Characters, Tone, and Setting of A Farewell to Arms Around the world, many people believe that love is the cure for everything. In the novel A Farewell to Arms, by Ernest Hemingway, it is a typical love story between a nurse and a war soldier. Their love story will have to survive the obstacles of the First World War. Hemingway develops this theme through characters, tone, and setting. Hemingway expresses the theme through the use of two main characters, Frederick Henry and Catherine Barkley. Frederick Henry is a young American ambulance driver in the Italian army during World War I. At the beginning of the novel Henry has never experienced love, he believed it was an elaborate game. When he is injured and sent back to the American hospital where Catherine works, their relationship continues. Federico slowly falls in love with her and finds commitment in his love for her. At the conclusion of the novel, Federico realizes that he cannot base his life on another person or thing because sooner or later it will leave him. Catherine Barkley is an English nurse serving in Italy. On the other hand, Catherine is an expert when it comes to love as she has already lost a loved one, killed earlier in the war. Hemingway also lets us know that Catherine already has the knowledge that her life cannot depend on another due to the death of her husband. All of this sets the tone for the novel. Hemingway also develops the theme through tone. The tone of this novel is tragic. Throughout the novel Hemingway foreshadows Catherine's death. When Catherine is brought into the delivery room, the doctor tells her he is concerned about her narrow hips. Therefore they had to do a caesarean section and the baby died. Then Catherine starts to hemorrhage and Henry realizes why he didn't want to be involved in love and now has to suffer the consequences. Frederick then states "it was like saying goodbye to a statue", he returns to his hotel without finding a way to say goodbye. Frederick realizes that Catherine was only a symbol of strength in his life. Evidently Hemingway presents this novel as a tragic novel. A final ingredient expressed by the author to develop the theme is the setting of the novel. The story is set during the First World War. The plot, however, is always active. The characters never stayed in the same place for too long.