A Farewell to Arms delves into the world of Frederic Henry and the affairs and difficulties he has to deal with as an ambulance driver for the Italian Army in World War One. We find ourselves scrounging over the details trying to figure out exactly who Frederic Henry is and what makes him, him. Henry, although he may seem static, is very much a dynamic character due to his journey of self discovery where he learns of love, emotion, and religion. Henry begins his journey in Italy as an ambulance driver. Although we are inside his head the entire time, we usually aren’t quite sure about how he feels. He’s a very closed off man and doesn’t let his emotions show to the others around him. It’s easy to see this throughout the entire novel. Henry …show more content…
Because of all this, one might come to believe Henry is indeed a static character, but I feel that is not the truth. Henry learned many lessons about life throughout the timeline of the book and I feel these are the reasons he is a dynamic character.
To begin, he first encountered the priest very early on in the story. The priest taught Henry about religion. The other men would always laugh and joke at the priest but Henry never did. Although it doesn’t make him instantly religious, it does seem that Henry keeps the thought of religion in the back of his head. This is just the beginning of Henry changing, and at this point, he has no clue he is even changing.
Next he meets Catherine. From Catherine, Henry learns how to love and to be loved. As a very emotionless person, love is something very hard for Henry to grasp. Not only is he emotionless, but he is also on the physical things in life, the pleasures. Although he does not begin in love, he does begin to fall for Catherine and have feelings. He even tells her that he loves her. This is a major step for Henry and still, although he doesn’t realize it, he is indeed