The Revelation- Ernest Hemingway — страница 2

  • Просмотров 451
  • Скачиваний 5
  • Размер файла 18
    Кб

commits herself absolutely to the affair only because she had not given her innocence to her deceased fianc? (Donaldson 60). Catherine possesses the one major insight that Frederic does not: death is the end of all existence. Frederic attaches himself to Catherine because he yearns for a sort of order. Having discovered the value of his relationship with Catherine, Frederic returns to the front, only to find the army in complete and utter chaos. Frederic is welcomed by his old friends but is greatly disturbed by their low morale. His once carefree companion, Rinaldi, is now a rough cynic, convinced that he has contracted syphilis. The war has completely transformed this character and he is suffering to a great degree (Benson 91-92). Because of this disorder, Frederic is incapable

of identifying with his old comrades and makes the final decision to desert the army. Although he is legally bound, Frederic no longer feels obligated to serve a country to which he does not belong. His allegiance is shattered when he witnesses Italian officials firing on their own men. The only meaning Frederic can derive from this is that he does not want to die a senseless death without meaning or honor. He then retreats to the river. This is a symbolic point in the novel because Frederic is “[moving] actively toward a game worth playing” (94). Frederic’s plunge into the Tagliamento is seen by many as a baptism (Watkins 109). Indeed, Frederic announces that his “Anger was washed away in the river along with any obligation” (Hemingway 232). He then goes on to explain

that he is completely finished with the war, thus this chapter of his life is closed (Donaldson “Introduction” 20). The whole section of the novel that is concluded with Frederic’s lunge into the river has a major factor that adheres it other than the obvious component of war: Frederic’s treatment of time. The protagonist offers only reference points such as names of battles or cities, but everything he says is vague (Miller 61). The very first sentence of the novel begins “In the summer of that year…” (Hemingway 3). This avoidance of time has been created by the war and Frederic knows that if he dwells on the element of time, he would go mad waiting for the war to end. To Frederic, war means death. When the war inches closer to him, Frederic fears time and becomes

very concerned with the times of the attacks and battles. He is able to escape the grasp of time, temporarily when he is hospitalized after being wounded. When his leave is up, however, he is extremely precise and acute with his descriptions (Miller 61-63). Along with death and war, Frederic also associates time with Catherine, as he grows more and more fond of her. He specifically notes the hours of her shifts at the hospital. After his desertion, the two lovers reunite in Stressa and decide to abandon all ties and disappear into Lausanne. As they retreat across the lake, time intrudes and becomes a factor since there is a clear danger of them being noticed. Although they attempt to virtually escape from reality, time is unavoidable. How can it be ignored when Catherine is

pregnant? “Time becomes more important as danger increases” (63). During the labor, Frederic’s references to time are as detailed as the opening descriptions of the front. The final books of the novel mark Frederic’s final desperate attempts to derive meaning from his life. He has comes quite a distance since the beginning of the novel so far. Frederic has made the first big decision of his life that contains motive and cause. Of course joining the ambulance corps was a significant decision but Frederic had no reasoning behind it other than that “[He] was in Italy… and [he] spoke Italian” (Hemingway 22). Frederic’s desertion is so extremely significant because it can be justified by, if nothing more abstract than he would be killed, being suspected as a spy. As

the two lovers retreat to Lausanne, Frederic reveals that he is “trapped biologically” (139). He becomes extremely restless waiting on the birth of their child. He and Catherine spend their days reading and playing games. Catherine senses Frederic’s restiveness and suggests that he grow a beard. Frederic agrees and does so, only to shave it a few pages later. He looks in the mirror sees another, not someone that he wishes to be. As the fifth book proceeds, it is suggested that Frederic reverts back to the use of cliches that he had previously denounced in earlier chapters. Catherine’s condition worsens and once again Frederic is confronted with the timely notion of death. He takes on the persona of a nervous expectant father and clings to every last sign of structure or