Summary and Analysis
Book Two:
Chapter XXII
Summary
Lieutenant Henry is diagnosed with what is probably hepatitis. Discovering empty liquor bottles in his armoire, Nurse Van Campen accuses him of drinking to excess so as to contract the disease and thereby remain in the hospital, which Henry denies. As a result of his illness, he must cancel his planned vacation with Catherine.
Analysis
It is raining hard on the day after Catherine Barkley's announcement of her pregnancy, the symbolism of which seems undeniable. Nurse Van Campen's theory that a man would contract a painful illness in order to avoid fighting underlines just how far some indeed will go in order to avoid combat. Again, Lieutenant Henry is not alone in his ambivalence about the war.
Glossary
the jaundice colloquial reference to a disease, usually hepatitis, causing the eyeballs, the skin, and the urine to become abnormally yellowish as a result of increased amounts of bile pigments in the blood.
Pallanza town on Lake Maggiore.
Lago Maggiore Lake Maggiore, which spans the border between Italy and Switzerland, northwest of Milan.
Stresa town on Lake Maggiore.
kümmel a colorless liqueur flavored with caraway seeds, anise, cumin, etc.