A Farewell to Arms: Chapter 32

The color-coded bars in this section make it easy to track the themes throughout the work. Each color corresponds to one of the themes explained in the Themes section of this LitChart. For instance, indicates that all five themes apply to that part of the summary.

Summary Analysis Themes

As he hides, Henry tries to avoid thinking about how hungry he is by thinking about Catherine, but thinking about her without being able to see her makes him feel as if he is going crazy. He decides that he has no more obligation to the Italian army that tried to kill him, and that the war is none of his business anymore. All he wants to do is “eat and drink and sleep with Catherine.”

Thoughts of Catherine allow Henry to escape the forces of the outside world, including even hunger. He explicitly decides to cut his ties to the war. The one thing he wants is to escape the war and the rest of the world by focusing solely on his love for Catherine.