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CHAPTER 14
SUMMARY
Henry Tidies Up
The next day Henry finds out from Miss Gage that Catherine has arrived. He then sends for a barber in order to have himself shaved. The barber was very solemn and refrained from talking. Later, Henry finds out that he hated Austrians. Henry was an Austrian soldier. Henry is told that if he had moved, he would have cut his throat. Everybody finds the episode funny except Henry.
Catherine Reached
Henry hears someone coining and he sees that it is Catherine. She comes in and says “Hello darling”. When he saw her, he felt he was in love with her. Everything turned over inside him. They kiss and he felt her heart beating. They share a wild time together. And to her queries, if he loved her, he says, that he was crazily in love with her. Later, Henry mulls it over. He knows that he had not wanted to fall in love with anyone. Henry admits to himself. “But God knows I had and I lay on the bed in the room of the hospital in Milan and all sorts of things went through my head”. Then Miss Gage comes in and informs him that the doctor would be coming this afternoon.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Henry in Love
This chapter marks an important transition point in the character development of Frederic Henry It is also an important development of the plot. On seeing Catherine, Henry experiences a new sensation in his body. The realization hits him that he is in love with Catherine though he had not wanted to fall in love with anyone. His earlier casual attitude toward love and Catherine now undergoes a change and he experiences a deeper feeling within him. Catherine is already in love with Henry but she doesn’t know if he reciprocates the feeling entirely, hence her constant questioning “Do you love me?” Henry has fallen in love with her but at this stage, the emphasis, from his side, is more on the physical relationship.