# XII explained — A Farewell to Arms

> Chapter companion for A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway.

## What happens

Frederic Henry, recovering in a field hospital, learns he will be transferred to the American hospital in Milan. Rinaldi and the major visit him, bringing news that Catherine Barkley is also being sent to Milan. The chapter includes a drunken conversation about politics, war, and Rome, and ends with Frederic's difficult train journey to Milan.

## Themes in this chapter

### War and Disillusionment

The casual discussion of declaring war on multiple countries and the drunken banter reflect a sense of absurdity and disillusionment with the war.

### Escape and Retreat

Frederic's transfer to Milan and the desire to leave the front lines symbolize a physical and emotional escape from the war.

### Masculinity and Identity

Rinaldi and the major's teasing about Frederic's drinking, his wound, and his relationship with Catherine highlight themes of male bonding and identity.

## Character check-ins

### Frederic Henry

Recovering in the field hospital, preparing for transfer to Milan; reflects on the ward and the deaths around him.

### Rinaldi

Visits Frederic with the major, brings news of Catherine's transfer to Milan, and engages in drunken banter.

### Catherine Barkley

Mentioned as being sent to the American hospital in Milan, to Frederic's delight.

### The Priest

Mentioned in the context of coming out from behind the screen after a patient dies.

### Georgetti

Travels with Frederic on the train to Milan, drunk and sick.

## Key lines

> I will draw a sight draft on my grandfather, I said. A what? A sight draft. He has to pay or I go to jail.

Frederic jokes that he will get money by writing a check against his grandfather's account, implying he lives on credit.

_Shows Frederic's cavalier attitude toward money and his reliance on family._

> Your English. You know? The English you go to see every night at their hospital? She is going to Milan too.

Rinaldi reveals that Catherine Barkley is being transferred to the same hospital in Milan as Frederic.

_Key plot point: sets up Frederic and Catherine's reunion in Milan._

> If anyone were going to die they put a screen around the bed so you could not see them die, but only the shoes and puttees of doctors and men nurses showed under the bottom of the screen.

In the hospital ward, screens are used to hide dying patients from view, though the medical staff's boots are still visible.

_Highlights the clinical detachment and the omnipresence of death in the war hospital._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_farewell_to_arms_se/chapters/xii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_farewell_to_arms_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/a_farewell_to_arms_se/chapters