The two symbols best noticeable in the passage are the river and the stars on Frederic's uniform. The river as in many stories represents a change or baptismal. In this case, the river was representing the removal of Frederic from the war front. On one side of the river he's still an ambulance driver for the Italian army during World War I; on the other side, however, he is a civilian in the middle of a war that is now foreign to him. The stars also serve as a symbol but represent the same thing the river does. When he removes them he is simply calling it quits and removing himself from the war. Frederic becomes a civilian in the uniform of a soldier at this point. The uniform is not mentioned directly in the passage but it also has a definite representation. While he can remove the stars from the uniform, he cannot take it off. That shows that while Frederic can take himself out of the war, it will never completely leave him. Even when he dresses in civilian clothes, he mentions how he feels strange and misses his old clothes. "In civilian clothes I felt a masquerader. I had been in uniform a long time and I missed the feeling of being held by your clothes" (Hemmingway 243). The scenes of battle will stay with him forever and he will never be completely normal again.
The passage also demonstrates how much Frederic has changed from the beginning of the novel. His view towards honor is completely different. Frederic has come to the conclusion that there is no honor in the war as once believed but he does not ridicule those who continue to fight. He wishes them luck but for Frederic, it is no longer what he wants to be doing. Is this noble or cowardly? I would tend to believe that it is more cowardly than noble, because he is not really doing the killing but helping out those who have been injured; he has made a commitment to help and is running away from it. However, it could be considered noble because he is looking for peace by refusing to support either side. This all brings the reader to the fact of how much Frederic has changed since the beginning. He is no longer seeking the action and glory that was commonly associated with the war but running to the arms of his love. Also he is making the transition from "Hemingway hero" to "Code hero" because is bring up the fact that he has to stop and eat and fulfill his needs.