Blood, bodies, death, and horror; that is what sticks out most when it comes to war. Soldiers come home from seeing tragic events that leads to them having post traumatic stress disorder or PTSD for short. They come home after war completely changed and never the same person they were before. A story that discusses how soldiers are after coming home would be Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home.” In the story the main character comes home after being away at war but nothing is the same for him as it was before he left. He has come home from war and is now considered to be a hero and man in the eyes of his family and friends because he fought in the war. A quote from Hemingway’s story that best expresses how things changed for his character would be …show more content…
A quote that makes one think about the terrible things soldiers see at war would be “If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs, Obscene as cancer, bitter as the cud (Owen 408).” Owen’s story really goes into a horrific detail of what a solider saw at war, one can see why a person would never be the same. War is full of blood and dead bodies. Soldiers come home with PTSD after seeing such horrific things. In Owen’s story he even describes how someone looked dying. It makes one wonder how anyone can handle such a sight. This is why war changes them into a different person then they were before they left. Many come back with PTSD because what they see out there is so horrific and can never be unseen …show more content…
Soldiers have families at home waiting for them to come back alive. Families don't know what to expect when there soldier comes home. An article written in Newsweek talks about how a son has come home after another tour and the mother doesn't really know how to talk to him. She's worried she might say the wrong thing to him. “We didn't talk much about the likeli-hood of his return to the war. Instead we chatted that day about his computer. Its speed. Its size. Its amazing graphics (Diaz 16).” Communication wasn't easy, she didn't really know what he saw over there only the pictures he later showed her. Out of all the picture he took the one of the flower was the most meaningful because it was his way of seeing the beauty in all that disaster. The flower was like a sign of hope for him that things might get better. In the middle of all that bad there was something beautiful. He showed his mother those pictures in hopes that she might understand some of the things he saw. The pictures of everything he saw were his way of bringing his memories to
Being in war is definitely one of the most life changing events a person will ever have whether it be for the better or for the worst. Soldiers will witness events that are impossible to forget or see back at home in the states. Some soldiers may have even seen one of their best friends that they’ve known for forever get blown up into pieces right next to them, or they might even get one of their own limbs blown off of their own bodies, becoming handicapped for life. As a result of seeing something so intense like that, most soldiers are usually traumatized. In matter of fact, a great amount of soldiers are traumatized from the very beginning of being in war. It’s without a doubt difficult to deal with this but there are some ways where
Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried” is based on what soldiers went through facing war, and what they carried physically as well as emotionally. All of this pressure from war can cause and has caused post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in the soldiers. “PTSD is the development of a set of symptoms in the aftermath of psychologically distressing event—an event “outside the range of normal human experience.”” (Roberts 3). PTSD is a disorder that can happen to anyone, but many see it diagnosed in war veterans, from the effects of war. This disorder can ranges from outburst to solitude and can affect each person in a different way. Some symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder are re-experiencing or flashbacks,
Ernest Hemingway “Soldier’s Home" is an outstanding short story that shows the tragic impact of war on the life of a young soldier who returns home. The story paints a vibrant picture of a soldier’s life after coming back from a shocking experience. Hemingway shows impacts of war on a soldier with the main character being Harold Krebs, who faces hostility in his hometown after his return from fighting in the war. The main character in the story is Kreb with the author making usage of repetition, characterization, and symbolism to bring out the message in the story.
In Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A Soldier’s Home”, Krebs, a soldier, returns to his hometown from fighting in World War I. As indicated throughout the story, “home” for Krebs is not unlike the war front: confusing, complicated, and restless. Hemingway uses the setting in Kansas, during World War I, to convey Krebs post-war life in comparison to his pre-war.
As a young man coming back from the war, Krebs expected things to be the same when he got home and they were, except one. Sure the town looked older and all the girls had matured into beautiful women, Krebs had never expected that he would be the one to change. The horrific experiences of the first World War had alienated and removed those he had cared about, including his family, who stood naïve to the realities and consequences only those who live it first hand would comprehend.
A “Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemmingway is an intriguing story about a man by the name of Krebs who enlists in the Marine Corps during his attendance at a Methodist college in Kansas. After serving for two years at the Rhine, he returned with the second division in 1919 but Krebs wasn’t in the same state of mind as before he left. The reason why Krebs was so distraught when he returned home was not because of the fact that no one wanted to listen to his war stories but because him and other soldiers were without any real benefits such as medical, education, extra remuneration, or anything to help him get back into the real world. This reason stated is the reason that Krebs and soldiers alike came home from war with nothing to show for
Setting: Post World War I era, 1919. In Howard’s (Kreb’s) quaint home town in Oklahoma. All who have returned from the harsh war are welcomed; their stories as well. All except for Krebs.
Imagine coming back home after being away for three years and trying to adapt to a new environment. It's almost like not being able to sleep in a hotel bed because you are used to your one at home. For Krebs’ it is the other way around. In the short story “Soldier's Home” by author Ernest Hemingway, Harold Krebs the main character is having trouble getting used to his hometown and the life it follows.. He has been at war for several years and is trying to get used to his home. Krebs joined the marines and went to war in 1917 and came back to the United States in 1919. The war ended in 1918 and two other kids from his town came back a year earlier than him. Because of this no one one wanted to hear any war stories and it was hard for Krebs. One of the most important themes that is represented throughout the story is adaptation. Krebs has to adapt to his home back in Oklahoma after fighting in the war for years. In the course of the short story, “Soldier’s Home”, Ernest Hemingway uses literary elements of setting and conflict to represent one of the themes, adaptation.
When people think of the military, they often think about the time they spend over in another country, hoping they make it back alive. No one has ever considered the possibility that they may have died inside. Soldiers are reborn through war, often seeing through the eyes of someone else. In “Soldier’s home” by Ernest Hemingway, the author illustrates how a person who has been through war can change dramatically if enough time has passed. This story tells of a man named Harold (nick name: Krebs) who joined the marines and has finally come back after two years. Krebs is a lost man who feels it’s too complicated to adjust to the normal way of living and is pressured by his parents.
When the soldiers got time to sleep, they sometimes had bad dreams and nightmares. This made them scared and worried about the war. Sometimes the dreams were bad things happening to the soldiers' family. This also made the soldier feel panicked, as they hadn't seen their family for a long time. Being a soldier wasn't the best job in the world either.
“When I was in serious danger I was almost completely paralysed by fear, I remember sitting with a coffin (a fellow soldier) on the fire-step of a trench during an intense bombardment, when it seemed certain that we must be killed”(The Psychological Effects Of The Vietnam War). Our soldiers that we send to war to protect us against the countries trying to harm us are put into dangerous situations that affect them physically and mentally and leave them with permanent damage to their minds and bodies. The server damage that our military soldiers faced when returning from war is PTSD which stands for post traumatic stress disorder and is the most common disorder that returning soldiers are diagnosed with , but a more tragic diagnosis from war
The soldiers face loneliness, isolation, the heavy burden of fear, and the weight of their reputations. The soldiers carry such a heavy weight from the past, in the present, and for the future. Even after the war, the psychological burdens the men carried during the war continues to define them. Those who survive the war carry guilt, grief, and confusion.
This is an essay on the short story “Soldier’s Home” by Hemingway. Will the life of a soldier ever be the same after returning from war? Many generations of young adults have gone from their homes with tranquil settings to experience war and come home to a different world. Many have witnessed the devastations and atrocities that occur with war. Harold Krebs, a young man from a small town with a loving family is no different from those before him and those to follow. The anguish of what war is however cannot dispel the thoughts and memories of what many young men come home to face in the real world. Many have trouble coping in the new world known as home.
To witness other people being killed and letting your mind run its course and eat away at you asking yourself are you the next one? This is one of the main reasons why we need to appreciate the soldiers and veterans who have served for their country, they are brave people and have made huge sacrifices for us all. They do stuff that others are not willing to do to protect the freedom that was one of the main reasons why this great country im glad to call my home was established in the first place. These experiences that these soldiers go through can change them for the rest of their life. War and the tramuatizing stuff that goes with it can cause psychological problems that are hard to live with. My girlfriends father served in the military and has gone through some of these terrible things first hand and they have definitely changed him for life. Mr. Thornberry had been in the milirary for 8 years and was in combat during the desert storm. He saw things that no man would ever wish to see in his life. A friend taken away right before his own eyes while he was under fire but managed to get out of it with the help of his comrades. Although he was not really hurt physically he was mentally. He has reoccuring flashbacks of the event that took place and has gone through treatments and is now taking medicine but still that is not enough he still wakes up somenights from the night terrors that infest his mind. He once told me “I will never be the same man” (Thornberry 2016). In the things they carried there are many examples of ptsd throughout the book. For example when Norman Bowker witnessed Kiowa sucked into a pile of crap right before his eyes and had a chance to save her but risked being sucked in as well so he decided he would just save himself. This death changed Norman
When soldiers get deployed the main goal is for them to complete their duties and make it back to home just like they left. Getting back home in one piece includes what is inside as well, the brain. The complex system that runs everything from your emotions, anxiety, optimism, pain management and impulse control is shaken up by extreme experiences like exposure to death or dreadful experiences. War veterans may experience flashbacks, nightmares, intense anxiety, panic attacks, depression and self-destructive thoughts or actions long after the trauma has occurred. The cause of this is because the neural pathways in the brain have actually been damaged and transformed by that experience, this is called Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.