Character Analysis

Oh goody, I get to do a character analysis of Frederick Henry from A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway. I'll try not to do a bad job on it.

Henry is, in my opinion, just a guy having a mid-life crisis. The Cliffs Notes say something about how he is "a disillusioned man of the modern world searching for some values or some system that he can believe in." (P.48, in case it matters...). All in all, he's having a mid-life crisis. All guys, once they hit about 40, start worrying about what direction their lives are taking, or, to keep in the spirit of the Notes, they look for something to guide or liberate them from their current positions and/or routines. Hmm, maybe the Cliffs Notes aren't all that they're cracked up to be...

Seriously though, Frederick Henry is a indirectly characterized dynamic character (hmm, that kinda sounded strange, but I think you know what I'm talking about). At the beginning of the novel, he is simply looking for "physical stimulation" (hey, thats what guys going through a mid-life crisis look for!). By the end of the novel, he has changed for the better. He is more caring, and was actually involved in a serious relationship, one that went beyond the physical attraction between the two, and went to a whole new level.

I'm a little reluctant to categorize Henry as a round or flat character. Generally, dynamic characters aren't flat. You've got the two types of round characters (in the syllabus, proof that I'm actually using it) being protagonist and antagonist. Henry doesn't really fall into the antagonist category very well, but he doesn't exactly fit the protagonist description, either. "the character who is the center of attention -- not neccessarily a moral or physical giant." (P.40 of the syllabus, just thought I'd add that for completeness).