Farewell to Feminist

 I agree mostly with Judity Fetterley, she has a pretty good argument when it comes to Catherine Barkley. Catherine Barkley, according to Judity Fetterley is a scapegoat for Frederic Henry to get away from his responsibilities. Fetterley Talks a lot about Frederic Using Catherine in many different ways, from being his late night nurse(even though she worked in the day time) , to Henry being in charge of whether Catherine lives or dies, when Catherine says, “I go on so long im sorry for taking your time up doctor”. Henry and the “male” doctor is there the whole time saying “Catherine you’re not going to die today”. Fetterley blames Catherine for letting Henry take control over her because she said it was her decision from the start but Catherine wanted to build Henry’s ego, “she is forever asking him, “What would you like me to do now?” : as she continuously keeps asking him throughout the story”. However what I don’t agree with judity Fetterley on is the fact that she makes every remark in Hemingway’s book to be sexual when there is really nothing there. For instance when she is talking about how Rinaldi is towards Catherine “His one question about Catherine when Frederic returns to the front is “I mean is she good to you practically speaking?” Or when she talks about how Henry is towards Catherine when he first meets her, she talks about how Catherine felt like Henry just treated her like every other soldier had. Fetterley continues to tie everything to be sexual when its not that way, she is overanalyzing a lot of the text from Ernest Hemingway’s book, and making everything out to be sexist and that is where I disagree with Fetterley.

Allusions from poems to Farewell to arms

In Ernest Hemingway’s “A Farewell to arms” Hemingway alludes in the passage where he is dreaming about Catherine. He uses allusions from the poem “Sweet and Low” by Alfred Lord Tennyson to show his longing for Catherine, and his longing to want to be there to console her in the uncomfortable times of her pregnancy. In “Sweet and Low” Alfred Lord Tennyson states “Come from the dying moon, and blow, Blow him again to me; While my little one, while my pretty one, sleeps.” While Hemingway states “That my sweet love down might rain. Blow her again to me….. I’ll get you some cold water. In a little while it will be morning and then it won’t be so bad.”This poem is a lullaby and that’s exactly what Hemingway uses it for, he is trying to get Catherine to go to sleep. In the poem “Sweet and Low” the first stanza describes the way the woman wants and longs for her husband. The Same way Henry is longing and wanting for Catherine, in this scene Henry fell asleep in the truck and started dreaming about Catherine and that’s all he could think about “Maybe she wasn’t asleep.  Maybe she was lying thinking about me.” “The second stanza is a woman consoling her child, reassuring them that their dad will be back and to go to sleep."Sleep and rest, sleep and rest Father will come to thee soon; Rest, rest, on mothers breast; Father will come to thee soon." In Hemingway’s book he is not reassuring the child but he is reassuring Catherine because she is still with child."I Hope you sleep well . If  it's too uncomfortable, darling, lie on the other side," I said. I'll get you some cold water. in a little while it will be uncomfortable. Try and go to sleep, sweet."

A Farewell to Importance

In "A Farewell to Arms" Hemingway uses food scenes to show how important Henry feels throughout the story. When Henry was on the front originally before he took his first leave he was well liked, you could tell because everyone dined with him and interacted with him, even the priest. As the story goes on Henry loses friends and the privilege of sharing communion with them, until at the end when he has to dine by himself. On page 318 in the second to the last chapter Henry is eating his meal and looking around the restaurant at all of the other people who are eating a meal with someone of significant meaning while he has to eat by himself. "I watched the people at the tables in the cafe. At one table they were playing cards. Two men at the table next me were talking and smoking." The whole book Henry has questioned his importance but now more than ever, This is the only time in the book where Henry has actually had to eat by himself and had time to actually be alone with his own thoughts. The only other time in the book when Henry had time to sit and think is when he was with his soldiers in the barn, and even then he didn't want to be by his self. "The zinc bar, where I had breakfasted, had three people behind it now: the old man, a plump woman in a black dress who sat behind a counter and kept track of everything served to the tables, and a boy in an apron. I wondered how many children the woman had and what it had been like?" Hemingway uses this to show the curiosity of Henry on how him and Catherine could be in the future and wonder about the amount of kids they will have, or Hemingway could be foreshadowing the death of Henry's baby and  the death of Catherine. "A Pump lady in a black dress" and he also mentions kids. The black dress is what signifies death and the plumpness signifies pregnancy. This foreshadowing will lead to his overall being alone again and the unimportance he will have after his wife and his son die. Almost like he was after he fled from the military.