A Farewell to Arms: Irony 3 key examples

One would expect the danger to occur during the battle itself, so this scene comes about unexpectedly. Unlike the glorified injuries that soldiers receive in battles, Henry gets hit while eating with his fellow soldiers. Getting hit by a mortar shell while doing something as mundane as eating macaroni and cheese, though, undermines the gravity and glory of war. It is so sudden and unceremonious that it is almost darkly humorous, demonstrating the absurdity and senselessness of World War I.

Moreover, the sharp shift from discussing Henry’s “piece of cheese” to the "screaming" and splintering world around him takes the reader by surprise. The simile comparing the exploding shell to "a blast-furnace door sw[inging] open" and the ensuing visual and auditory imagery make the moment even more shocking and vivid. The jarring escalation in imagery, in particular, mirrors the shock that accompanies an explosion. This is one of the more emotive and dramatic moments in the novel, made ironic by its banal prelude.

This situational irony appears again in Chapter 25 when the priest reluctantly agrees to drink the glass of wine that Rinaldi pours him:  

“Drink some wine, priest,” Rinaldi said. “Take a little wine for your stomach’s sake. That’s Saint Paul, you know.”

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“Yes I know,” said the priest politely. Rinaldi filled his glass.

While it is not considered a sin for Catholics priests to drink, drunkenness is considered a mortal sin in Catholicism, and priests are traditionally restrained in their behavior. So, it likely takes the reader by surprise that the priest drinks with the soldiers in the novel. The priest exhibits a certain amount of self-indulgence that contrasts his typical moderate character. Therefore, the priest’s drinking habit depicts the widespread effect of wartime on not just the soldiers but also the civilians. Even priests, who have God to confide in during such tumultuous times, feel pulled to indulge in the looseness that alcohol provides in order to cope. 

Catherine is newly alone in the world following the death of her fiancée, and Henry finds her searching for balance and purpose. As a result, Henry becomes someone to which she devotes herself and in which she believes. Because her fiancée was killed in a battle, she shares Henry’s indifference and even frustration toward the war. God has never been on her side, and she is certainly not Catholic, so organized religion is not her method of community and peace. Henry becomes her replacement for all things religious. He is the one thing that she lives for—otherwise, she might crumble under her own grief. 

It is ironic, though, for Henry to serve as Catherine’s religion when he himself is so opposed to loving God. Henry even tells the priest that he is "afraid of Him in the night sometimes" and that he does not love God. The only thing for which Henry turns to religion is Catherine's fatal condition after delivering a stillborn baby in Chapter 41:

God please make her not die. I'll do anything you say if you don't let her die. You took the baby but don't let her die. That was all right but don't let her die. Please, please, dear God, don't let her die.

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Here, Henry embodies the religion that he represents for Catherine. Unfortunately, his desperation and prayers to God in this moment are not enough to save Catherine in the end.

This situational irony appears again in Chapter 25 when the priest reluctantly agrees to drink the glass of wine that Rinaldi pours him:  

“Drink some wine, priest,” Rinaldi said. “Take a little wine for your stomach’s sake. That’s Saint Paul, you know.”

Cite this Quote

“Yes I know,” said the priest politely. Rinaldi filled his glass.

While it is not considered a sin for Catholics priests to drink, drunkenness is considered a mortal sin in Catholicism, and priests are traditionally restrained in their behavior. So, it likely takes the reader by surprise that the priest drinks with the soldiers in the novel. The priest exhibits a certain amount of self-indulgence that contrasts his typical moderate character. Therefore, the priest’s drinking habit depicts the widespread effect of wartime on not just the soldiers but also the civilians. Even priests, who have God to confide in during such tumultuous times, feel pulled to indulge in the looseness that alcohol provides in order to cope. 

Catherine is newly alone in the world following the death of her fiancée, and Henry finds her searching for balance and purpose. As a result, Henry becomes someone to which she devotes herself and in which she believes. Because her fiancée was killed in a battle, she shares Henry’s indifference and even frustration toward the war. God has never been on her side, and she is certainly not Catholic, so organized religion is not her method of community and peace. Henry becomes her replacement for all things religious. He is the one thing that she lives for—otherwise, she might crumble under her own grief. 

It is ironic, though, for Henry to serve as Catherine’s religion when he himself is so opposed to loving God. Henry even tells the priest that he is "afraid of Him in the night sometimes" and that he does not love God. The only thing for which Henry turns to religion is Catherine's fatal condition after delivering a stillborn baby in Chapter 41:

God please make her not die. I'll do anything you say if you don't let her die. You took the baby but don't let her die. That was all right but don't let her die. Please, please, dear God, don't let her die.

Cite this Quote

Here, Henry embodies the religion that he represents for Catherine. Unfortunately, his desperation and prayers to God in this moment are not enough to save Catherine in the end.