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Chapter 21
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in A Farewell to Arms, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
War
Love and Loss
Reality vs. Fantasy
Self vs. Duty
Manhood
Religion
Summary
Analysis
It rains the next morning, and Henry is diagnosed with jaundice. Miss Van Campen discovers Henry's stash of empty alcohol bottles, and accuses him of drinking in order to give himself jaundice so he won't have to return to the front. He compares jaundice to being kicked in the scrotum, and asks if she thinks anyone would inflict it on themselves. But she does not believe him, and files a report that causes Henry to lose his convalescent leave and get sent immediately to the front.
Rain is always a symbol of outside forces Henry can't control. Miss Van Campen is a recurring character type in this novel: someone who enforces the rules of an unjust system without having to suffer the consequences. In particular, she shares this role with the military police in Chapter 30.
Themes
