A Farewell to Arms (2) World War II propels the characters in A Farewell to Arms. Fredrick Henry’s actions are determined by his position until he deserts the army. It is during his escape Henry resolves that he is through with the war, a war in which he really has no place, and decides that all he wants is to be with Catherine. Henry doesn’t seem to be agonizingly concerned with matters of right or wrong in the war and it seems, in fact, separate from him. Even when he is injured it doesn’t appear that he is really a part of the war, which surrounds him. He maintains a distance from it and this distance isn’t reall