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Emma Phillips

Chad Wrigglesworth

ENGL 344

March 1, 2013

God has No Place in War

If ever there was an exigency for truth to be stated about a novel, let it be that A

Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway illustrates above all else the emotional turmoil of World

War I. The minimalist style of the novel allows the reader to inherit the full scope of protagonist

Frederick Henry’s experiences without forceful digestion of one feeling, leaving the reader at

liberty to interpret Hemingway’s powerful manner of saying more with less. That said, religion

in the novel, though an understated theme is a subject of deep expression. The use of the

Priest, the instances of prayer and Henry’s opportunity to play God at the fire, are examples of

not only Frederick’s struggle with himself, but Hemingway’s own views on the separation of

God and religion. While religion is used to comfort Henry throughout A Farewell to Arms, it

ultimately promulgates Hemingway’s edict on the absence of God in man, and man in war.

Frederick Henry in no way rejects the idea of religion. He and Catherine share a love

where she says that she is not a religious person but goes on to say, “you are my religion.

You’re all I’ve got” (Hemingway 116). The idea of love as a religion is confirmed by Count Greffi

over a game of billiards when he reminds Henry “not to forget that [love] is a religious

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feeling“(263). The spiritual void that reappears throughout A Farewell to Arms is not the lack of

religion, but the lack of God.

The priest needs to been seen so potently as a religious man that he does not even

receive a name throughout the novel other than “the priest”. This could be that he was

supposed to be a generic priest, but the reader knows much about his character as he explains

where he is from, his family, and invites Henry to visit his family. Therefore his title with no

name is for the sake of sanctity. A name would portray him as a man in the war, and not the

religion he represents. This is important because he needs to be seen as a Godly man, so that

the reader can see, even as a priest, how disconnected he appears to be with God during his

interactions with Henry. Throughout the novel he is merely a supportive conversationalist with

Henry rather than a spiritual figure who preaches the power and wrath of God. When the priest

visits Henry at the hospital in Milan he gives Henry advice on love and happiness, “when you

love you wish to do things for. You wish to sacrifice for. You wish to serve” (72). His character

acts as a confidant for the Lieutenant to exchange ideas on the war, and on experiencing love.

What is interesting about the interactions between Henry and the priest is who it is

initiating the conversation. For most other conversations Henry has, it is always the other

participant who engages first in the conversation. This notion extends from the other soldiers,

nurses, and Rinaldi and even to Catherine. The only character that Henry genuinely engages in

questions and discussions with is the priest. This is exemplar of Henry’s curiosity and inquisitive

nature about religion. He asked the priest “did you always love God?” (72), so even though he

says he is only religious “at night”, he still trusts the priest and has a genuine relationship with

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him unlike the other soldiers. Henry states a clear opinion about religion and God in

conversation with the priest when he says that “it is in defeat we become Christian” (178), then

goes on to clarify that he doesn’t mean “technically Christian” but rather “Our Lord”. As in

belief in the Lord will only merit failure, or submission to an absolute power is only for people

who are “beaten” or too feeble to do anything but obey the rules of the church.

Another aspect that demonstrates how Hemingway writes the absence of God in man

can be seen through the examples of prayer provided throughout the novel. While the

conversations with the priest do capture Henry’s interest in faith, they are found wanting when

the priest himself says he wants the war to end. The examples of prayer lend no difference to

the discovery of God in the war as they are never answered. When the soldier, Passini, loses his

legs in the bombing he prays, and death finds him still. The necklace that Catherine gives Henry

of St. Anthony could be considered a hope to God for safety for him, thus constituting faith in

God’s ability but he at first doesn’t want to wear it, and then shows no remorse or superstition

in losing it when he gets wounded. To add insult to injury, Catherine later admits that she gave

the necklace to Henry “for luck” saying that “someone gave it to her” (116), thus implying that

safety in God is mere chance further denouncing the existence of God.

For the character of Henry, his need for prayer arises when Catherine is hemorrhaging.

He begs “Don’t let her die. Oh, God, please don’t let her die. I’ll do anything for you if you won’t

let her die” (330). If Catherine had survived it could have been considered an answered prayer,

instilling support in the power of God. Her death allows Hemingway’s disbelief in the God’s

good will among men to resonate with the reader in anger, and disbelief at the loss of Henry’s

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love. It is almost as if Hemingway wants to leave the readers with such misdirected anger at the

loss of the baby, Catherine’s death, and Henry’s stiff departure into the rain that they too will

question God’s presence among man.

If conversations with the priest and unanswered prayer are not enough to convey a

message of a missing God, perhaps the most poignant moment in the novel is when Henry finds

himself at the camp:

I put a log on top of the fire and it was full of ants. As it commenced to burn, the ants swarmedout and went first toward the centre where the firewas; then turned back and ran toward the end. Whenthere were enough on the end they fell off into thefire...I remember thinking at the time that it was theend of the world and a splendid chance to be a messiahand lift the log off the fire... but I did not do anythingbut throw a tin cup of water on the log, so that I wouldhave the cup empty to put whiskey in...(327-28)

In this instance Henry is clearly behaving as a God-like figure. He recognizes that he is in a

position of power and has the opportunity to save a myriad of lives but instead of pulling the

log out of the fire, he douses it with a cup of water. The scene in its entirety is representative of

Frederick and Catherine’s story in the war. They were thrown into the fires of war, and

originally swarmed to it falling in love, but upon seeing the death of heat awaiting them, they

tried to turn back and run away. Only, like the ants to fall off the log into the fire, and into

Catherine and the baby’s death at the mercy of God as an onlooker. Henry while playing God

realizes that he could save the ants, but takes an apathetic approach instead, acting in the same

manner of the God of the novel. By remaining decisively callous, Henry perpetuates the idea of

an all-seeing God with the power to provide for people who chooses not to, for no reason in

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particular. Hemingway begs the question of who has control over the lives of Catherine, Henry,

and Rinaldi.

The idea of God missing from a war is understandable because of the way it destroys

the spirit and will of those fighting it. At the beginning of the novel the soldiers are motivated,

and make fun of the priest as a representation of the church for wanting the war to be over.

They are optimistic for the outcome, but soon lose the feeling that they can win. Overall this

idea of no God translates into no greater power for good among men. The priest represents a

religion by the end of the novel that wants the war to be over because there is no trace of God

in the turmoil. Prayer is a continual alienation from God as Hemingway writes no success for

the requests of the characters. Lastly, when Henry has the opportunity to save lives he instead

emphasizes the omnipotence of death over the power of God by not taking the log out of the

fire. The character of Henry gleans much comfort from religion; good conversation, good

advice, good luck, but cannot fathom God being in man when man is in war. This makes Henry

such an attractive character and Hemingway an attractive writer because they are not alone in

their questioning.

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Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. New York: Scribner, 1929. Print.