Literary Analysis Ess@y Final Draft

Surname

Jada Nelson

Introduction to Literature

Prof. Harrity

April 2, 2023

Being Human in War

Through the creative use of language, literature can convey complex ideas and emotions, providing insight into the human condition and how people are related to the world around them. Literature can achieve this through its use of characters. Characters are primarily utilized to demonstrate individual, societal, and community issues, offering a window into people's real-world experiences and struggles. By presenting characters whose traits and experiences are relatable, literature can resonate with the audience and elicit emotional responses, making it a powerful approach to expressing and addressing real-world issues. In addition, literature can employ symbolism, imagery, and other literary devices to improve its impact and convey meaning beyond the literal words on the page. Effective use of literary devices can offer rich and nuanced portrayals of the world and its inhabitants, creating new insights and perspectives into our shared human experience.

"Soldier's Home" is a short story by Ernest Hemingway, first published in 1925. It revolves around a young man named Harold Krebs, who returns to his small town in Oklahoma after participating in World War I. The story portrays Krebs' struggle to readjust to civilian life and the difficulty he faces in reconciling his experiences in the war with the expectations of his family and community. Through the demonstration of Krebs' struggle to find meaning and identity, the story raises critical questions about the effects of war on individual identity and the challenges returning veterans face. This paper seeks to conduct a thematic analysis of 'Soldier's Home' to reveal several key themes.

Literature uses language creatively to share the experience and relationship with the environment supporting a compelling presentation of literature's role in human experience. Literature productively uses characters to depict separate society, environment, and social issues, resonating with real-world human experience and performance. For instance, in Ernest Hemingway's "Soldier's Home" (1925), the author uses Krebs's experience and relationship with others after the war to depict real human experience. Essentially, the author uses the character to represent primary thematic concerns, including post-war and traumatic experiences, expression language, men's and women's relationships in society, lies, and society.

The theme of alienation and isolation is central in "Soldier's Home." This theme is strongly brought out through the character of Krebs, who is the protagonist of the story. Krebs is portrayed as emotionally detached, unable to create meaningful connections with other people, and isolated from his community. He feels disconnected from his family and friends, who do not comprehend what he has been through in the war. His inability to express his emotions exacerbates this alienation, leaving him isolated and alone.

Additionally, the theme of alienation and isolation is brought out through the story's setting. Krebs' hometown is represented as a closed, insular community that cannot comprehend or relate to the experiences of soldiers returning from the war. Furthermore, Hemingway highlights this theme by showing the relationship between Krebs and the women in his life. Krebs struggles to connect with women in his hometown, feels disconnected from his mother and sister, and objectifies the town girls he meets. Lastly, using language and style such as the spare, minimalist prose, and lack of dialogue between characters, Hemingway creates a sense of emotional distance and isolation.

The society in the story features a recurring motif of lying, which plays an essential role in the plot. The theme of lying is present throughout the story and is linked to the main character Krebs' struggles with attachment, affection, and loss of identity after returning from the war with PTSD. The story suggests that Krebs' problems stem from the fact that he had to lie about his experiences in the war to be heard when he returned home. After lying twice, he intensely disliked talking about the war. Although it may seem excessive to attribute Krebs' loss of self solely to his white lies, the story implies this is a significant factor. Ergo, lying, and society are at the Centre of the short story's thematic presentation and articulation. Furthermore, lying as a motif in the story speaks to the broader theme of truth and authenticity. The inability of Krebs to be truthful about his experiences in the war reflects a more significant societal trend towards inauthenticity and superficiality.

War and trauma are aspects of the community that present personal, group, and societal impacts. Similarly, in "Soldier's Home," a short story by Ernest Hemingway, the protagonist is Krebs, a young soldier who returns to his hometown after World War I. Hemingway does not overtly describe Krebs' feelings, but the story's tough, unemotional language mirrors Krebs' suppressed state of mind. Following the war, Krebs sleeps late, has minimal interest in conversing with others, and aimlessly wanders around his home area. This lack of connection between Krebs and those around him - including his family, fellow soldiers, and the girls he observes from his porch - offers a crucial insight into how soldiers cope or fail to cope with life after experiencing the trauma of war. Moreover, the story suggests that Krebs' struggles adapting to civilian life are just as traumatic as any trauma he experienced during the war. Thus, war and traumatic experiences are halfway through the short story, presenting humane actions and experiences.

Relationship between males and females is another critical view of human interaction and experience, depicting essential social collaboration and association. Consequently, Hemingway's depiction of gender roles reflects unreasonable and prejudiced expectations towards men and women that a modern reader might find objectionable. "Soldier's Home" is a prime example of this. Although Krebs' incapacity to express his feelings can be attributed to the trauma of war, it also signifies a conventional masculine trait of keeping emotions hidden and considering emotional openness as a sign of weakness. In contrast, the female characters in the story conform to established ideas of feminine emotional expression.

Additionally, they are not portrayed as fully realized human beings - the girls Krebs encounters in town are merely a "pattern" to him, and the conversation between Krebs' mother and sister does not distinguish them as unique individuals. This reflects the traditional gender roles of Hemingway's time, which emphasized the importance of men as independent, self-sufficient actors and relegated women to supportive, nurturing roles. Ultimately, the portrayal of gender in "Soldier's Home" depicts the social and cultural norms of the time and highlights the impact of war on traditional gender roles and expectations.

To sum up everything that has been stated, Ernest Hemingway, in "Soldier's Home" (1925), presents Krebs's knowledge and relationship with others after the war to depict real human experience. This short story articulates themes such as post-war, as well as traumatic experiences, alienation and isolation, language expression, men’s, and women's relationships, lies, and society. Overall, this story is a powerful exploration of human experience and the challenges soldiers face when returning home from war. In addition, Hemingway's creative use of language helps to convey the emotional depth of the story's themes and characters, making it a poignant and enduring work of literature.

Work Cited

Hemingway, Ernest. “Soldier’s Home.” Compact Bedford Introduction to Literature: Reading, Thinking, Writing (8th ed.). Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2008. 165–170. Print