Part Three, Chapter XXXVIII - XLIV Summary

In Chapter XXXVIII, Hanna receives a letter from her husband that he is coming home, and she has wildly mixed feelings about his arrival. In Chapter XXXIX, the military doctors run into Major Von Pasenow in the inn dining room and join him. The Major remarks that the war has turned bad, but there can only be peace if it is honorable peace. The men speak of honor and materialism, and the doctors do not speak their true feelings about the horror of war, out of respect for Major Von Pasenow. Joachim has become very reflective and speaks of his children, and says his oldest boy was killed in the war. In Chapter XL, Godicke is still struggling to bring his personality and mind back together, while dealing with the tremendous injuries to...