A Farewell to Arms Summary: Plot, Characters and Ending
A Farewell to Arms is the story of Frederic Henry, an American volunteer driving ambulances for the Italian army in the First World War, and Catherine Barkley, an English nurse. They fall in love, he deserts after a chaotic retreat, and they escape to Switzerland, where the war can no longer reach them but fate can.
Hemingway drew on his own time as an ambulance driver in Italy, where he was wounded.
| Character | Who they are |
|---|---|
| Frederic Henry | American lieutenant in the ambulance corps |
| Catherine Barkley | English nurse he falls in love with |
| Rinaldi | Italian surgeon, Frederic's close friend |
| Helen Ferguson | Catherine's friend and fellow nurse |
| Count Greffi | Old aristocrat Frederic plays billiards with |
How do Frederic and Catherine meet?
Frederic is stationed in a town near the front. Rinaldi introduces him to Catherine, whose fiancé was killed in France. Their flirtation begins as a game. Frederic is then badly wounded in the leg by a mortar shell while eating cheese with his drivers in a dugout.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens in the hospital in Milan?
Frederic is sent to an American hospital in Milan, and Catherine is transferred there. Over a summer of recovery they fall deeply in love. By the time he returns to the front, she is pregnant.
↑ Back to the topWhat happens during the retreat?
The Italian lines collapse at Caporetto. Frederic leads his ambulances through mud and crowds of refugees, and his group breaks apart. At a bridge, battle police are shooting officers they accuse of desertion. About to be executed, Frederic dives into the river and escapes. He decides he has made a separate peace and is finished with the war.
↑ Back to the topHow do they escape?
Frederic finds Catherine at Stresa on Lake Maggiore. Warned that he will be arrested, they row all night across the lake to Switzerland. They spend a happy winter in a chalet in the mountains above Montreux, waiting for the baby.
↑ Back to the topHow does A Farewell to Arms end?
In spring they move to Lausanne for the birth. Catherine's labor is long and difficult. The baby boy is stillborn, and Catherine then suffers severe bleeding and dies. Frederic sends the nurses out, stays with her for a while, then walks back to the hotel in the rain.
↑ Back to the topMore about A Farewell to Arms
This summary reveals the whole plot, including the ending.