A Farewell To Arms: Book 4 - Summary

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BOOK IV
      This book opens with Henry coming to Milan in search of Catherine. He is out of uniform and he does not want to talk about the war with anyone. He finds that she and Ferguson have left for Stressa. He takes the help of Simmons, a student of music to dress in civilian clothes and takes the train to Stressa.

      In Stressa the lovers are united, A very pregnant Catherine is ecstatic to see him whereas Ferguson is unhappy that Henry might leave her or that they might never get married etc. However, both Henry and Catherine assure her of their love and wish to stay together. This section also serves as a brief interlude of love. The lovers have a lovely time together. Sometimes, Henry is consumed by guilty thoughts about the war. He still has no inclination to talk about the war but at times he thought about Rinaldi and the priest and others and he feels like an errant schoolboy wondering of what may be happening at the certain have he had played truant. The lovers are forced to flee thick idyll when the barman at the hotel they are in wakes them up during the night with the information that ‘they’ were going to arrest Henry in the morning as ‘they’ know Henry to be an officer and now he was out of uniform. He offers them his boat so that they can row across the lake and escape to Switzerland. Henry and Catherine take up this offer. They simply walk out of the hotel and go to the lake. There the barman gives them some sandwiches and brandy and instructions as to how to reach Switzerland. The rest of the chapter is about how Henry rows throughout the night and finally arrives around down. They get into Switzerland without much trouble and also get permission to stay without any hardship.

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