An Interpretation of the Function of Alcohol in?A Farewell To Arms Reflection of anti—war thesis

A Farewell to Arms tells the story of a young American paramedic called Frederic Henry serving in the Italian army during World War One. What interests me most is the constant presence of alcohol and the many different meanings it has throughout the novel. Almost every time Henry shows up， it was followed by a certain kind of alcohol. Especially when he was in different situations， different kinds of alcohol were pointed out. In this paper， I will mainly focus on exploring the functions of alcohol in the novel from two aspects： as part of the author’s anti-war thesis and as a prediction of the hero’s future.

The novel is set in Italy during World War I. At this time soldiers must stay in a certain area， waiting for orders. In chapter 2， when it first mentions the soldiers and officers， they are drinking and chatting. Then in chapter 7， they started a drinking competition with some other soldiers only because the Major wanted to test whether Henry could drink or not. According to the text， “all the officers were very happy.” "It is evident that they are trying to find some fun in their life while surrounded by the war. One of the ways they have found to have fun is drinking alcohol， which they use to relax their mind and make jokes when they get drunk. It is ridiculous when drinking is the most important entertainment in one’s life. Hemingway uses this phenomenon to point out the cruelty war has put on the soldiers of World War I.

Later this conversation occurs between some soldiers and Henry about the place he should go：

\"Certainly not，\" said the Major. \"You should go on leave. You should go to Rome， Naples，

Sicily--\"

\"He should visit Amalfi，\" said the lieutenant. \"I will write you cards to my family in

Amalfi. They will love you like a son.\"

\"He should go to Palermo.\"

\"He ought to go to Capri.\"

\"I would like you to see Abruzzi and visit my family at Capracotta，\" said the priest.

\"Listen to him talk about the Abruzzi. There's more snow there than here. He doesn't want to see peasants. Let him go to centers of culture and civilization.\"

We find the soldiers are willing to recommend lots of places， most of which are their hometowns or where their families live. Spending all their time in the army， they have no chance to meet their families and they miss them. From their words， we can see they are eager to escape the war to go back to hugs from families. However， when they found out that they had no choice but to fight in the war， they replaced love from their families with alcohol to help with their homesickness.

Later in chapter 10， when Henry stays in the hospital to get treatment， some of his friends， Rinaldi and the priest， come to see him： “Splendid. We are all splendid. Everyone is proud of you.” Rinaldi is quite proud of his hero friend and is happy when Henry is honored as a real soldier after he was wounded. Then， returning to the beginning of this chapter when Rinaldi arrives， we find that he brings a bottle of cognac. “How are you， baby？ How do you feel？ I bring you this—it was a bottle of cognac.” As a kind of brandy， cognac is a symbol of a precious or expensive gift. Here， we know that Rinaldi puts Henry in the same status as cognac. Getting awarded with a medal is quite a high honor in his mind.

Following this conversation， the priest arrives. Henry asks a similar question， “How is the mess？” “I am still a great joke，” he said， sounding tired.” Thank God they are all well.” From the response， we can see that the priest does not mention anything about their opinions and feelings of him as a hero. He says he is still the joke for the officers tiredly， which infers that he actually suffers to be a joke. But he still appreciates that all of those soldiers are well; for he does not hate any soldier in his heart. He thinks the war itself should be blamed. Moreover， it is important to pay attention to what the priest brings for Henry： “This is mosquito netting. This is a bottle of vermouth. You like vermouth？ These are English papers.” We find that he does not bring cognac， but vermouth. Vermouth is an alcohol that contains Artemisia absinthium， a certain kind of medicine. Wine is strong and tastes bitter， which does not have the same effect as other alcoholic beverages. Here， vermouth in some degree shows sympathy or worry from the priest about Henry. This implies that in his mind， though Henry had received a medal， it is even worse for him to be wounded. That is to say， he has no desire to get honor from a war that he regards as a disaster that robs the peaceful lives from them. Life is more important than honor. So the vermouth he brings exactly reflects his attitude against the war.

Although he mentions that he seems to be a lovely surgeon， this is said ironically. From the sentence， “I don’t think， I operate” we can conclude that Rinaldi is like a machine， driven by the war. All other surgeons go to the front where they are needed and he is the one who takes all the extra duties. When he stops， he does not know what to do because his life is entirely occupied by operations， and he has lost the life that he used to have. Even now， when he is back to “normal” life， he does not know what to do; so he also turns to alcohol.

It is quite ironic is that in the earlier part of the novel， cognac is a symbol of heroism for Rinaldi. As a professional surgeon， he is also a hero to the war. However， now he wants to use cognac to destroy his own honor， which infers that his attitude toward war and toward honor has already changed. Though he felt neutral about the war before， he holds a negative attitude at this moment. The alcohol， cognac， does give the evidence of his change.

In conclusion， the image of alcohol has important implications in this novel. Hemingway creates a menu of alcohol to help reflect the emotions of the characters， like Rinaldi using cognac to show his admiration for honor and later his hate for the ceaseless war. The alcohol he chooses also helps develop the plot， which sometimes implies the how things will play out in the future.