Ernest Hemingway
Lieutenant Frederic Henry is a young American ambulance driver serving in the Italian armyduring World War I. At the beginning of the novel, the war is winding down with theonsetof winter, and Henry arranges to tour Italy. The following spring, upon his return to the front, Henry meets Catherine Barkley, an English nurse’saideat the nearby British hospital and the love interest of his friend Rinaldi. Rinaldi, however, quickly fades from the picture as Catherine and Henry become involved in anelaborategame ofseduction.Grievingthe recent death of herfiancé, Catherinelongsfor love so deeply that she will settle for the illusion of it. Herpassion, even thoughpretended, wakens a desire for emotionalinteractionin Henry, whom the war has left coollydetachedandnumb.
When Henry is wounded on the battlefield, he is brought to a hospital in Milan torecover. Several doctors recommend that he stay in bed for six months and thenundergoa necessary operation on his knee. Unable to accept such a long period of recovery, Henry finds a bold,garruloussurgeonnamed Dr. Valentini who agrees to operate immediately. Henry learns happily that Catherine has been transferred to Milan and begins hisrecuperationunder her care. During the following months, his relationship with Catherineintensifies. No longer simply a game in which they exchange empty promises and playful kisses, their love becomes powerful and real. As the lines between scripted andgenuineemotions begin toblur, Henry and Catherine becometangledin their love for each other.
Once Henry’s damaged leg hashealed, the armygrantshim three weeksconvalescenceleave, after which he is scheduled to return to the front. He tries to plan a trip with Catherine, whorevealsto him that she is pregnant. The following day, Henry isdiagnosedwithjaundice, and Miss Van Campen, thesuperintendentof the hospital, accuses him of bringing the disease on himself throughexcessivedrinking. Believing Henry’s illness to be an attempt to avoid his duty as a serviceman, Miss Van Campen has Henry’s leave revoked, and he is sent to the front once the jaundice has cleared. As theypart, Catherine and Henrypledgetheirmutualdevotion.
Henry travels to the front, where Italian forces arelosing groundand manpower daily. Soon after Henry’s arrival, a bombardment begins. When word comes that Germantroopsare breaking through the Italianlines, theAlliedforces prepare toretreat. Henry leads his team of ambulance drivers into the great column ofevacuatingtroops. The men pick up two engineering sergeants and two frightened young girls on their way. Henry and his drivers then decide to leave the column and take secondary roads, which they assume will be faster. When one of their vehiclesbog downsin the mud, Henryordersthe two engineers to help in the effort to free the vehicle. When they refuse, he shoots one of them. The drivers continue in the other trucks until they get stuck again. They send off the young girls and continue on foot toward Udine. As theymarch, one of the drivers is shot dead by the easily frightenedrearguard of the Italian army. Another driver marches off to surrender himself, while Henry and the remaining driver seekrefugeat a farmhouse. When they rejoin the retreat the following day, chaos has broken out: soldiers, angered by the Italian defeat, pull commanding officers from themeleeandexecutethem on sight. The battle policeseizeHenry, who, at acrucialmoment, breaks away and dives into the river. After swimming a safe distance downstream, Henry boards a train bound for Milan. He hides beneath atarpthat coversstockpiledartillery, thinking that hisobligationsto the war effort are over and dreaming of his return to Catherine.
Henry reunites with Catherine in the town of Stresa. From there, the two escape to safety in Switzerland, rowing all night in a tiny borrowed boat. They settle happily in a lovely alpine town called Montreux and agree to put the war behind them forever. Although Henry is sometimesplaguedby guilt for abandoning the men on the front, the two succeed in living a beautiful, peaceful life. When spring arrives, the couple moves to Lausanne so that they can be closer to the hospital. Early one morning, Catherine goes intolabor. Thedeliveryis exceptionally painful and complicated. Catherine delivers astillbornbaby boy and, later that night, dies of ahemorrhage. Henry stays at her side until she is gone. He attempts to say goodbye but cannot. He walks back to his hotel in the rain.




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