A Farewell to Arms

The next day they get stuck in the mud about 10 kilometers from their goal, the town of Udine. Frederic realizes they need to cut down some brush to put under the wheels. The two sergeants start walking to town without helping. Frederic gives them the order to cut brush, and they reply that he can’t order them: “You’re not our officer” (177). He continues to order them, and when they refuse to obey, he takes out his gun and shoots at them. They run, and he continues to shoot until finally hitting one of them. Bonello asks for the gun to kill the wounded sergeant, and Frederic gives it to him. When he pulls the trigger, it doesn’t fire. Frederic yells directions, so Bonello tries again, shooting twice, killing the sergeant.

Frederic feels guilt for bringing them here. It is almost evening. They try using the dead sergeant’s cape under the wheels with more brush, but it doesn’t help. They leave the one car and go in the other ambulance with the girls, who don’t seem to have noticed the shooting. The other car gets stuck in the mud as well. Frederic gives the girls money and tells them to walk down the road, figuring they will be safer if they join a group of refugees instead of being captured alone. Frederic, Bonello, Piani, and Aymo start walking to Udine, as quickly as they can. Bonello and Piani say they are socialists from Imola, a place where everybody is a socialist: “We walked along together all going fast against time” (180).

They are walking on a road along the river. Along the way they see abandoned trucks and stores everywhere. They see a railway bridge where they can cross. They fear it might be mined, so Bonello tells Frederic to go first. Frederic agrees, saying it wouldn’t be triggered to go off with just one man. They walk across, one at a time. Frederic looks for any signs of explosives. He can see Udine from the bridge. He also sees another bridge with a German car going across. Once across, they can see German soldiers on bicycles traversing the bridge. Frederic wonders why no one has blown up that bridge and why there aren’t reinforcements along the road. He is angry at this failure of the Italian army, but then he realizes his own failure at not having delivered the three ambulances to Pordenone. He thinks he'll never get to Udine. Then he rallies and realizes he just has to stay calm and not get captured.

Frederic has them walk along the railroad track so that they can see if more German troops arrive. When they see more bicyclists, they drop down the embankment. Bonello is nervous and prefers to walk out of sight at the bottom of the embankment. Frederic and the rest walk above; Frederic says it’s better to be able to see where they are. He says they should be able to get through because there aren’t many Germans yet.

Frederic decides to cut south and walk the secondary roads to get across the plain. They climb down the embankment, and a shot is fired. They rush back up the embankment. More shots are fired and Aymo is hit. They try to save him, but he dies. Frederic realizes that Aymo was hit by Italians not Germans. The Italian rear guard is frightened and firing on anyone. Bonello asks, “Who’s dead next, Tenente?” (185).

They see a farmhouse where they can wait until it’s dark. There is a barn where they will be able to see if anyone approaches, hiding in the hay if necessary. Frederic’s thoughts shift back to Aymo. He then thinks of the past, when he was a boy and had lain in the hay, shooting at birds with his air rifle. He realizes you can never repeat the past. He hears machine gun fire. He drifts off and then sees Piani, who has brought food. Piani tells Frederic that Bonello has left, preferring to be a prisoner rather than getting killed. Frederic asks why Piani also didn’t go, and Piani replies, “I did not want to leave you” (188).

After keeping watch until dark, Frederic notices that Piani has fallen asleep. He lets him sleep some more and then they leave. They eventually are able to rejoin the rest of the retreat: “I had not realized how gigantic the retreat was. The whole country was moving, as well as the army” (189).

They feel safe now. An officer overhears Piani refer to Frederic as “Tenente,” and yells, “Down with the officers!” (189). Piani suggests that he refer to Frederic only by his first name since he has heard they are shooting officers.

Many soldiers are excited by the idea that the war will be over soon, and they can then go home. Piani thinks the war will keep going. They reach the bridge going over the Tagliamento River, which is rising and looks high. As he gets near the end of the bridge, Frederic sees carabinieri (military police) waiting on both sides. They are pulling officers out of the column for questioning. Frederic sees a lieutenant-colonel pulled. A carabinieri starts to come for Frederic, who punches him, saying, “Don’t you know you can’t touch an officer?” (192). Another one grabs Frederic and drags him to the side of the road.

Frederic is brought to a group of officers, who are questioning the lieutenant-colonel, asking him why he abandoned his troops and blaming him for the defeat. The lieutenant-colonel tells him to shoot him if he’s going to shoot because his questions are stupid. He is taken away and shot. Another man is questioned and cries when he hears his sentence. The next is questioned, and it is clear to Frederic that the questions are an absurd formality; everyone will be shot. Frederic sees that they assume that he is a German in an Italian uniform. Frederic shoves through the men next to him and jumps into the river. He tries to stay under water as long as he can. He is able to hold on to a piece of wood to keep him afloat despite his heavy clothing and boots. Shots are fired and then it stops. He loses sight of the shore.