A Farewell to Arms: Chapter 27 Summary & Analysis

Henry goes the next day to Bainsizza, a mountainous region that has seen heavy fighting. There, he meets Gino, a local Italian youth. They talk military strategy and Gino then dismisses talk of defeat, saying that they cannot let the losses the Italians suffered be in vain. Henry is embarrassed by the expression "in vain," as well as by other abstract words like "sacred, glorious, and sacrifice." He considers these words to be meaningless and even obscene in comparison to objective details like the names of places and dates.

Rain begins to fall and an enemy bombardment begins. Word races through the Italian lines that Germans are among the attacking soldiers and that the Italian lines have broken. The Italians begin a massive retreat. When they reach Gorizia, Henry sees the girls from the soldiers' brothel being loaded into a truck. Bonello, one of Henry's drivers, says that he'd like to ride in that truck and "have a crack at them for nothing." Everyone has evacuated, including Rinaldi. After briefly resting and eating, Henry and the other ambulance drivers join the retreat.