He indicates that "we were never lonely and never afraid when
we were together. I know that the night is not the same as the day: that
all things are different, that the things of the night cannot be explained
in the day, because they do not then exist, and the night can be a dreadful
time for lonely people once their loneliness has started."
One is prompted to consider this character relative to another war
time figure of literary note, Hemingway's Jake Barnes. The protagonist of
The Sun Also Rises, he fails to find Henry's redemption and must suffer his
wartime injury of impotence with a staggering loneliness. He faces it with
stoicism and sarcasm, and contrary to Henry, must endure it in the company
of an inconstant and flighty woman. The distinction is significant as
Henry is enabled a transformation to this warmth and companionship never
afforded the...
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