Identify one or more themes in chapter 19

Citing evidence from the text, identify one or more themes in chapter 19.

The first theme is gambling. We can tell from the characters' dialogue that Mr. and Mrs. Meyers take part in the horse races and bet the first place with money.

The second theme is the alteration of seasons. The first sentence in the first paragraph clearly indicates that the summer has passed and he will then reminisce some anecdotes of that summer in the following paragraphs.

The third theme is sort of nationalism. In the bottom of page 108, Mr. Simmons says that 'You're just a wop from Frisco", and hence it denotes that he keeps a sense of nationalism deep in his spiritual world.

The fourth theme is the pursuit of glory and honor. From the middle of page 109 to the near end of page 110, Mr. Ettore inquires about if our Mr.Henry will get the the silver medal and talks about his own stories in the world and even "boasts" on it. This is obviously a piece of evidence for the theme of a sense of "wounded glory".

The fifth theme is the pursuit of prosperity and success. Following the statements of Mr. Ettore, they talks about their prospective or ideal ascending of their respective occupation. It indicates that they are all eager to climb up the social ladder to a higher class.

The sixth theme is the unsteadiness and anxiety of the war. From the dialogue between Catherine and Henry, and between Mr.Ettore and Henry, it is clear that they all want this repulsive war to halt and they are still disturbed and anxious of it.

That's the basic six themes that I have found in chapter 19.

As far as I have concerned,

One of the theme of the chapter is the burning desire of feats from the soldiers in stead of the victory of the war. This can be found from the conversation of the officers and Henry. From page 107 to page 112. “I got to work for my decorations”, “'Three times bad. I got three wound stripes. See?’ He pulled his sleeve around.” They don’t care about how the war was going, but how many metals they can get from being wounded or other actions. “when the action isn’t successful they hold up all the metals.” The officers wanted the action to be successful just because of the metals. It seems that getting the metal is their duty.

The second theme is gambling. It can be found from the Meyers that they took part in the horse race to get money.

The third theme is the change of the season. “the summer went away”. It somehow implies that the life of Henry might be a change later.

The forth theme might still be the morale collapses on the Italian side, “Still nobody was whipping any one on the Western Front. Perhaps wars weren’t won any more. Maybe they went on forever. Maybe it was anther Hundred Year’s War.” The war wasn’t important any more. I think this theme might be a minor theme since this theme have appeared several times in the former chapters.

In conclusion, these four themes are the ones I found in chapter 19.

I think the theme of charter 19 may be the duality. First, for Mr and Mrs Meyers, Mr Meyers was a criminal and never told to even his wife about something related with him. He was a hidden guy and was hard to get along with. While Mrs Meyers was on the opposite, she was quite kind and amiable. She called the boys as her boys, which showed her kindness and wide love. The couple was quite different. Second, for the soldiers who were drinking, they were wishing for promotion and gaining honor. However, Henry was a guy who enjoyed freedom and a relaxing life. Henry and the soldiers were disparate. Last, for Henry and Catherine, they were talking about Catherine’s fear of rain. Rain would bring destruction for Catherine, for she said that she saw her and Henry die in the rain. However, she was certain that Henry would definitely be alright but “nobody can help themselves”, which meant she would not be that fine. The rain maybe provide a foreshadow about the ending of Henry and Catherine, which maybe totally opposite. In conclusion, I think duality is the theme that chapter 19 wants to display.

1. Duality: both the duality of old and young, of honor and dishonor. Mr. and Mrs. Meyer both got something to hide from each other, such dishonor also formed the duality with the frankness of the young.
2. Racism: “He can’t pronounce Italian, Everywhere he goes they throw the benches at him.” “I’d like to see them throwing benches at you. You can’t sing Italians.” Although these were jokes, there was still hidden racism in them.
3. Vain glory: “I’m going to be a captain for merit of war. You know. Three stars with the crossed swords and crown above. That’s me.” The young soldiers competed their medals and scars with each other, it eventually turned into showing off. They also pursue honor and glory like every young man.
4. Indifference, Hatred and Savage: “I saw the son of bitch throw it…I shot the son of bitch all right.” When the young soldier was depicting the bombardment and his killing which should be terrifying and horrible, he showed no emotional swings but hatred---hatred like a savage animal without humanity, reflecting the non-recoverable damage of war.
5. Individual and collective will: As it had been mentioned in the conversation, the young people wanted to pursue career such as captain in order to get more money and reputation; they wanted pursue own glory and honor in this war……Seeing only their own benefit, they did not mind or care about the collective will of nation.

I found some themes in chapter 19, they are as followed:
1. Racism
From “He can’t pronounce Italian”, “Everywhere he goes they throw the benches at him” and “you are just a top from Frisco” , we can see that people make jokes on race. The jokes made unintentionally showed that there were racism between people at that time. Racism is a theme in this chapter.
2. Duality
The duality is in this chapter. The young and the old; the crime and frankness of human; the honor and dishonor. And the behaviors of Mr. and Mrs. Mayer’s also have a duality when comparing to the young.
3. Vanity
The vanity is an important theme especially when talking about the behaviors of the soldiers. In the chapter, the soldiers were showing off the medals they’ve got and the wound they had in the battle. “Believe me they’re fine to have.I’d rather have them better than medals. Believe me, boy, when you get three, you’ve got something.” The sentences of the soldier revealed that they were pursuing something doesn’t have a real meaning, something is quite irrelevant. But they considered it to be a glory for them. This revealed the vanity of them and the insensitiveness of then during the war. People lost themselves in the war, in the pursuit of the vanity.
4. Time
At the beginning of chapter 19, it is mentioned that summer was gone, with no one really noticed how it happened. And also in the latter part of this chapter, the memories happened in the summer are mentioned, in the theme of time.

Self-saving
At the ending part of chapter 19, Henry and Catherine talked about the rain, love and death. Catherine said "I'm afraid of the rain because sometimes I see me dead in it." So why she connected the rain and her death together? I think the basic reason of it is the insecurity. Raindrops symbolize the tears, the sadness, especially in the situation of the war, this was revealed more obvious. She stopped crying when Henry comforted her, cause she gained the security temporarily. The last sentence said"But outside it kept on raining." This sentence represents that the hole in Catherine's heart was not fixed, maybe cannot be fixed. She will die, ultimately. It's about self saving, even though It destined to be failed.

Self-paralysis
Firstly, it is a key word that goes through the whole book: alcohol. In chapter 19 "I went over there afternoons and afterward stopped at the cafe and had a drink and read the papers." and later he bought a box of chocolate for Catherine, and in the interval of the girl wrapping up he walked over to the bar, and there he met aviators. Alcohol, I think, represents that people always trying to be dizzy during the war, and the bar the alcohol is the approach for them to running from the reality and simultaneously gave them comforts.
Secondly, soldiers were proud of the scars. To my perspective, it is also a way for officers to paralyze soldiers, to let them fight spontaneously. From the aspect of soldiers themselves, it is a type of self-paralysis.
Thirdly, people seemed to be optimistic and enjoyed life much. In an environment that filled up with joys, races and games. At the same time, it contrasts the situation Henry would go to the front line.

1.vainglory
In the chapter we can see Miss Catherine considers Ettore as conceited, but actually most of the soldiers are conceited at that time because the medals are the only valuable things besides life when it is at war. Fred seems to not care about the medal things but he has to, as a soldier during the war. They care about the medals for their living, for the fame and the vainglory as a soldier.
2.desire
This chapter indicates us what exactly the troops need. As it is showed before, the proposals of the soldiers that join the war are not the victories. Especially when they suffer from the pains caused by the wars, they consider the peace and fame more seriously and just want the war over if they've already become a officer, which could live a peaceful life when the war's over.

The pursue of glory and property
“believe me, I got to work for my decorations”from this dialogue, it can be revealed that these soldiers are eager to get level up, and they speak as the war will not have any serious effect on the world. People wants to gain fame and glory in the war, so rather than end it, they want the war to take place longer, so they may get more opportunities to gradually approach it. Also the higher military rank will gain them more money, so they speak like “Jesus Christ what I could do with two hundred and fifty dollars, I think ”. But maybe it is actually the pursue of these pipe dreams that comfort them from the suffering war and the fear to die the next second.

Firstly, Chapter19 expresses the pessimistic attitude towards the war.Killings happen everyday but the war still looks endless. This pessimistic attitude can be associated with the gradual collapse of the morale.
Secondly, Chapter19 talked about the honour in the war. Every medal is exchanged from a wound. They get scars everywhere in the war and they talk about killing like nonsense. This glory has become the sins for soldiers to some extent by taking away their goodness.It's the war that forced them to become a killing machine and the light of civilization is fading.Besides glory, this chapter also reveals the opposite side of hiding the dishonour.
Finally,the rain expresses the despairation. Raining is the weather of tragedy. Mrs Barkley see both of them dying in the rain.It's the fear toward the war and they tries to comfort each other. Though they can fall asleep to escape from the rain for a while, the rain will keep on and last for a long time. It's telling us the dark age of Europe is still there and tomorrow is still a word associated woth death.

One of the themes is love. Henry remembers to buy Catherine chocolate on his daily trip, anticipates getting back to the hospital to be with Catherine, and watches the rain, talks about their feelings over the rain together.
The second one is glory system in wars. For a wound, you get a medal. This links back to earlier in the book where Henry's leg got blown off. Rinaldi visited him and talked about how he could brag a bit and add some stories to his wound and advance from a bronze medal to a silver one. This notion about wounds and killing a associated with glory, numbs soldiers minds and slowly transfers them into killing machines, which is horrific to a reader who lives in the time of peace, however seems just about normal in that time of war.
The last one is nationalism. 'You can't pronounce Italian.' They were making being 'Italian' and speaking native Italian somehow a privilege.

Fame and Status is the first theme that I found. In the conversation between Henry and Ettore, they discussed quite a lot about their glorious experience, which includes the injuries that they had and their ranking, 'three stars with the crossed swords and crown above'. As soldiers fighting on battlefield, they are proud of their experiences and memories spent on the battleground in spite of hazard. In this Chapter, it's also clear to see Catherine's attitude towards the fame and status Henry has in the army. 'You have a splendid rank. I don;t want you to have any more rank. ... I'd have married you even if you were conceited but its' very restful to have a husband who is not conceited.' We can see Catherine's satisfaction about Henry's rank in the army, and we may see her indication that higher ranks make one conceited.
Scare to death is the other theme that I see. By the end of this chapter, Catherine expresses her fear that she sometimes sees herself or Henry die in the rain. From my perspective, she's having such apprehension because she's so afraid of losing her husband, Henry. One becomes anxious when she's scared of losing something that he values the most.

1. Gambling: Betting on horses at the horse race no doubt is a forming of gambling.
2. Racism: "He can't pronounce Italian, everywhere he goes they throw the benches at him" Although these are jokes, this statement discriminating the non-italian speaking population in Italy, while hinting that in Italy, only the people that can pronounce Italian is given rights and those who don't face public humiliation.
3. Nationalism: "You're just a top form Frisco" implicitly reveals the deep sense of nationalism in Mr. Simmons.
4. The horrors of war: "Believe me they're (wounds) fine to have. I'd rather have them than medals" Here Ettore shows his wounds to the others. Explaining that these wounds are more valuable than medals as they give you a free three months leave. Ettore would rather be seriously wounded than be rewarded a medal for killing, telling the readers how terrible the war is and how soldiers would rather have themselves hurt and sent back than rather fight on the front. The soldier hurting himself on a rock earlier in the book also shows this.

1. Henry's detachment from the war: "Perhaps wars weren't won any more. Maybe they went on forever."
2. Pursuit of glory: Ettore is an ambitious charater, talking much and preferring to show the glory he has got in the war while Henry distains to do so. "'Believe me they're fine to have. I'd rather have them than medals. Believe me, boy, when you get three you've got something.'"
3. Mammonism (?): " 'I wish to God I could. Oh, boy, how much does a captain get, Mac?' 'I don't know exactly. Around two hundred and fifty dollars, I think.' 'Jesus Christ what I could do with two hundred and fifty dollars.' "
4. Love: " 'I'll love you in the rain and in the snow and in the hail and - what else is there?' "

1. Insecurity
Gambling, in my opinion, symbols insecurity of unstable life. Nowadays,not many people go gambling if they have a complete and stable family, they'd rather be a little bit not so wealthy but earn the money by working day by day and accumulate the wealth.But at the age of chaos, since the simple peaceful life is not so accessible , they'd rather go gambling and enjoy the instant excitement and be rich overnight.
2.Kind human nature
'"Those dear boys. You too. You're one of my boys."said Mrs Meyer. I think at that time, people were indifferent enough to kill without any hesitation but still, there are some people that can treat other people with great kindness and shows a great contradicts compare to the image of the age.
3.Sorrow of the war
'There's dead bone in my foot that stinks right now. Every morning I take new little pieces out and it stinks all the time'.The war definitely cause great harm to any individual in the age. And they should have escaped from those great sorrows if war was evitable. People are too near with death and this increases their sense of fear.'I'm not afraid of the rain. I'm not afraid of the rain. Oh, oh, God, I wish I wasn't." She was crying. I comforted her and she stopped crying. But outside it kept on raining.'Rain brought the atmosphere of sorrow and fear, but of course, the tragedy will continue to go on.
4.Superficial life
'The summer went that way'.The time past so quickly that people might never realize of the flowing of the time. If the life was substantial enough, then the time might not flow relatively with such a high speed. People don't find their life enjoyable.The war didn't give them the right have a happy peaceful lifetime.

This chapter is a kind of sundry, since there were so many different events mentioned in the chapter. I think it is mainly around the badge, or I shall say the eminent glory and interests of individuals. And Henry had some drink with his acquaintances, and talked about the badge. First thing is the concert, which is real confusing to me, I can only interpret it as humiliating others, since I’m really poor at this aspect. The purpose of this humiliating might be to make contrast with himself. Second thing is badge, which is obviously related to glory. Ettore’s attitude toward the badge is that it has no use except showing off, not as meaningful as the scarlet scars. And he was proud of his own feat, which cannot be represented by the badges. And they talked about the stipend and welfare of different positions. In all, they talked about the reason on they own to fight this war, mostly not derive from patriotism. Also I think this chapter is like prophet. At the beginning, Henry saw Mrs. Meyers, and they conversed about the house racing, which is related to the latter chapter. And at last Catherine told Henry about her apprehension on raining days, as she also passed away in rain at the last chapter.

1，a solder’s proud of get his honor and wounds
Ettore Moretti, an Italian from San Francisco who was in the Italian army， met Henry in a little bar. In the conversation between these two men, we can know Ettore is very proud of his medal and his scar. His words, like”Believe me they're fine to have. I'd rather have them than medals. Believe me, boy, when you get three you've got something. You only get one for a wound that puts you three months in the hospital.”, just shows us a solder like him would be proud of his wounds and show to others as a proof of his bravery. In his eyes, the more severe injuries ,the more courageous and skillful in battle he was.

2,a solder’s respect and military absolute obedience to a general
Ettore Moretti said ”No, I don't know enough to be a general. A general's got to know a hell of a lot. You guys think there ain't anything to war. You ain't got brains enough to be a second-class corporal.” in chapter 19. This sentence shows his respect to a skillful and experienced general. I think this sentence can also be seemed as a symbol of military absolute obedience.

3，Henry ’s real love to Catherine
Ettore is a very rude, ambitious and boastful man. In the strong contrast between Henry and Ettore, we can know Henry’s a ideal man for Catherine. He has no interest in getting more honor. He is a disciplined man. The sentence,”You have a splendid rank. I don't want you to have any more rank. It might go to your head. Oh, darling, I'm awfully glad you're not conceited. I'd have married you even if you were conceited but it's very restful to have a husband who's not conceited.” , shows Catherine wants her future husband could be a quieter, English gentleman-type heroes. To sum up, the calmness of Henry would make the readers believe he is the right，perfect man for Catherine.

Through the story development, I found out four themes in this chapter.
First, the status differences
At the bottom of page 106, there are words talking about Miss Van Campen’s attitude towards Catherine, it is said that “She thought Catherine came from very good people and that prejudiced her in her favor finally, Miss Van Campen admired family very much and came from an excellent family herself”. From the beginning of this chapter I could read people’s attitude towards different people with different family status. Also, during the conversation took place among Ettore, Simmons and Henry, both Ettore and Henry talked a lot about their old experiences, also about their military ranks, such as the conditions of being a captain, the official salaries of taking part in American army, the medals they attained. The status differences always led to the vanity and conceit, which was shown in Ettore’s words, “Jesus Christ what I could do with two hundred and fifty dollars, you better get in the American army quick, Fred, see if you can’t get me in”. The chat between Catherine and Henry showed her attitude towards the status difference too. “You have a splendid rank, I don’t want you to have any more rank. It might go to your head. Oh, darling, I’m awfully glad you’re not conceited”.
Second, the kind part of humanity, love
“I have some things for my boys, you’re all my boys, you certainly are my dear boys”. “Those dear boys, you too, you’re one of my boys”. The kindness and love that Mrs Meyers had to all those men she met was clearly enough. The chat between Catherine and Henry brought out the love of human nature as well. “I’d have married you even if you were conceited but it’s restful to have a husband who’s not conceited”.
Third, the cruelty of the war
From the conversation among those three soldiers, talking about their horrible injuries, and the experiences shooting soldiers from the other side, the cruelty of the war must be another significant theme. Even though they were proud of the injuries they obtained during the war time, the pain and the loss of themselves would only be hidden under their deep heart because it must be horribly hurt. “There’s dead bone in my foot that stinks right now. Every morning I take new little pieces out and it stinks all the time”. In addition, the description from Ettore about the killing of soldiers throwing him a hand-grenade also revealed the cruelty in an apparent way.
Fourth, the insecurity and fear to death
To Ettore, “It knocked me down and I thought I was dead all right but those damn potato mashers haven’t got anything in them”. “I shot him in the belly. I was afraid I’d miss him if I shot him in the head”. Here showed his fear to death because it was a life-or-death struggle on the battle field. Even he mentioned that killing a person was not a big deal, I could speculate the fear when he did that in the first time, but the soldiers must all get used to it and that was a tragedy. Another apparent part showing the insecurity and fear to death was from Catherine’s words by the end of the chapter. “I’m afraid of the rain because sometimes I see me dead in it, and sometimes I see you dead in it”.

1. gambling: ""How were the races?""Fine. They were just lovely. I had three winners.""How did you do?" I asked Meyers."All right. I had a winner.""
2. duality: the duality of honor and dishonor of Mr. and Mrs. Meyer, of young and old, of frankness and dishonest...
3. vainglory: "She thought Catherine came from very good people and that prejudiced her in her favor finally. Miss Van Campen admired family very much and came from an excellent family herself. The hospital was quite busy, too, and that kept her occupied."
4. nationalism: ""You're just a wop from Frisco.""He can't pronounce Italian," Ettore said. "Everywhere he goes they throw the benches at him.""
5. love: "All I wanted was to see Catherine. The rest of the time I was glad to kill." & ""It's raining hard.""And you'll always love me, won't you?""Yes.""And the rain won't make any difference?""No."" Such theme between Henry and Catherine.
6. afraid of war: "“It knocked me down and I thought I was dead all right but those damn potato mashers haven’t got anything in them”. “I shot him in the belly. I was afraid I’d miss him if I shot him in the head”"

1. gambling: ""How were the races?""Fine. They were just lovely. I had three winners.""How did you do?" I asked Meyers."All right. I had a winner.""
2. duality: the duality of honor and dishonor of Mr. and Mrs. Meyer, of young and old, of frankness and dishonest...
3. vainglory: "She thought Catherine came from very good people and that prejudiced her in her favor finally. Miss Van Campen admired family very much and came from an excellent family herself. The hospital was quite busy, too, and that kept her occupied."
4. nationalism: ""You're just a wop from Frisco.""He can't pronounce Italian," Ettore said. "Everywhere he goes they throw the benches at him.""
5. love: "All I wanted was to see Catherine. The rest of the time I was glad to kill." & ""It's raining hard.""And you'll always love me, won't you?""Yes.""And the rain won't make any difference?""No."" Such theme between Henry and Catherine.
6. afraid of war: "“It knocked me down and I thought I was dead all right but those damn potato mashers haven’t got anything in them”. “I shot him in the belly. I was afraid I’d miss him if I shot him in the head”"

1. The pursuit of glory and money
From chapter 19, we can see that the soldiers are very willing to continue the war instead of ending it up. Because by doing this, they will have more chances to get promoted. And if they get more promoted, it means that they will have more money and gain more fame. In particular, it will give them more privilege. For instance, in the book, it says that "Jesus Christ what I could do with two hundred and fifty dollars, I think ” which implies that the soldier will get more money if he gets promoted. Just because the desire of getting promoted, or in other words, the pursuit of the glory, can the war continue.
2. Desicrimination of racism
In the book, there is a dialogue happened between two soldiers. One soldier says that "He can't pronounce Italian, everywhere he goes they throw the benches at him." Although he says this in a tone of joke, it much or less reveals that the discrimination between the Italians and the people who cannot speak Italian. In Italy, only people who can speak Italian can own the rights. And the people who cannot speak Italian can be treated with scorn and get humiliation. This actually reflects a kind of racial discrimination which is really negative to the society

1.Vain glory: "She thought Catherine came from very good people and that prejudiced her in her favor finally. Miss Van Campen admired family very much and came from an excellent family herself. The hospital was quite busy, too, and that kept her occupied.", “I’m going to be a captain for merit of war. You know. Three stars with the crossed swords and crown above. That’s me.” in the pursuit of vain glory, they kind of showed off their property.
2. nationalism and prejudice: "He can't pronounce Italian," Ettore said. "Everywhere he goes they throw the benches at him.", "You're just a wop from Frisco."
3.love: “I have some things for my boys, you’re all my boys, you certainly are my dear boys”. “Those dear boys, you too, you’re one of my boys”. represents the fine relationship between Henry and Catherine and the peace they pursued
4.scene of war: “There’s dead bone in my foot that stinks right now. Every morning I take new little pieces out and it stinks all the time”. together with some other descriptions outlined the fear and resist to war

I can find 6 themes in Chapter 19

The first is the war going on. In the first paragraph Henry was talking about the war. The war seemed endless and there were people dying. He started thinking about wars in the past, thinking about Napoleon and the Hundreds-Years war. At this moment, Henry actually showed his concerns that when it is going to end and his willing to really end the war.

The second is gambling. This part can be learnt from the conversation between Henry and Meyer. Actually should a soldier gamble?

The third is the changing season. Seasons always seemed important that Romance and Passion are actually over and we are actually entering a tragedy. "The summer went that way."

The fourth is the Hero. Ettore is a brave hero in the army according to Henry and Catherine. He wounded for three times and survived. Actually a Hero is someone that others should admire or respect. However NO ONE liked him because he is a legitimate hero. He is not a hero morally. Is this kind of hero permitted to exist in the world? I think not.

The fifth is romance. In the last part of the chapter. Henry and Catherine are proving their love to each other.

The last is Death. When Catherine tell Henry the reason why she is afraid of the rain, she said she can see herself or Henry dying in the rain. This come backs to the sorrow death. Also this is kind of a prophesy that Catherine herself dies in the rain at last in chapter 41.

These are the themes I find. : )

Gamble
The first theme is gambling. We can tell from the characters' dialogue that Mr. and Mrs. Meyers take part in the horse races and bet the first place with money.
2. Rain
At the end of this chapter, Catherine and Henry were together, lingering. They had a conversation:
It’s raining hard.”
“And you’ll always love me, won’t you?”
“Yes.”
“And the rain won’t make any difference?”
“No.”
As rain usually sets a sad tone, and Catherine is afraid that because of the natural climate that will change Henry’s love for her. Also, rain also means coldness and gloomy, contradicting to the lovers passionate relationship.
3. Fame and glory.
According to the Ettore and Henry’s conversation on the metals he received.

1. Alternation of the season
“Summer has passed away” indicates that the season is changing throughout the novel. Henry’s life might also change accordingly later.
2. Vanity
“Believe me they’re fine to have.I’d rather have them better than medals. Believe me, boy, when you get three, you’ve got something.” Soldiers in the war were quite proud of the medals they got and they would sometimes show them off. However, the medals are just symbols of them, which could not represent the whole person of them and is quite irrelevant to the war. They just enjoy the feeling to show off and get praise from others.
3. Paralysis
I think this theme could be the manifestation of vanity of the soldiers. They were all lost in the war and they were all paralyzed by the praise for something vain.
Also, self- paralysis could be shown in the action of drinking alcohol, which would make them dizzy and unclear about the ongoing war.