Ernest HEmingway
...y, in A Farewell to Arms. Hemingway wrote A Farewell to Arms as a response to his experiences in World War I. Hemingway, the definitive loner, retained great interest in war. Not only did he participate in World War I, but he also experienced the Greek-Turkish War in 1920 and the Spanish Civil War in 1937 firsthand. In World War I, Ernest Hemingway served as an American ambulance driver in the Italian Red Cross. In a battle on the Italian Piave, he seriously injured his knee and was sent to Milan to recuperate (Roberts 6). In Milan, he became romantically involved with Agnes, a nurse who helped treat him. Agnes was arguably Hemingway’s first love, but it ended when she left him for a doctor (Nagel 116). After a dozen knee operations in Milan, he joined the Italian infantry with an aluminum kneecap and two Italian decorations (Roberts 6). In A Farewell to Arms, Frederick Henry begins his military career as an American ambulance driver for the Italian army during World War I (Hemingway 18). Henry then suffers an injury to the knee and is sent to Milan to recuperate. There, Catherine Barkley, who he develops a fondness for and eventually falls in love with, treats him. Before their relationship can begin to blossom, Henry is called back to j...