A Look at Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” Compared to WWI and Shell Shock
Hardy � PAGE * MERGEFORMAT �5�
Christopher Hardy
English 11
T.Wecht
December 23, 2009
No Home for a Soldier
World War One (WWI) was arguably the most costly conflict in human history. With over "one third of men returning home" with serious mental ailments, this war had effects long after the armistice treaty (World War I Document Archive 18). This war lasted well past the signing of the treaty and went on to spark the beginning of the Second World War in 1939. Veterans were plagued with sickness long after the effects of the gas wore off and long after the guns fell silent, and to this day photographs of the trenches send chills down the spine of any man. WWI conjures up images of a no man 's land strewn with dead bodies; their faces concealed with primitive gas masks. It was one of the only conflicts where the tactics failed to keep up with technology and, as a result, had a devastating effect on human life. The elements of WWI including chemical warfare and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are illustrated in Ernest Hemingway 's "Soldier 's Home".
Soldiers were exposed too much during the war, but chemical weapons were most likely the most horrifying and remembered. Despite the Hague Convention of 1907, which forbade the use of "poison or poisonous weapons", the French were the first to violate this Convention with the wide spread use of tear gas to soften up enemy defenses (Wilmot 35). However, this process often left French troops feeling the effects because they were ordered to charge to quickly for the tear gas to dissipate. The Germans responded with full-scale deployment of chemical warfare agents in the Second Battle of Ypres, April 22, 1915; here the Germans attacked French, Canadian and Algerian troops with chlorine gas. However, both sides experienced difficulty when deciding how to use chemical agents and often gassed an enemy position without an advance to exploit weakness for fear of poisoning their own men. This massive use of chemical
Christopher Hardy
English 11
T.Wecht
December 23, 2009
No Home for a Soldier
World War One (WWI) was arguably the most costly conflict in human history. With over "one third of men returning home" with serious mental ailments, this war had effects long after the armistice treaty (World War I Document Archive 18). This war lasted well past the signing of the treaty and went on to spark the beginning of the Second World War in 1939. Veterans were plagued with sickness long after the effects of the gas wore off and long after the guns fell silent, and to this day photographs of the trenches send chills down the spine of any man. WWI conjures up images of a no man 's land strewn with dead bodies; their faces concealed with primitive gas masks. It was one of the only conflicts where the tactics failed to keep up with technology and, as a result, had a devastating effect on human life. The elements of WWI including chemical warfare and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) are illustrated in Ernest Hemingway 's "Soldier 's Home".
Soldiers were exposed too much during the war, but chemical weapons were most likely the most horrifying and remembered. Despite the Hague Convention of 1907, which forbade the use of "poison or poisonous weapons", the French were the first to violate this Convention with the wide spread use of tear gas to soften up enemy defenses (Wilmot 35). However, this process often left French troops feeling the effects because they were ordered to charge to quickly for the tear gas to dissipate. The Germans responded with full-scale deployment of chemical warfare agents in the Second Battle of Ypres, April 22, 1915; here the Germans attacked French, Canadian and Algerian troops with chlorine gas. However, both sides experienced difficulty when deciding how to use chemical agents and often gassed an enemy position without an advance to exploit weakness for fear of poisoning their own men. This massive use of chemical
Cited: Hemingway Ernest. "Soldiers Home." Bedford Introduction to Literature. 6th ed. Newton David. _Sick! diseases and disorders, injuries and infections_. Detroit, Mich: U X L, 1999. Print. NIMH." _NIMH_. Web. 22 Dec. 2009. <http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topics/post-traumatic-stress- disorder-ptsd/index.shtml>. Willmott, H. P. _The American Heritage History of World War 1_. Vol. Vol. 1. New York, New York: American Heritage Co., 1964. Print. _World WarI Document Archive_. Web. 20 Dec. 2009. <http://wwi.lib.byu.edu/index.php/Main_Page>.