Beginning with an introduction of the “all American boy,” Hemingway launches the short story “Soldier’s Home” with a simplistic, yet through depiction of the protagonist Harold Krebs. Attending a Methodist college in Kansas based with a strong religious foundation, Krebs seemed to be one who had his life all figured out. Nonetheless, this all changes when Krebs makes a conscious decision to enlist in the Marines during the occurrence of World War I. Based off of Ernest Hemingway’s famous works, it is very typical of him to initiate his short stories with a contrasting theme---in this case war and religion. One of the Ten Commandments of the Bible is “thou shall not murder.” However, regardless of whether it is believed that war is justifiable …show more content…
Throughout the short story, it is unmistakable that Hemingway chooses to emit imagery. Due to the lack of vivid diction and disconnected sentence structure, it is evident that upon his return, Harold becomes exceedingly detached from his reality. Krebs is one who craves simplicity in his life, only interested in playing his clarinet and scrolling around the town (167). World War I completely altered his views on life. Through a third person narration, it is mentioned that upon his homecoming, Krebs refrained from talking about his experiences at war. Regardless, at this point, the community did not want to hear any more stories once he became interested to share, since they heard it from the others who returned home on time. The people of his home town Oklahoma became traumatized and uninterested in what he had to say. Krebs then came to the conclusion that in order to be heard, he would have to lie, which contradicts his yen for simplicity …show more content…
During this time period it was common for young men to enlist into the army for the thrill and honor. While this task is not as strenuous (in terms of literal battle) as being a on the front line of the field, the visions and experiences are definitely both life changing. While on the Italian front, Hemingway was seriously wounded by a mortar blast, following a machine gun while handing out supplies (165). Not only is the presence of war and injury presented in “Soldier’s Home,” but it is also prevalent in his other short stories that make up his collection In Our Time (165). It is evident that through the characters of his collections, that Hemingway first handedly understands the gravity of the impact that is left on people’s lives after returning from a war. This is evident in “Soldier’s Home” as he clearly depicts that not only was Krebs changed, but his mother was also distraught by her son’s mental
In “Soldier’s Home,” the main character Krebs exhibits grief, loneliness. When he returns home with the second group of soldiers he is denied a hero's return. From here he spends time recounting false tales of his war times. Moving on, in the second page of the story he expresses want but what he reasons for not courting a female. A little while after he is given permission to use the car. About this time Krebs has an emotional exchange with both his little sister and his mother. Revealing that “he feels alienated from both the town and his parents , thinking that he had felt more ‘at home’ in Germany or France than he does now in his parent’s house”(Werlock). Next, the story ends with his mother praying for him and he still not being touched. Afterwards planning to move to Kansas city to find a job. Now, “The importance of understanding what Krebs had gone through in the two years before the story begins cannot be overstated. It is difficult to imagine what it must have been for the young man”(Oliver). Near the start of the story the author writes of the five major battles he “had been at”(Hemingway) in World War I- Bellaue Wood, Soissons, Champagne, St.Mihiel, and Argonne. The importance of these are shown sentences later that the
In An American Soldier in World War I, David Snead examines account of George Browne, a civil engineer who fought as part of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) during World War I. Snead shares Browne’s account of the war through the letters he wrote to his fiancé Martha Ingersoll Johnson. Through Browne’s letters and research conducted of the AEF, Snead gives a concise, informative, and harrowing narrative of life as a soldier serving in the camps and front lines of the Great War. Snead attempts to give the reader an understanding of Browne’s service by focusing on his division, the 42nd Division, their training and preparation, combat on the front lines, and the effects of war on George and Martha’s relationship. As Snead describes, “Brownie’s letters offer a view of the experiences of an American soldier. He described the difficulties of training, transit to and from France, the dangers and excitement of combat, and the war’s impact on relationships.” (Browne 2006, 2) Furthermore, he describes that despite the war’s effect on their relationship, “their
The main point of “Vagueness and ambiguity in Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” two puzzling passages” is to describe what made Ernest Hemingway’s character Krebs such a mysterious dynamic character and how was his influences impacted on who he is. Milton Cohen describes how Hemingway use the “iceberg technique” to enhance readers to figure out the missing idea on what’s being interpreted in Krebs mind. At the beginning of the article Cohen use the word “vagueness” which means to not have a clear sight or any other senses that is recognizable in an indefinite way (Cohen 159). Statements that Cohen have noted about Hemingway’s story being too vague included the two passages that exaggerating his war stories towards others and the idea for Krebs to
The Elusiveness of War and the Tenuousness of Morality in Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried,” “How to Tell a True War Story,” and “Style”
When Krebs was in the army, he had a defined identity as a soldier and when he returns home Krebs’s reluctance to take the defined identity of the everyday joe shmoe that is awaiting him. Krebs difficulty to involve himself with the girls in his hometown reflects his refusal to conform to society’s expectation of him. Krebs associates his hometown girls as death to his individualism. All the girls in Krebs hometown look alike with their “round Dutch collars above their sweaters... their silk stockings and flat shoes,” (Hemingway; 49) and “their bobbed hair and the way they walked” (49). The strict uniformity of the girls that Krebs observes can be interpreted to resemble the uniformity of soldiers. Hemingway utilizes diction to illustrate Krebs’s opinion on the army’s forced conformity; “but they lived in such a complicated world of already defined alliances and shifting feuds that Krebs did not feel the energy or the courage to break into it” (49). In context of war, “alliances” is a word used between countries and in World War I it meant The Allies. Krebs using word “alliances...
A true war story is never moral. It does not instruct, nor encourage virtue, nor suggest models of proper human behavior, nor restrain ...
While soldiers are often perceived as glorious heroes in romantic literature, this is not always true as the trauma of fighting in war has many detrimental side effects. In Erich Maria Remarque 's All Quiet On The Western Front, the story of a young German soldier is told as he adapts to the harsh life of a World War I soldier. Fighting along the Western Front, nineteen year old Paul Baumer and his comrades begin to experience some of the hardest things that war has to offer. Paul’s old self gradually begins to deteriorate as he is awakened to the harsh reality of World War 1, depriving him from his childhood, numbing all normal human emotions and distancing future, reducing the quality of his life.
One of Ernest Hemingway’s greatest novels, “A Farewell to Arms”, has been surrounded by controversy among literary, as well as historical, scholars regarding Hemingway’s inspiration for the famous novel. Many feel that Ernest Hemingway created this fictional book solely from his imagination rather than his experiences, while others believe that Hemingway drew the inspiration for this book from his experience as a volunteer ambulance driver throughout the war. Even though there has been much controversy, there is documented historical proof that the experiences that Hemingway had experienced from his time in the war had influenced his creation of “A Farewell to Arms”.
When the United States entered World War 1, Hemingway joined the Red Cross medical service. He served on the Italian front as a medic. He performed an act of heroisms during a mortar bombardment. Hemingway was badly injured in the knee from shrapnel, but he managed to carry a wounded soldier to an aid station. Afterwards he was decorated for his bravery and rejoined the Italian army as a soldier. He also served in World War 2 in a division that captured Paris, his favorite city. It is said that the first ...
Hemingway, Ernest. "Soldier's Home." The Bedford Introduction to Literature, 6th Edition. Ed. Michael Meyer. New York: Bedford/St. Martin's. 2002. 152-57.
The story has different elements that make it a story, that make it whole. Setting is one of those elements. The book defines setting as “the context in which the action of the story occurs” (131). After reading “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemmingway, setting played a very important part to this story. A different setting could possibly change the outcome or the mood of the story and here are some reasons why.
The short story “In Another Country” by Earnest Hemingway is a story about the negative effects of war. The story follows an unnamed American officer and his dealings with three other officers, all of whom are wounded in World War I and are recuperating in Milan, Italy. In war, much can be gained such as freedom and peace, however war also causes a plethora of negative consequences. Cultural alienation, loss of physical and emotional identity, and the irony of war technology and uncertainty of life are all serious consequences of war that are clearly shown by Hemingway.
What has been existed in life after the war? Nobody knows "how it was going to be afterward." Man's life will be totally changed. They will be unable to come back with their natural and normal life. They seem lost everything; their families, their hobbies, their lives, and they'll has nothing from the war's ravages. The image of soldiers of Hemingway' story has sustained injuries due to fighting on the battlefield inflects that they will never be the same again. One of the men' knees "cannot bend" and his leg "dropped straight from the knee to the ankle without a calf" and another with his hand like a little baby's. The devastating injuries due to the war changed these soldiers' lives forever. Before the war, they had a normal life; the boy with the injured leg loved playing football, other was the greatest fencer in Italy. From now on, their hobbies are really gone forever although all efforts to help them rejuvenate to do. And the boy who lost his nose will never be looked as a normal person again. The war is so horrible with its devastation not only on the physical but also the motional.
Hemingway shows weltschmerz, which is a mental depression or apathy caused by comparison of the actual state of the world with an ideal state (Merriam-Webster Dictionary), in his writing due to his experiences while serving in the army. The vast majority of his outstanding war work is composed of the aftermath as well as what occurs to a soldiers soul as a consequence. After World War I, Hemingway kept a fragment of shrapnel among many other small charms from the war in a small change
Theme is a literary element used in literature and has inspired many poets, playwrights, and authors. The themes of love and war are featured in literature, and inspire authors to write wartime romances that highlight these two themes. Ernest Hemingway’s A Farewell to Arms deals with the collective themes in the human experience such as love and the reality of war. A Farewell to Arms is narrated from the perspective of Fredric Henry, an ambulance driver in the Italian army, and pertains to his experiences in the war. The novel also highlights the passionate relationship between Henry and Catherine Barkley, a British nurse in Italy. Henry’s insight into the war and his intense love for Catherine emphasize that love and war are the predominant themes in the novel and these themes contribute to bringing out the implicit and explicit meaning of the novel. Being a part of the Italian army, Henry is closely involved with the war and has developed an aversion to the war. Henry’s association with the war has also made him realise that war is inglorious and the sacrifices made in war are meaningless. Specifically, Henry wants the war to end because he is disillusioned by the war and knows that war is not as glorious as it is made up to be. The state of affairs and the grim reality of the war lead Henry towards an ardent desire for a peaceful life, and as a result Henry repudiates his fellow soldiers at the warfront. Henry’s desertion of the war is also related to his passionate love for Catherine. Henry’s love for Catherine is progressive and ironic. This love develops gradually in “stages”: Henry’s attempt at pretending love for Catherine towards the beginning of the novel, his gradually developing love for her, and finally, Henry’s impas...