About her caesarian operation, Henry tells us that "It looked like a drawing of the Inquisition." Admitting once again that he himself is an agnostic, Henry briefly regrets that the baby was not baptized, then changes his mind. Notice that Catherine tells the admitting nurse she has no religion. Similarly, card games among the patrons of the café where Henry eats during the baby's ill-fated delivery remind us of his gross misunderstanding at the affair's beginning that it was a game, like chess or bridge. For instance, the nurse's instructions that Catherine change into a nightgown upon her arrival at the hospital remind us of the nightgown bought for the hotel stay on the couple's last night in Milan, perhaps even hinting that it was on that evening that Catherine conceived the baby she is about to bear. Then, as a result of multiple hemorrhages, Catherine dies as well.Ĭhapter XLI achieves its tragic and powerful effect mainly by following through on the painstaking preparation of all the chapters that have gone before. First the baby dies, having choked on its umbilical cord. In the novel's final chapter, Frederic Henry takes Catherine Barkley to the hospital, where she experiences a protracted and agonizing childbirth.
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