In Letters of the Century, Lisa Grunwald and Stephen J. Adler, include the ‘Dear John’ letter that Agnes von Kurowsky sent to Ernest Hemingway. The letter reveals something of the character of the woman who became the model for Catherine Barkley in A Farewell to Arms. And, perhaps more importantly, it reveals something about Hemingway’s role in their relationship.
An Important Letter
Grunwald and Adler open their compendium of letters with an explanation about why and how they made the book. In it they wrote, “Letters give history a voice.” What makes the “Dear John” letter sent from a nurse during WWI to a young American a voice of historical importance?
One reason is that the letter is an expert example of how to demean someone you once cared for. Another reason is that the recipient of the letter went on to be one of the premier writers of the twentieth century. But perhaps the best reason is that the woman who wrote the letter becomes the model for the main character of that young man’s breakthrough novel, which some consider to be his best novel.
Their Relationship
Ernest Hemingway met Agnes von Kurowsky after he was wounded in the legs at the Italian front. She was a twenty-six-year-old American nurse who was very popular with the soldiers. Hemingway was a handsome nineteen-year-old under her care. They became close. Hemingway was clearly in love with Agnes. How deeply Agnes felt for Hemingway is unknown. When he returned to the U.S., she stayed in Italy.
The ‘Dear John’ Letter
Hemingway continued to write to Agnes. However, Agnes decided to put an end to their relationship and on March 7, 1919 she wrote a letter explaining why she could not continue in their relationship.
In her letter, Agnes tries to convince herself that while the letter might hurt Hemingway, it would have no lasting effect on him. The first criticism that she lays at Hemingway’s feet is that she is convinced that she never truly loved him and that “after a couple of months away from you, I know that I am still very fond of you, but, it is more as a mother than as a sweetheart.”
Because of their age difference, Agnes had referred to Hemingway as ‘the Kid’ as a term of endearment, however, in her letter she turns her former nickname for him into an insult “I am now & always will be too old, & that's the truth, & I can't get away from the fact that you're just a boy - a kid.” Later in the letter, she describes Hemingway as a spoiled child.
Throughout the letter, the word choices are demeaning and belittling however, there is one sentence that reveals that, while Agnes wanted out, she recognized something unusual in Hemingway. Agnes writes “I somehow feel that some day I'll have reason to be proud of you, but, dear boy, I can't wait for that day,”
Why the Letter is so Important
The primary reason that the letter is so important is that the letter may have been the reason the world now has Ernest Hemingway listed as one of the literary elite. Without the letter, Hemingway may never have written A Farewell to Arms as a tragic love story. Because the novel was his breakthrough novel, it must be acknowledged as extremely important even if it is not his best novel.
In addition to perhaps giving impetus to the A Farewell to Arms, Agnes Von Kurowsky’s letter to Hemingway also gives clues to the character of Catherine Barkley. It is clear that the novel is in many ways, autobiographical. Hemingway fictionalized many elements of his life as part of the novel. Frederic Henry, like Hemingway falls in love with a nurse.
However, this nurse, Catherine Barkley, is true to her love interest and patient. They stay together and attempt to build a life together. Catherine and Henry’s relationship might be seen as Hemingway’s therapeutic attempt at writing about a might-have-been in his own life. However, he has a fatalistic response to the might-have-been. What can’t happen in real life can’t happen in the novel either and the story ends tragically.
However, in the novel the love is destroyed by external forces, which can ultimately be described as life. In real life the relationship is destroyed by one of the two pillars on which it must be founded. In the novel, the lovers are alone together against the world. In life, Hemingway is abandoned and finds himself alone.
Who is Catherine Barkley?
An interesting idea concerning Barkley is found when one compares her character to those of Agnes and Hemingway. In the book, she is the needier of the two lovers. She is in constant need of reassurance.
When one reads Agnes’ letter, it seems that Hemingway was the needy member in the relationship. Could there be another level of autobiography in the novel? Could Hemingway, have disguised his needs and desires in his female protagonist?
Sources
Grunwald, Lisa and Adler, Stephen J. America 1900-1999 Letters of the Century. The Dial Press. 1999. ISBN 0-385-31590-2
Hemingway, Ernest. A Farewell to Arms. Scribner Classics. 1997. ISBN-13: 978-0-684-83788-8 ISBN-10: 0-684-83788-9
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