What is the name of the protagonist in A Farewell to Arms?

The protagonist in A Farewell to Arms is Frederic Henry. He is an American serving as a lieutenant in the Italian ambulance corps during World War I, and he narrates the novel in the first person.

Published in 1929, the novel draws on Hemingway’s own experience as a Red Cross ambulance driver in Italy. Frederic is wounded during a mortar attack and sent to a hospital in Milan, where he begins a relationship with the English nurse Catherine Barkley. Their romance unfolds against the retreat, confusion, and violence of the war.

Frederic Henry is sometimes confused with Jake Barnes, the narrator of The Sun Also Rises, or Harry Morgan, the central character of To Have and Have Not. Another common mistake is calling him a conventional Italian soldier: he is American, even though he serves with the Italian Army’s ambulance service. His first name is spelled “Frederic,” without the second “k.”