War, deeply intertwined with human existence, overshadows action with impasse and ideals with sterility. Although war results in a facade of victory for one side, there is no true victor, because beneath this triumphant appearance lies the true cost of this scourge, the amplified suffering of the people. In Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms, Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley attempt to cultivate an ideal, loving relationship in the midst of war, "the total and irrational negation of love" (Lewis 118). Yet, even after abandoning the battlefield and war for quiet Switzerland, they cannot live in peace because of an inescapable tragedy of life: death. Catherine “[has] one hemorrhage after another” (331), leaving Henry deprived of love and happiness. Thus, their experience reflects both the futility of the First World War and that war's contribution to Henry's failure to make a separate, lasting peace with this malevolent world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Through his observations, Henry depicts the atrocities of war. Instead of alleviating the adverse conditions of humanity, war only catalyzes the advent of death. While on the Italian front, Henry sees his friend Passini “biting his arm, the stump of his leg contracting” (55) after a mortar shell hits him. Passini dies needlessly, not in battle to defend his beliefs, but by eating “cheese and [rinses] of wine” (54). Instead of being a heroic Italian soldier who gloriously gives his life on the battlefield, Passini becomes a random victim of the greed and childishness of the Austrian and Italian leaders who do not understand the consequences of war. A mere peon in this game of world domination and self-advancement, Passini represents the many victims of “political incompetence and lack of leadership on both sides” (Marthe 109). The leaders of each country wish to gain territory and pride through this struggle, but after a year of struggle and the sacrifice of many lives, the Italians only succeed in seizing "the mountain that was beyond of the valley” (5). Such a meaningless victory means little to Henry, whose experience of the “brutal realities of war taught him to distrust principles and abstractions such as glory and honor” (Grebstein 235). Life and palpable details such as "the concrete names of villages, the number of roads, [and] the names of rivers" (Berryman 271) mean far more to Henry than the intangible concepts that leaders promote to glorify wars that do little to advance the well-being of humanity. Unnecessary deaths, like Passini's, increase the futility of war, transforming it from a political disagreement into a mutual massacre and butchery of the common man. In war, deaths are caused not only by bullets, but also by disease and starvation. On the Italian front, “seven thousand died of [cholera] in the army” (4) during the winter rains. These losses illustrate the increase in humanity's suffering through war, causing many cruel and unnecessary deaths. War also creates exceptional grief for countless people by depriving them of their loved ones. This "utter lack of meaning and...destruction of everything human beings value [in life]" (Bessie 104) leads to Henry's disillusionment and his attempt to insulate himself from such destruction insignificant part of human life. Caporetto, Henry becomes even more disenchanted after beingwitness the “moral chaos” (Donaldson 97) of combat police executing officers for not staying with their men. This led to Henry's desertion from the Italian army. The combat police decide to shoot Henry for "[speaking] Italian with an accent" (222) while he was wearing an Italian uniform, because in their state of paranoia, the combat police see Henry as a German spy in uniform Italian. Henry “is vulnerable on both counts” (Marthe109), and with no way to refute this assertion, he dives into the river to escape execution. This dive symbolizes the cleansing of his soul of any real obligation to war. By taking this plunge, “he abandoned war and made his ‘separate peace’” (Marthe 109) with the world. Henry's "farewell to arms" temporarily emancipates him from the obligations of the world and the problems of society, allowing him to escape with his lover Catherine. Although Henry recognizes that fighting in this war has become a lost cause, his desertion from the army bothers him greatly. One side of duty and the military continues to harass him, causing him to "feel like a masquerade" (243) after his return to civilian life, and thus upsetting both his isolation from war and his attempt to find peace in the country. the turbulent world. Unable to completely free himself from the war, Henry comes “to view his [desertion] as an act of truancy—an escape from the historical realities of the time” (Path 165). His attempts to isolate himself from the war only create haunting memories and a sense of unfinished business that he must one day accomplish. Trying in vain to eradicate any reminiscence of this horrible experience, Henry orders the bartender not to "'talk about the war' [because] it was far away." (245). However, even while trying to mentally hide while physically separated from the war, Henry cannot free himself from his feelings of slavery to military life, causing an internal war as he attempts to rationalize his desertion and d 'forget the war. Henry's guilty conscience continues to haunt him even after his reunion with Catherine in Stresa, Italy. She serves as a foil, representing one who has managed to detach herself from the world and recognizes that “[life] is just a dirty trick” (331). Unconcerned with the abstract concepts of life, such as duty, she observes Henry attempting to rationalize his guilt. Instead of fearing for his life or scolding him for desertion, Catherine comforts him by saying, “Honey, please be reasonable. This is not a desertion from the army. It’s only from the Italian army” (251). His perspective shows a clear understanding of Henry's character and his struggle to achieve a separate peace. She knows that he "is a survivor who volunteered to participate in the war but for no compelling reason." (Reynolds 146). As an American, he had no reason to enlist except a youthful whim and a misconception about the glory of war. Thus, Henry should feel neither obliged nor bound by duty to continue serving Italy if he does not wish to do so. Strangely, despite his disbelief in any intangible abstraction such as honor, Henry's mind reflects both an acute memory and a sense of duty. and honor that complicates one's ability to reach a tacit understanding with the world. Although physically isolated from the war, he continues to brood over it. Even after realizing that “[the war] was over for [him]… [Henry] did not feel that it was truly over” (245). This foreshadows Catherine's death at the end of the book. This also shows that he cannot forget war and death forever, as these essential qualities of humanity will remain with him throughout.. 78).