Henry, a character of love and fraternityThere is a development in the character of Henry
over the course of his preoccupation
in the World War I and his love affair
with Catherine. At the out set of the novel, it is obvious that Henry while
being antagonistic for life as well as for want of a nail, does not fully understand
the horrors of war, nor does he understand the final reality of
death. Henry
has conspicuously lost some of the idealism that influenced him charitable for
the army but having observed death from somewhat limited perspective of an
ambulance driver, he was still unable to fully understand the meaning of death.
By contrast, Catherine was introduced as one whom, having recently lost her
fiancé to the war, possesses a dear insight of the inviolable finality of
death. Seemingly, Henry does not function well in the whirlwind existence of
disorder and confusion. His basic desire to derive some code of life can be
seen as the motive that first prompts him to pursue Catherine. His reactions to
Catherine are at first physical, since he would prefer to sleep with her than
to go to the army brothels. But, as he becomes more and more involved with
Catherine, he sees in their relationship, a type of order, a type of commitment
to a regular existence. In this context, Earnest Hemingway has tried to reflect
the necessity of morality as well as universal love, which may be treated as an
inevitable critic in between men and women.
When Henry has
profoundly observed the Haling army in chaos, he feels no more allegiance to
what has become an abstract organization. In contrast, he feels a deep
sense of
loyalty to Catherine. In his love affairs, he has dedicated his lives for his
beloved, he can discover a sense of duty, a sense of order, and can develop a
code by which he can survive on earth with true belief and utmost care. But
Henry is unable to deviate himself wholly from the bonds of the traditional
order. Even though he disserts the crumbling Italian army to save his own life,
he is nevertheless unable to reconcile himself to the fact that he is not a
traitor. Catherine, however, is not concerned, since patriotism and loyalty
are, in her view, merely the bogus value adopted by others. The war is not
theirs'' the only reality is the love that survives for them as individuals.
Unlike Henry, Henry has succeeded in isolating herself from any sense of
obligation to the conventions of society. Catherine is presented in the
beginning of the novel as immersed in the dislocation of personality that
results from a lamentable personal loss; her fiancé had been killed in the war.
What started out as casual wartime affair is transformed into a love that
returns to her a sense of the beauty and significance of life? Her devotion and
concern for her lover are absolute. She takes all the night shifts- the most
taxing in the hospital to be near Henry. When there is a question of her
accompanying her lover on leave, it is clear that no professional commitment to
nursing will be able to keep her from going with him. For Henry she is that
unique human being whose prime necessity power consists in the ability to make
a home out of the most rigidly uncompromising places. She has no pleasure but
in her lover, no thought of life outside of his '' you''re my religion. You are
all I have got" The Priests religion is his clear, cold country, Catherine''s
religion is her love. Henry begins, particularly in his relation to women and
love, from a completely self-centered position. On his leave early in the
novel, Henry goes to the city and immerses himself completely in the
self-satisfaction. As it is pointed earlier, he signifies the realm of ideal
love and sympathy by contrast and conflicts in a significant manner.