Fredrick Henry’s Immoral Actions

“A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway short blog post

In “A Farewell to Arms” by Ernest Hemingway, the reader may look at the actions of the main character Frederic Henry as immoral. While I would agree that Henry’s actions are justifiably considered immoral, I believe that the environment that Henry is in is largely to blame for how he acts. Firstly, Henry himself does not quite understand why he acts immorally. When talking with the priest about why he chose going to whorehouses over the priest’s recommended vacation spot, he states “I myself felt as badly as he did and could not understand why I had not gone” (11). This makes it evident that Henry is not actively aware of the choices he is making and demonstrates that his choices could be affected by outside sources. Secondly, there is evidence throughout the story of Henry’s encouragement to act immorally. When Henry is deciding where to go on vacation the captain states, “He should have fine girls. I will give you the addresses of the places in Naples. Beautiful girls,” (8). This demonstrates the encouragement and peer pressure from the soldiers around Henry to act immorally. There is also the added fact that Henry’s captain was the one pressuring Henry to do this. In the military, one’s higher officers have a large influence over the soldiers they preside. Moreover, a major peer pressured Henry into drinking excessively. After returning from his leave, “The major said he had heard a report that [Henry] could drink, [Henry] denied this,” (33). Even though Henry denied he could drink, Henry ends up in a drinking match against a fellow soldier. Through the evidence stated, it can be seen that while Frederic Henry does act immorally, his actions are influenced from his surroundings.