What role does drinking play in the narrative and how is it significant to the novel’s meaning?

The characters of the story spend much of their time drinking and Frederic is very specific in describing the quality of the drink and the type of beverage, whether it is several martinis with lunch or a canteen of plundered wine during a retreat. Drinking underscore the spirit of urbanity and casual wit that permeates events like the race track where the party imbibes scotch and soda or in the hotel room when Frederic muses upon the wonderful qualities of a good whiskey. Drinking can also serve as a coping mechanism as it does during the retreat when he and the drivers have a pleasant time drinking the cellar wine before joining the retreat or later when he downs several beers while Catherine is enduring her protracted labor. Catherine herself, under her doctor’s advice, drinks beer during her pregnancy to help keep the baby’s weight down and hopefully compensate for her thin hips. Because A Farewell to Arms was published during the American prohibition, the carefree consumption of alcohol depicted in the novel can be taken to have political meaning as well as express a pro-European stance. Hemingway himself was a legendary consumer of alcohol and like many others moved to Paris in the twenties in part to escape the restrictive Prohibition period in the United States.