Frederick Henry to understand that he must leave the childish impulses behind and move on to strengthening his manhood. In order to do that he has to recognize that he is not a warrior, so, therefore, there is no need for him to be in this war. By being immature, he foolishly enlisted into the Italian army. His only reason was the search for adventure and that is where he thought he could find it. The pretentious view of war as a game is childish. He must learn that lives are at stake especially his own. By becoming a real man, Frederick Henry must disassociate himself with the attitudes and actions of the other officers. The officers, who enjoy whoring around with women and drinking all kinds of alcohol, inflict some peer pressure onto Frederick, who joins in with all the corruption and contamination. The blurring of whoring and the war gives reference to the biblical story of Sodom and Gomorrah. In the story, the cities were completely destroyed because of all the sin and sexual indulgences going on there. There is a comparison that with all of the sin resulting from their actionsthat, in some way, the war will possibly catch up and destroy them, as well. By bowing to the peer pressure, Frederick wound up choosing to go to Rome and the other big cities for his vacation. Instead of listening to the priest and going to Abruzze, where he could cleanse his soul, he went only to the places that may offer exciting stories that he could tell the officers. If he went to Abruzze, and had the chance to reflect on his life, he may have came back a new man, but he did not, so he still struggles to become an aficion. Frederick was taught what the war was all about by the mechanics. They told him all about the trap of being in the war, using the Granatieri and Carabinieri as an example, of not having a choice on whether or not to go to battle. If they refused, they would be executed by the officers. Frederick was indifferent to the mechanics and th...
