A Farewell to Arms Analysis

John Stubbs' "Love and Role Playing in A Farewell to Arms"
John Stubbs' essay is an examination of the defense
which he believes Henry and Catherine use to protect
themselves from the discovery of their insignificance and
"powerlessness...in a world indifferent to their well
being..." He asserts that "role-playing" by the two main
characters, and several others in the book, is a way to
escape the realization of human mortality which is unveiled
by war. Stubbs thinks that Hemingway utilized role-playing
as a way to "explore the strengths and weaknesses of his two
characters." Stubbs says that by placing Henry's ordered
life in opposition to Catherine's topsy-turvy one, and then
letting each one assume a role which will bring them
closer together, Hemingway shows the pair's inability to
accept "the hard, gratuitous quality of life."

Stubbs begins by showing other examples, notably in In Our
Time and The Sun Also Rises, in which Hemingway's characters ...