Sociality for the Male Desire for Control: Frederic Henry and Robert Jordan in Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls

Abstract

Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms and For Whom the Bell Tolls present two American male characters in foreign armies. Wartime circumstances expect adult male to prove his manliness, and the protagonists of the texts—Frederic Henry and Robert Jordan—are well aware of their socially expected roles as adult men, and thus follow socialization, or gender identity. For Frederic and Robert to behave according to the socially expected code and prove their manliness, however, they have to secure their present status as foreigners in foreign countries; Americans in Italian army and Spanish guerrilla band. Despite the different personalities and attitudes toward life, both Frederic and Robert possess the common desire for social company, and this desire often denies the conventional interpretation of them as either a victim of the harsh reality or a fully developed hero. Accordingly, their oscillating identity is not a weakness but a great advantage not only to secure their status but also to pose themselves as man of authority over those around them. By achieving this sense of man of authority, Frederic and Robert are able to acquire their dignity as typical Hemingway heroes and thus maintain “grace under pressure” which is what Hemingway delivers throughout his works.