Ernest Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms was actually
very much inspired by his own life experiences during
World War I. Hemingway was denied enlistment into the army due
to poor vision, so he became a volunteer ambulance driver for the Red
Cross instead, just like his protagonist Frederic
Henry. Also, just like Frederic, Hemingway was stationed in
Milan by the Red Cross and was also severely injured by an
Austrian mortar shell. He was then evacuated to a hospital in
Milan, just like Frederick (The Hemingway Resource Center,
"Ernest Hemingway Biography:
World War I").
In the hospital, Hemingway also fell in love with a nurse
named Agnes von Kurowsky just as Frederic falls in love with a
nurse named Catherine. However, unlike Frederic and Catherine, Hemingway's
relationship with Agnes did not go very far. Historians debate how physical
Hemingway's relationship became with Agnes, especially since nurses were
forbidden to have relationships with patients. What is known is that they
"managed love notes, dinners," and there is speculation that there was
"possibly more" (People, "Ernest
Hemingway & Agnes Von Kurowsky"). Once Hemingway was sent back to the
States to recover, the couple also "exchanged love letters for several months";
however, by March 1919, Agnes became engaged to an Italian nobleman
(People).
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References