Internal conflict within A Far
Internal conflict within A FarIn many works, the conflict involved is an inner conflict within the protagonist. Two external forces pulling in opposite directions which the protagonist must sort out and decide which is more important to follow. This is especially evident in the mind of Frederick Henry, from Ernest Hemingway�s A Farewell to Arms, for he must decide to follow his obligations to the Italian army in World War I, or follow his love for Catherine Barkley.
Frederick Henry is an American who serves as a lieutenant in the Italian army to a group of ambulance drivers, whom is portrayed by Hemingway as a lost man searching for order and value in his life. Frederick disagrees with the war he is fighting because it is too chaotic and immoral for him to rationalize its cause, however he fights anyway, in order to achieve the discipline which the army forces into his life. This is the source of the first external force which applies to Frederick�s thoughts and decisions.
At the start of the novel, Frederick drinks and travels from one house of prostitution to another and yet he is discontent because his life is very unsettled, and lacking any order. He befriends a priest because he admires the fact that the priest lives his life by a set of values that give him an orderly lifestyle, which is another indication that desire for order is controlling his actions. Further into the novel, Frederick becomes involved with Catherine Barkley, and is first starting to show sighs of another force coming into play. His desire to be with Catherine is acting contrary to his desire to remain in the war, and achieve discipline and order. He slowly falls in love with her and, in his love for her, he finds commitment. Their relationship brings some order and value to his life which is, however, completely different from the sort of order found in the army.
With this new form of order in his life, Frederick sees the losing Italian army as total chaos and disorder where he had previously seen discipline and control. He can no longer remain a part of something that is so disorderly and so, he deserts the Italian army. Frederick's desertion from the Italian army is the turning point of his internal struggle. When Frederick puts aside his involvement in the war, he realizes that Catherine is the order and value in his life and that he does not need anything else to give meaning to his life. At the conclusion of this novel, however, Frederick realizes that he cannot base his life on another person or thing because,...
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