, sleep my pretty one, sleep." (Tennyson 9-12, 16). When one is away from the person he cares about more than anyone for so long, it sometimes makes sense to talk to that person in a way that comforts the person, even if it means not directly talking to him face-to-face. As Hemingway alludes once more to the poem of Tennyson, he briefly brings together two men in two different worlds who both want the same thing: to be home with the person they love the most. The bitterness and bloodshed of war are traumatizing experiences, and one of the greatest factors, sometimes the only factor, that keeps a soldier going is the thought of being home with his wife or girlfriend. Speaking to thin air like the speaker in "Sweet and Low," Henry relies once more on the strength of the wind to carry across his message of love to Catherine.

Season of the Soldier: A Look at How Autumn Sets the Mood for A Farewell to Arms

Ernest Hemingway utilizes a vivid image of the main character's service during the fall in order to emphasize a weary and rugged atmosphere that is prevalent through much of the novel A Farewell to Arms.Chapter 25 begins "in the fall" when Henry rides into Gorizia where the trees are "all bare" and "the roads [are] muddy" (Hemingway 163). When the adjectives, "bare" and "muddy" come to mind, the reader often gets an image of a dreary and rugged terrain, a terrain that, in this particular case, is a literal battlefield. Anyone who has ever served in war knows that the uneven, worn battlefield plays a significant role in setting the mood for the great or war battle ahead, and the autumn weather further emphasizes the weary mood of Henry's place of service. In literature, according to How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster, the presence of autumn is often associated with "decline and middle age and tiredness" (Foster 178). Although perhaps not quite as dismal as the bitter wrath of winter, autumn paves the path for drearier conditions ahead, from the withered, leafless trees to the bleak, gray skys. In order to set the mood for a rugged war atmosphere, Hemingway sets the beginning of Henry's complicated war escapades in the autumn, and he creates a picture dreary enough to let the reader feel his main character's pain. Yet, the writer goes beyond the first sentence and takes the reader further down the bitter terrain of Gorizia. As Henry passes naked "mulberry trees," brown fields, and "wet dead leaves on the road," he notes that "many more houses had been hit (Hemingway 163). The image of the "wet dead leaves on the road" could very well be a symbol of the path that Henry must follow towards the true decline of his happiness and youth (Hemingway 163). The signs of autumn, including the brown terrain and the naked trees, provide a vivid portrait of the dreary nature of Henry's military service. The farther that he progresses through the war and life, the more Henry becomes exposed to the bitterness of life. The wounds inflicted upon he homes are symbols of destruction and the mayhem of war that is to come. The When discussing the autumn conditions in Gorizia, Hemingway doesn't just do it to delight the reader's thirst for seasonal imagery. He sets the beginning of the passage in autumn to foreshadow the bitter events to come ahead. The houses that have been damaged, as a result of the war, are clear signs of the hard times ahead, and the bleak nature of autumn foreshadows the tiring war experiences Henry will have to face as well as the decline of his happiness in his far future with Catherine.