Facing death in A Farewell to Arms “I'm afraid of the rain because sometimes I imagine myself dead in it” (P 126). This is a short quote from A Farewell to Arms (1929), by Ernest Hemingway. A Farewell to Arms ultimately meets a very unexpected death. The reader sympathizes with the main character as he matures from the beginning to the end of the novel. A Farewell to Arms is a love story during the First World War. The novel centers on Lieutenant Fredric Henry, an American who volunteers for the Italian army. the military drives ambulances to Europe because the United States has not yet entered the war. Fredric is known to be a lost man searching for order and value in his life. He is very reserved and cares neither for himself nor for the war. In the first volume of the novel, Fredric is characterized, as are the other characters. Throughout the first book, Fredric takes war leave and travels the country searching for his purpose in life. During the second book, Fredric returns to the warfront town and meets his closest friend, Rinaldi, who introduces Fredric to Catherine. Barkly. Catherine is a French nurse with whom Fredric immediately falls in love. Fredric finds an engagement with her and they begin spending time together. Their relationship brings order and value to his life. He begins to care more about himself and Catherine. Far from the war, Fredric feels safe with Catherine. When they are together, war seems to not exist. “The war seemed as distant as someone else's college football games,” Fredric says (P 63). Catherine has experience with love and loss since losing her fiancé in a previous war. She can't depend on another person, so she tries not to depend on Fredric to bring order to her life and less chaos. This then allows her to be emotionally stronger when Fredric has to go back to war. While at war, Fredric and his other driver friends are sitting in a cave when the Austrians attack. Fredric is hit in the knee while trying to help his friend, who dies. Fredric is taken to Milan hospital. When he arrives at the hospital, Rinaldi and Catherine come to visit him.