Soldier's Home essay

A Soldier's Home: Elements of Fiction The short story, A Soldier's Home by Ernest Hemingway, is mainly about a veteran of World War 2, who has recently returned home to Oklahoma after spending time in the Rhine. This veteran, Krebs, is characterized both directly and indirectly in the text of the story. There are direct statements about his character. There are also scenes that make the reader infer about the character of Krebs. He is a dynamic character, because of his change of attitude by the end of the story. He is also a round character, because he has many realistic traits, and resembles a real war veteran, after the trauma they have all faced in the past. Throughout the story, Krebs is often directly characterized as idle. It states that he often spends his day doing nothing more than just hanging around. He doesn't talk much, because no one listens. '...it was late summer, he was sleeping late in bed...' He sleeps in late on a daily basis, he mostly keeps to himself, and doesn't do much. The story directly tells readers that he likes to watch the women walk around, but that he doesn't need one, because that's what the war taught him. It is clear that he has had a hard time adapting to regular life once again after the war. Another form of characterization present in the story is indirect characterization. Readers can infer that his independence was a trait Krebs learned in the war. It can also be inferred that Krebs longs to be listened too, as at first he tries to lie about the war. Krebs seems to be a man of honest nature, as he is disgusted in himself after he tells untruthful stories from the war. 'By the time Krebs returned to his home town in Oklahoma the greeting of heroes was over.' Nobody wanted to hear about the war anymore, so Krebs tried to lie to tell his stories, but he was just too late. Still, no one listened, and he 'acquired the nausea in regard to experience that is the result of untruth.' Also, although not