Love brings security, well-being, and happiness to a person. Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms portrays a tragic romance between Frederic Henry and Catherine Barkley. The two individuals both use each other as an escape from the insanity of the war. They begin their relationship as a shallow escape; however, as time passes by, Henry's relationship with Barkley gradually blooms into something that becomes valued rather than a brief getaway. Hemingway animates love as a replacement for Catherine's and Frederic's scars during the war and further emphasizes from his nihilistic view on life- that no matter what people do or where they go,love itself can provide them a private place, where they could go to separate and evade the horrible realities of society occurring in and around them.
Love is a getaway to happiness. Catherine uses love as an escape from her previous encounters of the horrors of war. She appears to be a broken character still mourning over the death of her fiancé as she says, "I would have given him anything if I had known " (19). By feeling sorry toward her fiancé, she was never happy. She felt the need to blame herself whenever she was reminded of her fiancé's death. Catherine believed that she did not take care of him well. She faces the war without a husband in the beginning; therefore, her life is crumbled with pain and loneliness. However, she changes her character when she meets Frederic. When she starts to meet Frederic often, Frederic shows affection and tells her that "[He] really love[s] her crazy about her " (88). She becomes happy because she uses Frederic as an escape from the truth of her fiancé's death. The affectionate words portray comfort and love. This encounter with war has shaped Catherine into a submissive and "good wife " to Henry in the future. Catherine uses love from Frederic as simply a distraction from the cruel war.
