Krebs In A Soldier's Home

Aaqib Dal

George Slobodzian

Essay

English 103

25-october-2017

Krebs life post-war experience

Introduction:

The story of Soldier’s Home by Ernest Hemingway talks about Krebs who came back home

from a war and have a hard time to readjust in the society where he came from. Krebs starts

telling lies to people about what happens in the war because no one listens to him. Hemingway

shows the connection, fear, and conflict of Krebs in the society after coming back from the war

through conformity characterization, symbolization. The author’s message is that the

experience of war is a very personal one for everyone that experiences it and that war

distances people from society’s norms,

values and even emotionally from their family.

First, Hemingway uses conformity to show his actual connection with society before and after
the war. “There is a picture which shows him among his fraternity brothers, all of them wearing
exactly the same height and style collar” (9). Hemingway shows us the picture where Krebs is
with his college friends. It shows that there is a time when Krebs is able to connect with his
friends and people of the society. The authors describe Krebs life’s after the war when he
comes back and he did not receive the greeting from the society where the other soldiers get
it. It feels him that he is no longer part of the society. Earlier he did not want to talk about the
war but after he wants to talk but no one interested to hear. The narrator says “Later he felt to
need to talk but no one wanted to hear about it. His town had heard too many atrocity stories
to be thrilled by actualities. Krebs found that to be listened to at all he had to lie, and after he
had done it twice he, too, had a reaction against the war and against talking about it” (10).
People think that there is something strange which allow Krebs to come late from the war and
they did not listen to him because they already listen to many stories from other soldiers. To
get the attention of the society, Krebs has to speak some unimportant lie about his time during
the world war. The war experience would not allow him to live his life as a normal person as he
had before the war. (Hemingway 9, 10)
Second, the author uses characterization to tell about the fear of Krebs on how he interacts
with the people of society and other soldiers who are with him in the war.

The narrator says:

“Krebs acquired the nausea in regard to experience that is the result of untruth or

exaggeration, and when he occasionally met another man who had really been a soldier and

them talked a few minutes in the dressing room at a dance he fell into the essay pose of the old

soldier among other soldiers: that he had been badly, sickeningly frightened all the time. In this

way he lost everything” (10).

Hemingway reveals that all the stories which he tells are all lie to everyone in the society even

the stories are a lie as he did not have a very good experience in the war. He speaks lies to

those soldiers also who are with him during the war which makes him more scared and

frightened and in this way he loses himself completely because the other soldiers know the

reality what actually happens in the war. The authors show his character at one more place

when his mother says to him, “Don’t you love your mother, dear boy? “(11).

“No,” (11) Krebs said. The author shows us the character of Krebs that how emotionally he

lose
everything after the war experience even he cannot share his feeling with his mom.
(Hemingway 10,11).

Lastly, the narrator uses girls as a symbolization to show us the conflict of Krebs towards
them before and after the war.

He says, “He liked to look at them from the front porch as they

walked on the other side of the street. He liked to watch them walking under the shade of the

trees”

(10). The narrator describes the strong feeling of Krebs toward the girls that in the start he is

interesting to looking at girls in the town. He would like to have a girl. He loves to see them.

“He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again. He wanted

to live along without consequences. Besides he did not really need a girl” (10). The author

reveals us that he has good feelings before the war but after the war, his feeling changes

completely toward the girl. He just looks them as he has some sexual feeling and wants some

good time with them but on other hand he wants his life to be simple and he did not want any

consequences with anyone. This all shows that how difficult is for Krebs to reconnect himself

with girls in his hometown. (Hemingway,10).

Conclusion:

Ernest Hemingway shows the life of the main character in the story that how Krebs life

changes
after the war experience as he did not receive the respect of a soldier after coming back to the
town. The people of his town do not believe in him as he comes late from the war. He starts
telling lie stories of war to get people close but he speaks lies to everyone even his fellow
soldiers which makes him fear and becomes mentally ill where he feels isolated from the
society. The author uses the girl as a symbol or weakness of the man he likes them before the
war but after he just likes them but does not want the further relationship with them where he
does not want any consequences or trouble with them. He just wants to live his life in a simple
way.