Paper Edit

Lynn Hovde

Eng101

Oct.6 2018

"Soldier's Home"

Ernest Hemingway’s, "Soldier's Home," is a short story that shows the tragic impact of war on ex-marine young man, Horald Krebs when he returns home in Oklahoma after living at Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Mihiel and in the Argonne. Having taken part in the German war, he had transformed and realizes that his home is still as it was when he left apart from the matured girls whose pattern of life seems complicated for him. As such, the story exposes the reader to alienation, trauma, and isolation, as the effect of war in the entire story.

Krebs returns home after the war and finds himself alienated from the environment including the family that does not seem to have changed in any way. His situation is made worse by the late return at a time when all other former soldiers had returned, celebrated as heroes and narrated the atrocities that had been going on at war (Hemingway 1). Everyone is tired of the horrific experiences, and they do not consider Krebs’s stories at all. The consequences of war are not over with him, and he does not consider himself as a hero the way everyone thinks he is. His own mother asks about war but hardly takes time to listen to him (Hemingway 2). Therefore, he became more isolated and alienated from his own family to the extent that when the mother asks him whether he loves her, he says, no.

Furthermore, when Krebs reflects on the two- year experience, he is forced to isolate himself from the experiences by lying about the horrific situations. He realizes that it is too hard to forget his experiences in war and so as he discusses it with a carefree attitude he is traumatized, hardly relieved from the killings he did. He has lost faith and morals, hence when his mother tells him that he if of His Kingdom, he responds, and “I’m not in His Kingdom (Hemingway 7) His mother acts in his own good revealing to him that his father who had never allowed him to drive his vehicle not is willing to have him use the vehicle and he should acquire a job so as to start his life. On the other hand, Krebs thinks he does not need a complicated life. Even when his mother asks him to pray, he says he cannot. Thus, it is apparent that the effects of war have made him distance himself from God and no longer associates himself with the normal life of his hometown.

Furthermore, Krebs is alienated from reality and matters such as love, relationships, and marriage do not seem to him any relevant. He says though he likes watching the girls pay by, he does not want to try so much, do struggle to get one, to do anything that will bring to him consequences (Hemingway 3). He recalls when he was in the marine and the experiences some army men shared about girls and puts the thoughts off. He does not need love for the war must have affected him to a level that he thinks anything he will get affectionate with might face consequences.

Overall, Soldier’s Home is a fascinating but sad story of an ex-soldier, Krebs who is affected by war. He shows that through loss of attachment to family members, the society, and women. He believes in lying about his experiences he might avoid consequences. Nonetheless, he is forced to look for a job and disappear from home because of the haunting life.

Works Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. "Soldier's Home." (1925): 1-8. <http://www.somanybooks.org/eng208/SoldiersHome.pdf>.