Autobiographical Elements– The novel has some autobiographical elements where Frederick Henry represents the writer himself or Hemingway and Catherine Barkley as Agnes Von Kurowsky who nurtured him while he was wounded. Hemingway actually participated in the First World War for the Italians but he was shot and was nursed by a British nurse Agnes Von Kurowsky which is Catherine Barkley in the novel and Henry was shot and wounded and nursed by her. The experiences of war helped Hemingway to write this novel and as a lost generation writer the novel is pessimistic in its ending with a tragedy. Hemingway seems to represent his own life as well as the life of others during those times where the soldiers who returns to their home happily and settles in life often strikes with a tragedy. Hemingway served as a person who delivered supplies such as cigarettes and chocolates to the Italian soldiers in the north borders of Italian Front and helped many wounded casualties and he was even awarded for Italian Silver Medal for bravery. In the novel one can see certain instances of Henry delivering wounded casualties to the hospital which reflects the autobiographical elements.
Criticism on War– The novel is also a criticism on war especially the First World War. The novel critiques how the war devastates the moments of love as well as sacrifices of soldiers in the battlefield and broken individual trust. In the novel, one can observe that when Henry was delivering some Italian wounded casualties to the hospital, the ambulance got stuck in the mud and the Sergeants refused to aid him which reflects the impact of war where a person has to help himself even during the crisis. Henry shot one of the sergeants who was killed by Bonello and later one can observe the cruelty of war where the individual trust is broken. The soldiers were killing the troops and other remaining soldiers who abandoned their soldiers implying that the abandonment resulted because of the lack of unity which is the impact of war. Henry however, jumped to river to recuse himself and he flees away to his lover Catherine Barkely.
Tragedy– The tragedy is the striking theme of the novel where many soldiers died during the battlefield. Hemingway seems to generalized that the tragedy is isolation and loneliness and though Henry survived the war and lived with his wife at the end yet the pessimistic tragedy happened with his wife who died during her childbirth as well as the baby leaving him alone in the world. This reflects the tragedy in a higher sense for the lost generation writers where Henry seems to be lost after the departure of his wife and their baby.
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