Read the excerpt from Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms. “I believe we should get the war over,” I said. “It would not finish it if
one side stopped fighting. It would only be worse if we stopped fighting.” “It could not be worse,” Passini said respectfully. “There is nothing worse than war.” “Defeat is worse.” “I do not believe it,” Passini said still respectfully. “What is defeat? You go home.” “They come after you. They take your home. They take your sisters.” “I don’t believe it,” Passini said. “They can’t do that to everybody. Let everybody defend his home. Let them keep their sisters in the house.” “They hang you. They come and make you be a soldier again. Not in the auto-ambulance, in the infantry.” What does Hemingway’s indirect characterization of the narrator reveal?
The narrator acknowledges that war is cruel, unjust, and inescapable.
Explanation:
This is what Hemingway's indirect characterization of the narrator reveals. In this passage, the narrator and another character (Passini) are talking about what would happen if the war were to end. Passini claims that he wants the war to be over, and that he wants to go home. The narrator, however, is skeptical of this view. He believes that even if the war were over, what would be left would be much worse, and the fight would not be over. The narrator believes that war is cruel, unjust and inescapable, and has made up his mind to continue fighting until the end.
