Ernest Hemingway’s Portrayal of Frederic Henry in "A Farewell to Arms"
Ernest Hemingway ’s portrayal of Frederic Henry in A Farewell to Arms is one of the triumphs in the sphere of characterization. Henry is made to live truly and we get the feeling that we have really met the man. He is drawn not only from external traits but also from the inside domain of his personality. In other words, his inner nature, the working of his mind, his thoughts and ruminations, the negative and positive aspects of his personality, his reactions to people and things—these are skillfully analyses. What Hemingway gives us is a realistic and convincing hero. At the very beginning of the novel we become acquainted with some of the basic facts of Henry’s life and character. We learn that he is rootless, that he has a stepmother somewhere in America, that he has quarreled so much with the family that hardly he had any communication with them. He manner he spends his life shows his complete lack of purpose. He was a disinterested stu...