A Farewell to Arms: Background

Genre: War Fiction

Farewell to Arms is an autobiographical novel that alludes to Hemingway’s own involvement in the Italian campaigns of World War I. The novel is a first-person account of Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant (“tenente”). First published in 1929, the novel traces Henry’s time in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army. Hemingway had taken the title of the novel from a poem by the 16th-century English dramatist George Peele. Set against the backdrop of World War I, the novel portrays the love affair between Henry, an expatriate, and Catherine Barkley, an English nurse. Hemingway positioned himself as a modern American writer of considerable stature with the publication of this novel. The book was his first bestseller, showering him with numerous accolades and cementing his fame. It was called “the premier American war novel from that debacle World War I” by Michael Reynolds. Hemingway’s own involvement in the Italian campaigns of World War I. The novel is a first-person account of Frederic Henry, serving as a lieutenant (“tenente”). First published in 1929, the novel traces Henry’s time in the ambulance corps of the Italian Army. Hemingway had taken the title of the novel from a poem by the 16th-century English dramatist George Peele. Set against the backdrop of World War I, the novel portrays the love affair between Henry, an expatriate, and Catherine Barkley, an English nurse. Hemingway positioned himself as a modern American writer of considerable stature with the publication of this novel. The book was his first bestseller, showering him with numerous accolades and cementing his fame. It was called “the premier American war novel from that debacle World War I” by Michael Reynolds.

Since the novel is autobiographical in nature, it largely reflects Hemingway’s life and experiences. Although Hemingway was keen to join the army, he was rejected because of a defective eye. But he later managed to join World War I as an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross that mirrors the protagonist Henry’s occupation in the novel. In 1918, when Hemingway was not even 19, he was injured on the Austro-Italian front, similar to Henry. He was decorated for his heroism and was hospitalized in Milan where he fell in love with a Red Cross nurse, Agnes von Kurowsky, who refused to marry him. The character of Catherine Barkley is fashioned after Agnes von Kurowsky. Hemingway was so moved by his experience during his service and created such an indelible impression that it inspired him to pen down Farewell to Arms.