A Soldiers Home Analysis

World War I was the “war to end all wars”. It was the first global conflict and the first war to involve many modern technologies. In the conflict, the United States had over 300,000 casualties. The casualties were deaths or wounded. The wounds could have been something simple as a missing limb to as extreme as shell shocked. When soldiers were shell shocked they would often have no interest or a bad feeling about something they did while at war. In the short story, “A Soldier’s Home” by Ernest Hemingway, Krebs is a former college student and discharged soldier who is suffering from shell shock. Before the war, Krebs was going to college to become a minister. He enlisted in the Marines and was involved in some of the most bloody battles of
His physical ailment is that he becomes extremely sick when he rethinks his war experiences. Krebs first becomes ill when he lies or speaks about the war. He had “a distaste for everything that had happened to him in the war set in because of the lies he had told” (133). He can’t stand lying but he does it to hide what happened in the war. Krebs “... acquired nausea in regard to the experience that is the result of untruth or exaggeration” (134). In real life, many soldiers had “ stomach cramps occurred in men who knifed their enemies in the stomach” (Trench Warfare 1). The actions done in wartime had extreme effects when something reminded the soldier of it. When talking of actions, real or imaginary, the soldiers would remember what they had seen or did. Clearly, Hemingway describes Krebs’ physical experiences parallel to those of a real
He no longer can feel or give emotion. He speaks of girls that, “He would like to have one of them. But it was not worth it. … He did not want one badly enough” (Hemingway 135). He can’t feel an attraction to them, Krebs only wants lust. Krebs also has trouble loving members of his family. His mother asks if he loves her. He responds no and she cries and tells him she held him next to her heart. She continues to cry until he lies and confirms that he does love her, which nauseates him (Hemingway 138). The relationships formed between soldiers and females often turned into hasty marriages. “The Hull Daily Mail in 1915 told the story of a housemaid called Mary who was able to win the heart of a lonely soldier through sending cigarettes and a bottle of whisky concealed in a cake. The young soldier was so thrilled by her gesture that when on leave he paid Mary a visit and the pair were engaged within 72 hours of first meeting” (Copping 2). The relationships would usually not end up well. In addition, the love between family members was also diminished a lot. The “ mother -son relationship did govern the emotional lives of most young men in the early 20th century” (Loughran 3). This split between mother and son was very detrimental because they were very close before the war and not so much after. The bond was strong but is no longer because of the horrors he faced. Clearly, Hemingway describes Krebs’ emotional disabilities parallel to