lty and began carrying him off the battlefield. He succeeded in making it to the first aid center but was hit in the knees by machine-gun fire while on his journey. During his recover in Milan, Hemingway recorded his firsthand account of the action in a letter written to his parents. In it he stated: The 227 wounds I got from the trench mortar didn't hurt a bit at the time, only my feet felt like I had rubber boots full of water on. Hot water. And my kneecap was acting queer. (Meyers 32) Hemingway survived a terrifying attack, which would serve as great material for A Farewell to Arms. In the novel, Henry suffers from an identical wound by a trench mortar. Henry states that: My legs felt warm and wet and my shoes were wet and warm inside. I knew that I was hit and leaned over and put my hand on my knee. My knee wasn't there. My hand went in and my kneed was down on my shin. (Hemingway 55) Hemingway recalled his war wound and wrote of the same experience in the novel. In both the novel and real life, it is easy to visualize the same picture of the wound, so bloody that Hemingway's own shoes filled up with warm blood. Hemingway does not stop there with his similarities though. He digs further into the past to create the love that exists between characters Frederick henry and Catherine Barkley. In the war, Hemingway was sent to Milan to recover from his injuries. During his stay at the hospital, he fell in love with an American nurse by the name of Agnes von Kurowsky. The two were very affectionate in their love and wrote letters to each other when separated. Kurowsky even signed up to work nights so that she could spend more time with Hemingway. There was even a possibility of marriage, which later fizzled out. When Hemingway healed, he was sent home and Kurowsky fell in love with another, a devastating event that haunted Hemingway long after. (McDowell 20) Kurowsky did not come out ahead though; her newfound love dissolved only after a s...
