Free Essays - A Dysfunctional Henry in A Farewell to Arms :: Farewell Arms Essays

A Dysfunctional total heat in A farewell to Arms   In Ernest Hemmingways  A Farewell to Arms, the protagonist, Frederic atomic number 1 is both impaired and tragic. Throughout the story Henry lives up to this description of shear calamity and dysfunction. The main elements that aid in making him both tragic and impaired are the fact that the screw he and Catherine shared at the displace of the book was doomed, this love was only role-playing to him at first, and he went AWOL on the Italian army.         The first detail that contributes to making Henry a impaired character is that he uses role-playing as a way of escaping the realization of the humane mortality which is unveiled by the war. This role-playing begins on Henry and Catherines third encounter. by and by this meeting the two become increasingly comfortable with their roles. It is as if their strong relationship is a game. Neither unmatched of them mistakes role-playi ng for a authentically intimate relationship, but both recognize that it can be a useful device for satisfying certain emotional needs. This role-playing is a truly nonadaptive characteristic of Frederic Henry.         The second point that makes Henry a dysfunctional character is that he deserted the Italian army. Not only was this illegal but it could have cost him his life. Henry, although an American, had made a commitment to the Italian army, to protect and serve Italy. This characteristic alone is enough to make one dysfunctional, as it does to Henry.         In addition to being a dysfunctional character, Henry is also a tragic character. Catherine is pure tragedy. Although the relationship that the love that Henry gains for Frederic and Catherine had started out to be only role-playing it turned into something much more, it became true love. This love was more than could be explained in words. Their love during an ugly war was not to be recreated or modeled even as much as through a baby conceived by their love. The baby could not be born alive because their love was beautiful yet doomed so that nothing could come out of it. In a world where the abstracts of glory, honor, and abandon meant little to Frederic, his physical association with Catherine was the only thing he had and it was taken away from him long before she died.