War has existed since the dawn of time and, since the beginning, has impacted humanity in various ways. While wars do mold and transform nations, more importantly, wars have had and will have a great impact on soldiers, those willing to sacrifice their lives for their country. The novels A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien give us a glimpse into how war has impacted soldiers and those close to them. The novel A Farewell to Arms talks of a man who falls in love with a woman he works with, a nurse in the hospital, Catherine Barkley. The narrator, Frederic Henry, meets the nurse while he is working in the army. They soon begin a romantic relationship. One day, around the same day that Catherine gives him her Saint Anthony necklace that serves as a good luck charm, …show more content…
Nearing the end of Mr. Henry’s leave from the army to heal he is discovered with booze bottles and is accused of harming himself to avoid having to go back to fighting in the war. He is then separated from Catherine by being forced to go back to the Italian front. Eventually Frederic is able to leave the army to find Catherine. Mr. Henry, however, will probably be put in jail for desertion, so he leaves with Catherine and they both escape to Switzerland. They are happy there and prepare for their child to be born, as Catherine had become pregnant while Frederic was recovering. However, in a twist of fate, both Catherine and the baby die. In The Things They Carried we are shown all the things all the soldiers must carry with them, ranging from the physical to the emotional of things, such as canteens, weapons, personal belongings, grudges, fears, love, and more, additionally also showing how the weight of these things can impact them. The Things They Carried and A Farewell to Arms both show us that we must do whatever we can, even if we cannot beat war, to at least endure war and all it brings upon us when we are affected by