Trauma In Soldier's Home By Ernest Hemingway

It is no secret that many veterans return home from war with not only physical injuries, but psychological ones as well. Several authors such as Hemingway, O’Brien, Steinbeck and Hayes discuss the emotional impact war can have on a soldier, and how it affects their life after being discharged. A central idea throughout various texts is that soldiers who have mental trauma as a result of war require support from others in order to reintegrate into a normal life.
In war, soldiers are taught to depend on themselves in order to survive, causing them to have a fear of seeking help from others for the trauma they have been through after they have been discharged. In “Soldier’s Home” Ernest Hemingway’s character Krebs is described as being “badly,

sickeningly frightened all the time” (Hemingway). Despite this immense fear, however, Krebs refuses to talk to anyone besides fellow soldiers due to feeling like no one cares about what he has been through. His mother attempts to help him get back on his feet several times throughout the story, though she is met with short, distant responses from her son. Another example of these emotions can be see in an article by Ashley Hayes titled “Experts: Vet’s PTSD, violence a growing problem” where Paul Ragan states that many soldiers have “a lack of trust: in one’s self, in others, in humans” (Hayes). The result of this is that soldiers may never overcome the trauma they have experienced in war. Veterans force themselves to cope alone, which only feeds their fears and lack of trust, leading to them never actually overcoming the mental trauma they have. These two examples outline not only the trauma experienced during the war, but the need for them to receive help in order to cope and overcome, despite their fears.
Though some veterans ask for help to manage their symptoms as a result of the trauma experienced in war, many never actually receive help and are forced to cope alone.

In the article “Legislation would halt bad military discharges due to PTSD, TBI” by Leo Shane III, he states that “a less than honorable discharge severely limits the care and support options for those veterans, leaving them with decreased medical support and increased risk of suicide” (Shane). These dishonorable discharges are often caused by symptoms of PTSD in the first place, and limiting their access to support prevents them from overcoming the symptoms they are experiencing. In addition, since many people do not recognize the symptoms of this trauma, it is nearly impossible for soldiers to get assistance on their own, due to their reluctance to ask for it. Having these soldiers deal with the trauma by themselves can lead to some extreme cases such as suicide and aggression, which can be prevented by helping them sort out their emotions of guilt and shame. Another example of a lack of help can be seen in Tim O’Brien’s short story “Ambush”, where he states, “In the ordinary hours of life I try not to dwell on it, but now and then… I’ll look up and see the young man coming out of the morning fog” (O’Brien). Though it had been some time since he had been in war, he still felt guilty for what he had done to the enemy soldier. If O’Brien had access to support for his emotional trauma, he may not have

continued to blame himself for killing the man. However, without help, he was forced to contemplate all of what he believed to be wrongdoings instead of reintegrating into a normal life. These two examples show that it is important for soldiers to receive help and it is not ideal to simply let them deal with their emotions alone.
Unfortunately, a common occurrence when taking care of veterans is to focus on physical damage instead of the emotional trauma they are being subject to.

In Shane’s article, he states that “military discharge review boards must consider troops’ mental health issues” (Shane). However, this is still a work in progress and isn’t officially a requirement for the government at the moment. This illustrates that currently soldiers are only discharged due to physical injuries that can be visibly seen as having a negative impact on the rest of their life. However, a PTSD or TBI diagnosis does not allow a soldier to have an honorable discharge, and thus they do not have access to mental health support. In the short story “In Another Country” by Ernest Hemingway, he states, “We were all a little detached, and there was nothing that held us together except that we met every afternoon at the hospital” (Hemingway). Here he is describing the fact that him and all of the other soldiers had become emotionally numb after the war, yet they were all being treated for their physical injuries on a regular basis. The soldiers are given false hope through the previous “successful” results of the machines they are using, instead of being given emotional support to be able to cope with the reality of their situations. By not receiving help, there is no guarantee that these soldiers may be able to effectively communicate and relate with other non-veterans, as they have a tendency to close themselves

off. These examples demonstrate that the trauma soldiers experience in war is often ignored over the immediate physical damage they have received.
Soldiers need support from the people around them in order to be able to cope with the trauma they experienced in war and the stress of having to go back to a normal life. Without assistance, soldiers may resort to isolating themselves or committing acts of suicide or aggression, and thus will never be able to reintegrate into an average everyday lifestyle. By not enforcing the need for veteran mental health support, humanity shuts out the very people that enforced their right to live freely and happily.