DISCUSSION TRANSLATION AND YOUR IMPRESSION OF THE HERO FREDERIC HENRY IN CHAPTER IV a FAREWELL TO ARMS

It is the story of an American lieutenant, Frederic Henry, who serves in an Italian ambulance corps during World War I.. While working with the Italian ambulance service during World Wa

THUONGMAI UNIVERSITY FACULTY OF ENGLISH

MEMBERS OF GROUP 11

TABLES OF CONTENTS

A INTRODUCTION

I About Ernest Hemingway ……… 4

1 Story about Hemingway ……… 4

2 His writing style ……….……… 4

II A Farewell to Arms (1929) ……… 5

B IMPRESSIONS OF THE HERO FREDERIC HENRY IN CHAPTER IV I Frederic Henry – A responsible person in work ……… 6

II Frederic Henry – an optimistic man ……… 8

III Henry’s attitude towards the war ……… 9

IV Henry’ s attitude towards Miss Barkley ……… 10

V Conclusion ……… 11

C TRANSLATION ……… 11

A INTRODUCTION

I About Ernest Hemingway 1, Story about Hemingway

Earnest Hemingway (1899-1961) was born in Oak Park, a small town in the state

of Illinois In his childhood, he was often taken on frequent hunting and fishing trips by his father to Michigan, the locale of many of his stories, and where he soon got acquainted with the life of the Indians and such virtues as courage and endurance, which were later revealed in his fiction.

He started his career as a writer in a newspaper office in Kansas City at the age of seventeen After the United States entered the First World War, he joined a

volunteer ambulance unit in the Italian army Serving at the front, he was

wounded, was decorated by the Italian Government, and spent considerable time

in hospitals After his return to the United States, he became a reporter for

Canadian and American newspapers and was soon sent back to Europe to cover such events as the Greek Revolution

2, His writing style

Hemingway’s style of writing follows the “Theory of an iceberg” which means that the writer may omit things that he knows he is writing about, and that if he writes truly the reader will have a feeling of those things as strongly as the writer has tasted them “The dignity of the movement of an iceberg is due to only one- eighth of it being above the water,” he said.

The language of Hemingway’swork is bare simplicity; it is in keeping with the characters he wanted to portray It is surprising how he reveals the inner world

of his personage in short dialogues and colloquial phrases, Plain words in simple

declarative sentences bring out the sensations of the central characters and at

the same time make the reader participate in the events of the story.

II A Farewell to Arms (1929)

A Farewell to Arms was published in 1929 by Ernest Hemingway It’s an anti-war novel in which Hemingway wanted to make the reader see war as a merciless massacre of men and women and the senseless destruction of the values created It

is the story of an American lieutenant, Frederic Henry, who serves in an Italian ambulance corps during World War I The novel falls into five parts, each

describing a different phase in Henry's adventures He falls in love with Catherine Barkley, a volunteer nurse from Great Britain When he is wounded she nurses him

at the hospital His convalescence is over, he returns to the front and finds himself

in a disorganized retreat He deserts during the mass retreat, rejoining the girl he loves, and they escape to Switzerland in a small boat over the lake of Maggiore Their idyll comes to an end (When she dies in childbirth)

The plot of A Farewell to Arms is fairly straightforward While working with the

Italian ambulance service during World War I (1914–18), the

American Lieutanant Frederic Henry meets the English nurse Catherine Barkley Although she still mourns the death of her fiancé, who was killed in the war,

Catherine encourages Henry’s advances After Henry is badly wounded by a trench Mortar shell near the Isonzo River in Italy, he is brought to a hospital in Milan, where

he is eventually joined by Catherine She tends to him as he recovers During this timetheir relationship deepens Henry admits that he has fallen in love with her Catherine soon becomes pregnant by Henry but refuses to marry him

After the hospital superintendent, Miss Van Campen, discovers that Henry has been hiding alcohol in his hospital room, he is sent back to the front During his

absence, morale on the front had significantly worsened During the Italian retreat after the disastrous Battle of Carporetto (1917), he deserts the army, just barely escaping execution by Italian Military police Back in Milan, Henry searches for Catherine He soon learns that she has been sent to Stresa, some 95 miles (153 km) away Henry journeys to Stresa by train Once there, he reunites with Catherine, and the couple flee Italy by crossing the border into neutral Switzerland.

Upon arrival, Henry and Catherine are arrested by Swiss border authorities They decide to allow Henry and Catherine—who masquerade as architecture and art

students seeking “winter sport”—to stay in Switzerland The couple pass several happy months in a wooden house near Montreux Late one night Catherine goes into labour She and Henry take a taxi to the hospital A long and painful labour ensues, and Henry wonders if Catherine will survive Sadly, their son is stillborn Soon after, Catherine begins to Hemorrhage and dies with Henry by her side He tries to say goodbye but cannot He returns to their hotel alone, in the rain

A Farewell to Arms was one of the most widely read war novels of the 20th

century It was published during the period between World War I and World, a time when war novels were very popular in the United States and around the

world A Farewell to Arms was published in the same year as Erich Maria

Remarque’s magnum opus Im Westen Nichts Neues which details the daily

horrors of war on the Western Front in laconic understatement

IV

I Frederic Henry – A responsible person in work

In chapter IV, Frederic Henry proves to be a responsible person in work His responsibility is revealed through his attention to the operation of the machines At the beginning of the chapter IV, when Henry wakes up, he goes around to check machines: "I addressed, went downstairs, had some coffee in the kitchen and went out to the kitchen and went out to the garage."

"The machines were working on one out in yard Three others were up in the

mountains at dressing stations."

Henry asks one of the mechanics whether the machine have trouble

or not?

For example:

- "How's everything?"

- "What's the matter with this machine?"

- "What's the matter now?"

The mechanic stops working and says that it still okay All machines are used except one.

"Not so bad This machine is no good but others march."

"It's no good One thing after another."

"New rings"

And then, he leaves them working and checks everything very carefully:

- "They were moderately clean, a few freshly washed, others dusty I looked at the tires carefully, looking for cuts and stone bruises."

- "Has there been any trouble getting parts?" Henry asked the sergeant mechanic.

"No, Signor Tetente."

"Where is the gasoline park now?"

"At the same place."

"Good."

And then he goes back to the house when he knows " Everything seemed

in good condition."

II Frederic Henry – an optimistic man.

Henry lives in the cutthroat front:

"The battery in the next garden woke me in the morning."

"The battery fired twice and the air came each time like a blow and shook the window and made the front of my pajamas flap."

However, he still feels the beauty of the scenery surrounding him

The nature is beautiful like a romantic picture:

"The gravel paths were moist and the grass was wet with dew."

He gets out of the bed when seeing the sun coming through the window After that, he goes to the window and looks out this scene Though it is cold and wet, actually it is fresh and vital It completely differentiates from cutthroat front and makes him more comfortable and peaceful He still feels happy and optimistic even it is an annoying and dangerous circumstance: "It was a nuisance to have them there but it was a comfort that they were no bigger."

Frederic Henry's optimism is also reflected in the fact that he enjoys his morning pleasures.

Even though the sound of batteries exploding from the garden side woke him up, after asking about the situation of the fighting and the broken machines from his comrades, he still leisurely returned to his house and enjoyed his breakfast with a cup of coffee "pale gray and sweet with condensed milk" In his eyes, the scenery

of a spring morning was still beautiful despite being in a fierce wartime.

Besides, the optimism of Henry was shown through the way he asked and

listened attentively to the story of nurse Barkly about her fiancé’s death in

the battle He also assumed that "This is the picturesque front" when Miss Barkly imagine about a silly idea that the boy who is going to marry her will come to the hospital where she is with wounds: "With a sabre cut, I

suppose, and a bandage around his head Or shot through the shoulder."

III Henry’s attitude towards the war

+ Indifferent feeling towards war but he is responsible for what he does in his job.

He had no idealistic concept about the war but he was a man to conscientiously perform his duties And this is exactly what we observe when he comes back to the front after his convalescent leave He checks on the ambulances etc, during the retreat he tries to do his duty as much as he can.

+ Brave man- Henry does not feel scared when a rain of shells is falling around

him.

“ The battery in the next garden woke me in the morning and I saw the sun coming through the window… The battery fired twice and the air came each time like a blow and shook the window and made the front of my pajamas flap… It was a nuisance to have them there but it was a comfort that they were no bigger.”

+ Henry is still optimistic and believes in the war.

After Catherine Barkley shared her feeling about the war, Henry gave word

of comfort "This is the picturesque front," I said.

"Do you suppose it will always go on?" "No." Henry always believes one day, the war would be over.

IV Henry’ s attitude towards Miss Barkley

+ Henry is an observant and empathetic man

This characteristic is revealed through the conversation between Henry and

Barkley in the first meeting He proves to understand the sad story of Barkley’s love affair He listens to Barkley attentively and sympathetically when she talksWhen Henry asked Barkley about the stick, she metioned about the story of her fiancé "It belonged to a boy who was killed last year." - "I'm awfully sorry.

"I was a fool not to I could have given him that anyway But I thought it would

be bad for him." - “I see”

“… I know all about it now But then he wanted to go to war and I didn't know."- I did not say anything.

In the context of chaotic war, it was very precious when a person spends time and emotion listening to another person’s life story In this situation it is more

precious because although Henry and Catherine Barkley meet each other for the first time, he already sympathizes with Barkley.

+ Henry was struck by Catherine Barkley's beauty, especially her hair, and the faithfulness of her love for her fiancé

About her appearance:

In chapter IV, Catherine Barkley appears beautiful in Henry’s eyes when she in the garden with another nurse.

Miss Barkley was quite tall She wore what seemed to me to be a nurse's uniform, was blonde and had a tawny skin and gray eyes I thought she was very beautiful Especially, Henry is strongly impressed by her hair, “We sat down on a bench and I looked at her – ‘you have beautiful hair”.

About the faithfulness:

In this chapter, Barkley is not only a beautiful woman but also a faithful sweetheart towards her fiancé The stick in her hand is the souvenir of her financé He died in the battle of the Somme It reminds her of good memory about love affair with her fiancé She is willing to do anything for him, even cut her hair.

“I was going to cut it all off when he died.” “I want to do something for him You see

I didn’t care about other thing and he could have had it all He could have anything

he wanted if I would have known I would have married him or anything I know all about it now But then he wanted to go the war and I didn’t know”

V Conclusion

In summary, with the language of Hemingway's work is bare simplicity, it is in keeping with characters the wanted to portray It is surprising how he reveals the inner world of his personages in short dialogues and colloquial phrases Plain words in simple declarative sentences bring out the sensations of the central

characters and at the same time make the reader participate in the events of the story About the hero Frederic Henry, he is a responsible person in work; an

optimistic man; his attitude towards the war and his attitude towards Miss Barkley.

The battery in the next garden woke me in Sáng ra tiếng đại bác ở vườn bên đánh thức

the morning and I saw the sun coming tôi d y và ánh n ng đã tràn vào phòng qua

went to the window and looked out The

cửa sổ đưa mắt nhìn ra ngoài Những con

gravel paths were moist and the grass was

đường trải sỏi ẩm ướt, cỏ xanh hãy còn đẫm

wet with dew The battery fired twice and

sương đêm Tiếng đại bác nổ hai lần và mỗi

the air came each time like a blow and

shook

lần như thế khiến không khí chuyển động,

the window and made the front of my

lay động cửa sổ và làm vạt áo ngủ của tôi

pajamas flap I could not see the guns but

bay phần phật Tôi không thấy súng nhưng

they were evidently firing directly over us

It

chắc là nó đang nhắm thẳng về hướngwas a nuisance to have them there but it

chúng

nhưng cũng thật là hạnh phúc vì chúnglooked

th

ratruck

vườn, tôi nghe có tiếng ô tô rồ to ngoàidownstairs, had some coffee in the kitchen đường Tôi mặc quần áo, đi xuống nhà

dưới,and went out to the

built ‐

like

moving-

on ‐ làm

others were up in the mountains at việc trên một chiếc xe đậu trong sân

Badressing- stations

núi

"Do they ever shell that battery?" I

asked

Tôi hỏi người thợ:

vào

"No, Signor Tenente It is protected by

the

những khẩu đại bác của ta không?

được

"How's everything?" ngọn đồi nhỏ che khuất.

- Còn mấy chiếc xe này thì như thế nào?

không được tốt nhưng những chiếc khácthe others march." He stopped working and

đều dùng được – Anh dừng tay và mỉm cườismiled "Were you on permission?"

- Phải

Anh chùi tay vào chiếc áo choàng ngoài rồigrinned

cười hỏi tôi:

"You have a good time?" The others all

- Ông nghỉ thoải mái chứ?

grinned too

Những người thợ khác cũng cười theo

"Fine I said "What's the matter with this

- Thoải mái lắm – Tôi đáp – Còn chiếc xemachine?"

này bị hỏng gì vậy?

"It's no good One thing after another."

- Lần này làm sao?

"New rings."

- Phải thay xéc măng ạ

disgraced and empty with the engine open

não và trống rỗng, đầu máy bị tháo ra từngand parts spread on the work bench, and

mảnh nằm ngổn ngang trên chiếc ghế Tôi

went in under the shed and looked at each

of the cars They were moderately clean, a

đi vào để xem xe Tất cả đều khá sạch sẽ,few freshly washed, the others dusty

một vài chiếc vừa được lau chùi cẩn thận,còn những chiếc khác bám đầy bụi

cuts or stone bruises Everything seemed in

những vết móp hay nứt Tất cả đều trông cógood condition It evidently made no

vẻ khả quan Dĩ nhiên là dù tôi có đến đâydifference whether I was there to look after