Power in Soldier’s Home by Ernest Hemingway Essay

War is something that changes someone and their live so much to even year after they are still affected by what they experienced and saw. A common theme in “Soldier's Home” and The Things They Carried is going to war, which is an experience that affects people emotionally, mentally and changed their ability to connect with people.

To be engaged in war is to be engaged in an armed conflict. Death is an all too ordinary product of war. It is an unsolicited reward for many soldiers that are fighting for their country’s own fictitious freedom. For some of these men, the battlefield is a glimpse into hell, and for others, it is a means to heaven. Many people worry about what happens during war and what will become of their loved ones while they’re fighting, but few realize what happens to those soldiers once they come home. The short stories "Soldier's Home” by Ernest Hemingway and "Speaking of Courage” by Tim O'Brien explore the thematic after effects of war and how it impacts a young person's life. Young people who

Upon returning home the soldiers meet a field of new troubles that come with acclimation to society after fighting. Many soldiers come home with skills that are not applicable to their lives and generally a much deeper understanding of what they believe the world consists of. This leads to much disillusion with the world they come back to. In both Ernest Hemingway and Tim O’Brien’s stories, soldiers meet with disillusionment and disconnect from society. The soldiers react in different ways to this feeling; the authors use diction, sentence structure, and figurative language to demonstrate their troubles with acclimation.

By reading the story we know Harold no longer feels at home anymore. He has been traumatized by life and death situations that his parents simply do not understand. We know that he has changed because he feels he no longer fits in. In the story, we find out Krebs attended a Methodist college in Kansas. He was not out of place during that time. Hemingway says, “There is a picture which shows him among his fraternity brothers, all of them wearing exactly the same height and style collar.” (185) Hemingway is telling us that by stating that Harold once fit in the town. He fit in with his friends. He is meaning in the story that most soldiers are traumatized by the war, and when they return they are different people.

O 'Brien illustrates to us the necessity for each man to be connected to their old life, telling a story of Mark Fossie flying in his girlfriend to ease his loneliness (104-05). Each soldier found himself facing insurmountable barriers throughout the war, and these small effects and coping mechanisms were often the only necessity that would give them reason to return home again. They needed personal methods of coping with the war, and this primeval survival was the only way to remain a man.

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.

1. The chapter “Soldier’s Home” suggests there are a lot of emotional and psychological effects of the war. Krebs returned from the war later than the rest so he missed most if not all of the excitement from the town he lived in. The people of his hometown of Oklahoma seemed to think it was ridiculous that he was getting back so late after the war had ended. This did not leave a good mark on Krebs because people did not want to hear from him.

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

The war experience forces Krebs to question all the assumptions and beliefs that had previously guided his life. Having killed men in battle, Krebs sees no chance in reconciling his actions with God. He discusses the war and how carefree it was as if the soldiers had expected to live their life after the war not having to deal with the consequences and horrific memories of their actions. His faith had been stripped and morals lost. Krebs is quoted saying “I’m not in His Kingdom.” Krebs’s lost faith is also apparent when he and his mother kneel down to pray but Krebs can’t and asks his mother to pray for the both of them. The war had been hell and it seems as though Krebs was left there to face the consequences. I think this is one reason why he doesn’t “want any consequences” in his life anymore. Krebs has chosen to rid his life of all possible consequences he could face in the future. This includes his choice to stay away from finding work, girls, and even loved ones. This distancing is seen further when Krebs tells his mother he doesn’t love her. Love in his mind leads to consequences and the army has taught him that you don’t need love, or look for a girl to marry. These

“War is hell, but that 's not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War is what makes you a man; war makes you dead.”In the autobiography “The things they Carried”author Tim O’Brien, gives his readers insight to the trials,horrors and romances of the Vietnam war.As a young man Mr.O’Brien was forced into the war by the Draft lottery a Selective Service System of the United States conducted to determine the order of call to military service in the Vietnam War for men born from 1944 to 1950. Entering into the Vietnam War Mr.O’Brien, knew he was neither prepared nor made for the harsh realities of armed combat.However after taking a life awakening journey to the Tip Top Inn Mr.O’Brien knew what he had to do, so he went to war.In the story “The things they Carried” Mr.O’Brien not only tells his account of the war but gives account to his fellow soilders version of the war like the young medic Marc Fossie who flew his high school sweetheart May Ann Bell to the base, transforming the book into a love story. Or when fellow soldier Curt Lemon dies and the story turns into somewhat of a shakespearean tragedy.Even when the War is over writer Tim O’brien explains to his audience about how savilians respond to his “war story” and how he told a true war stories are not about living in the moment but surviving for

While reading the short story on “Soldiers Home", I wasn’t expecting to story to go the way it did. Harold Krebs left home as a fraternity brother wearing the same height and style collar and returned as soldier in a uniform, just being gone two years. Upon his arrival he missed the homecoming that was hosted for the other soldiers that all left together, as he returned back later than expected. Just based on what I have read I gathered that the root cause(s) of alienation were that he lost a lot of interest in everyday life. He became complacent with the basic life reading, sleeping late, waking up, reading and a few other activities. Back home in Oklahoma, nothing seemed to be different, with the exception of the girls growing up. Krebs also

The human experience in war has been a common theme within military history throughout the past forty years. Many individuals have made efforts; which have gone to further impress the majority of the local soldiers who have served in the military, but not necessarily with overwhelming excitement, apart from only the generals and heroes of the war. My evaluation of this memoir is that it serves as a voice for soldiers and ex-soldiers to keep in their memory how things were like on the battlefield. Although, the memoir for war is among the oldest

Soldier’s Home is a story about the experiences of a soldier returning from war. The narrative starts with a description of an image or photograph of Harold Krebs. Krebs is the main character of this story. He was a young man who was attending the Methodist College in Kansas before he had to enlist in the Marines to find in the war (Hemingway 111-116). The opening picture is an increasingly significant source of contrast between the young man who went to war and the one who comes back who has become silent and alienated after coming home. Krebs comes back in 1919 even though the war ended in 1918. His return is not marked by celebrations and parades that were often given to the young soldiers who had managed to come home early. Rather, Krebs finds out that the people are not overly excited about his news of the war unless he lies and exaggerates about his role during the war (Hemingway 111-116).

Is there a pattern for life? Maybe not, but in Ernest Hemingway’s short story “A Soldier’s Home”, the main character Harold Krebs finds that he needs to live his life through a series of patterns. In this story, the series of patterns associated to Krebs results in an explanation of his character’s desire for an uncomplicated life. The series of patterns can be found through Krebs’s involvement in college, the Marines, and even in his personal relationships.

Ernest Hemingway was an American novelist, journalist and short story writer. In 1918 he was recruited by the Red Cross to assist as an ambulance driver in Italy. While carrying