As I was finishing the book A Farewell to Arms a
theme that could not be avoided was the lack of religion and love, throughout
the entire novel. Although it may not have been as prominent in book two, it is
revisited in the last chapters of the book. their entire relationship seems far
too rushed and unrealistic. Earlier they
both blatantly state that they do not love each other, but at the end they have
the gall to think that they are in love. Although it may sound odd, the child
of Henry and Catherine symbolizes their relationship: it was never alive to
begin with. Their child is the proof of their love for each other, but there
was no love. When his very own son was born he “felt no feeling of fatherhood”
(325). Moreover he doesn’t act shocked
at all, instead he seems more disappointed than sad, “poor little kid” (326). Not
to mention when Catherine is on her death bed she says many contradicting
things (not uncommon for her). First she
states that she doesn’t want Henry to touch her, but then follows up with “you can touch me all you want”, further
showing her contradicting personality. I theorize that her first response is
her true feelings, but corrects herself for Henry’s sake with her second
statement; showing the absence of true love, since she is not being honest with
herself, she cannot be honest with Henry. . Earlier in the novel
Catherine describes how Henry is her religion and “all that I’ve got” since “I
[Catherine] haven’t any religion” (116). This is further implied when Henry desperately
prays to God, or his old faith which he abandoned. As I said in an earlier post religion acts as a safety net, and these two consider each other their “religion”;
a net to catch them when things become grim or hopeless. When Catherine dies,
Henry loses this net and has nothing left to hold onto, explaining the abrupt
ending to the book. In his mind his life is over and as narrator that also
includes his story.
I’ve
noticed that in today’s culture many people consider themselves in madly love.
Personally, I scorn people who think like this. To be truly in love, there must
be equal ground and time invested. No one wants to be the person walking down
the aisle with doubts in their mind. Though there is “faith” in today’s world,
I do not agree with all of the “faiths” in modern day society. We have grown to
be superficial and material based society, praising luxury goods and how they
represent our status. Instead of traditional values of family, honor and
integrity.