Soldiers Home by Ernest Hemingway - Essay Example

Essay, Literature Topic: Soldiers Home: Ernest Heming way. Character Development Introduction Many writers, through a long period of tough discipline, and in many case with inborn aptitudes, cultivate their peculiar flair of creating characters. Ernest Hemingway has certain set standards for his protagonist, and he creates an indestructible pattern. He achieves something very special by his unique approach that has not been successfully attempted by other authors. In “Soldier’s Home” he has chiseled the character of Krebs. This part of the story relates to Krebs after he has returned to his hometown from World War I. The mind-set of a soldier returning home, after seeing the heroism as well as the cruelties of the war, can never be the same, as it is when he takes the first drill for being inducted into the army. Early Hemingway writes, “The men from the town who had been drafted had all been welcomed elaborately on their return. There had been a great deal of hysteria. Now the reaction had set in. People seemed to think it was rather ridiculous for Krebs to be getting back so late, years after the war was over.” (nexus learning)He now finds the assimilation into the society difficult, and there are several unexplainable psychological barricades in his mind. A reader would expect that life in the Marines is tough than the life in the normal society. With Hemingway’s characterization, it is the other way. The domestic lifestyle looks complicated to Krebs. Hemingway writes “Krebs found that to be listened to at all he had to lie, and after he had done this twice him, too, had a reaction against the war and against talking about it. A distaste for everything that had happened to him in the war set in because of the lies he had told.” (nexus learning)The process of inner change had begun in him. Change Krebs withdraws from the ‘civil’ society and develops the attitudes of a loner. He feels the void within his inner world. In the post-war society that he is trying to adjust, he finds women and love as issues that relate to certain procedures. American relationships counted on consequences. But he loved obligation-free relationships. Howsoever cleverly an author may try to avoid, some revelation about the personal life and experiences does reflect in the stories emerging from his pen. Mind and the pen of the authors are connected by a wireless circuit as if! According to Hemingway one has to live true to one’s belief system, though it is not acceptable from the societal norms. His protagonists are not afraid to wage a ‘losing’ battle in life. Hemingway calls it “grace under pressure.” Result Due to loss of his faith Krebs withdrew from society. Devoid of societal contacts he became a bit cynical. That he attended a Methodist College before the war, gave the positive hint that he was a man of faith. The grim and bitter experiences of war altered his belief system. Hemingway writes “He did not want to tell any more lies. It wasn’t worth it. He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again. He wanted to live along without consequences.”(nexus learning) He had grown in a pious atmosphere where faith was the watchword. His mother had ordinary ambitions about him that a normal mother would entertain, like serving him breakfast and make him pray. These routine things meant a lot to her that that was her style of bringing up Krebs. With that sort of his early life, Krebs was finding it difficult to get assimilated to the society to which he belonged before he joined the war efforts. Conclusion Howsoever powerful may be the waves of the ocean, their real nature is mere water! Similarly after his turbulent experiences in the war, Krebs was trying to become his normal self, and to locate the second starting point in life. That he was amidst an affectionate family atmosphere was his asset but he continued with his desperate efforts to forget the bitter experiences of war. Story This is part of the story from Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home”. This relates to the post-war situation in which Krebs tries to adjust himself. He enlisted in the Marines in 1917 and returned to United States after the second division returned to the country from Rhine in the summer of 1919. Recollection of the past is a sweet experience. Krebs examines the two photographs. One is his school group photograph when he was a student in the Methodist College in Kansas. The other is the war picture that shows him on the Rhine with two not-so-beautiful German girls and another corporal. When he returned to his hometown Oklahoma, as he had arrived much later, the war euphoria was over, the welcoming ceremony of the soldiers was no more there and people wondered why Krebs should arrive so late. Hemingway writes “At first Krebs, who had been at Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Michael and in the Argonne did not want to talk about the war at all. Later he felt the need to talk but no one wanted to hear about it.”(nexus learning) The people wanted to listen to thrilling stories, not the actualities related to the war. To fulfil that perspective he had to tell lies, which he did twice but thereafter his conscience did not permit it; he began to feel disgusted about things that happened during the war. People enjoyed when told about the suffering about the Germans. From the war scenario, Krebs was finding it tough to get assimilated in the normal society. He tried to remain busy with his extra-curricular activities like practicing clarinet. In home, he was hero to his two sisters and mother. There were many girls in the town, but he was not interested in developing intimate relationship with any one. He read books on war and sincerely felt that he was really learning about the war now. He found solace and great happiness in the company of his mother and two sisters and other family members and the awesome personality of his father. Work Cited Accessed from http://nexuslearning.net/books/Elements_of_Lit_Course5/Soldiers_Home_1- 5.htm; Web. . Read More