Soldier’s Home Analysis

Soldiers Home Literary Analysis It is an undeniable position that war changes mickle, and this change becomes especially apparent when passs return position to their families. In the short story Soldiers Home, Ernest Hemingway paints a picture of a soldiers state of mind after arriving home from the war and shows the difficulties of trying to live a normal life, fit in with society, and start over. Hemingway introduces Harold Krebs as he returns home from World War I much later than the rest of the soldiers.It is very evident from his behavior that he is traumatized, confused, and feels very much verboten of place. He doesnt know where to begin to pick up where he left off and truly feels confused most his purpose in life, which stinkpot be very much related to the way many soldiers feel in our generation. Things such as fitting in with the society, getting a job, and outset a new relationship become a lot more complicated, and Krebs expresses this several ages throughout th e story.He especially focuses on the subject of starting a relationship with a fille and his inability and lack of interest of even introducing himself. He likes to observe women, and even desires to be with one however, the idea of courting and spend time into it completely turns him off. Hemmingway never explains why Krebs feels this way and gives enough hints that perhaps Krebs once suffered heartbreak. Now he would have liked a girl if she had come to him and not wanted to talk, but here at home it was all too complicated.He knew he could never go through it all again. The reviewer is focused on the words again and It all, allowing the audience to assume that he might have done this once out front. The word complicated is ingeminate a numerous times when its associated with girls the girls live in a complicated world, they were too complicated, it is too complicated and He had tried to so to keep his life from being complicated. which is another clue that Krebs might have gone through a rough break-up.Whether this happened during his time away or before the war, Hemingway never explains. Another reason for Krebs lack of interest to date could be assumed that he developed different outlook on women in his time in Germany. During any war women usually become victims of sexual and physical assault and it is safe to assume that maybe Krebs experienced this during his time in Germany. His acquaintances, who had hear detailed accounts of German women found chained to machine guns and Vaguely, he wanted a girl but he id not want to spend a long time getting her are statements that back tooth allude to him having interest in getting a girl just for a short time, for pleasure, but nothing more. With all the disconnect Krebs feels, the reader is forced to question Where is home for Harold Krebs? It is obvious that he doesnt feel home, even though he comes from a great small town in Oklahoma, has a supportive and loving family, and has others praying for him . This, however, is not enough for Krebs to compensate for all the horrors he witnessed during the war.His mother encourages him to talk about it but never truly pays attention, which results with Krebs feeling like he cannot express himself without being misunderstood. During breakfast, his mother asks him to pray with her to what he responds, I cant. This signifies that Krebs lost his faith. He truly doesnt care what happens to him and proceeds to speak apathetically. When his father says dont you love your mother, dear boy? and Harold replies, no I dont love anyone. His mother instantly starts to cry, to which Harold realizes.He knows he hurt her feelings even though it doesnt seem like he meant to do it on purpose. Many can presume that Krebs cannot make his parents gain everything he went through in combat. Statement such as I dont love anyone almost sounds as if he is showing his parents he is all grown up and not the little boy he used to be. It is safe to say that Krebs i s probably tone ending through many emotions at once. There are things in which he says that he probably doesnt mean, but doesnt know how to express them otherwise.One slip of this is toward the end of the story when Harolds mother tells him she held him close to her heart when he was a baby, to which he replies, I know, Mummy, Ill try to be good for you. He contradicts himself by calling his mother Mummy, which shows he does indeed love her. He proceeds to tell himself that his conversation with his mother didnt touch him and travel away to Kansas City would be a good escape from his family situation. His thinking shows that he could possibly be lying to himself, trying to convince himself that life would be pause away from them.Maybe he doesnt want his mother to love him because he feels ashamed and nauseated for all the things hes done during the war. Hemingway leaves much of Soldiers Home to the readers interpretation. The story doesnt have a set plot and the main character Krebs is not better off in the end of the story or at the beginning. A lot of Krebs behavior can be paralleled to our modern day soldiers who come home from war in Iraq and Afghanistan. From personal experience, most of them never truly talk about everything that happened there, and if they do they never express their true emotions about the events.Many have perplexity coping with day-to-day lives and sometimes even express violent behavior toward their loved ones. Its hard to make judgments on their condition because the subject of cleanup spot another human being is rather incomprehensible to someone who has never been at war. It is something so abstract for us that the only way for us to understand is to be there physically and mentally and no cinematic movie will ever truly capture those feelings. Unfortunately during Hemingways era posttraumatic stress disorder was something that wasnt discussed or even treated.The society and culture at the time was very much removed from t he realities of what war was really like. It wasnt broadcasted over the internet, and people were not exposed to explicit documentaries that showed all the horrors that happen to people. I personally believe Hemingway, who also served briefly in World War I, could relate a lot to Krebs and his environment. It is something that could have been a way for him to cope with his own personal demons while trying to make the readers understand the feelings of apathy, emptiness and the state of mind of soldier upon his return home.