A Farewell To Arms: Chapter 26 - Summary and Analysis

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CHAPTER 26

SUMMARY

Henry and the Priest
     The priest accompanies Henry to his room, and they talk about the war. According to the priest, the war was going to end soon, because he saw the changes in men and felt that both sides will stop fighting. However, Henry feels that the Austrians would not stop fighting because they had won victories in the summer. He says it is only in defeat that men become Christians, i.e., gentle and disagrees with the priest saying that the Austrian won’t, they won’t feel like Italians and that “no one ever stopped when they were winning. All these war talks depresses Henry and he says that was the reason he never thought about war. And when the priest asked him about what he believed in the answer “sleep” meaning nothing as he was tired and felt very sleepy.

CRITICAL ANALYSIS

Disillusionment with War
      This chapter marks a turning point reflecting in that how people are becoming disillusioned with war. The priest feels that the war will end but Henry doesn’t feel so and gets depressed. He is also disillusioned and so he doesn’t want to think of war and related matters but that they persist in his mind is evident when he says “I never think and yet when I begin to talk, I say the things I have found out in my mind without thinking”. That the priest is also disillusioned is evident when he says ‘I hoped for a long time for victory’ but now he doesn’t know.

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