A Farewell to Arms Analysis
with their individual human vulnerability.
He also analyzes the idyllic world introduced early in the
story by the priest at the mess and later realized by Henry
and Catherine in Switzerland. They fall fully into their
roles when they row across the lake on their way to their
idealized world. The fact that they actually are able to
enter this make-believe world strengthens their "game" and
allows it to continue longer than it would have otherwise.
And once they are in this new world they adopt new roles
which allow them to continue their ruse. They also need to
work harder to maintain the "game" because far from the
front they are both still aware the war is proceeding and
they are no longer a part of it. The world in which they
exist in reality (!) is not conducive to role-playing
because it tries repeatedly to end their "game".
Stubbs manages to uncover numerous inezces in which the
two are role-playing and he makes a very interesting case
that this is exactly what they are doing and not just his
imagination reading into the story. He does make certain
assumptions, that their love is not "real", that the
characters are searching for order, which are not completely
justified or even necessary to prove his point. He also
forces an intentionality upon Hemingway which could have
been avoided without harming his theory. Towards the end of
the essay Stubbs infers that their role-playing is "inferior
to true intimacy," which is a point that, although he
defends well, is not central to his theory and seems to
detract from his objectivity.
The essay is a valuable tool to help the reader underezd
this view of what is happening through Henry and Catherine's
relationship and how they use each other to maintain their
self-images, provide themselves with psychological support,
and in a way escape the war. Hemingway may not have been
trying to purposely create a role-playing scenario, but
Stubbs' essay will benefit someone wishing to explore this
aspect of the relationship of the two main characters in
greater depth. the library