Term Paper on "Ernest Hemingway Soldiers Home"

Term Paper 3 pages (1021 words) Sources: 1 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Soldiers Home by Ernest Hemingway [...] how symbolic words, phrases, acts, objects, and characters contribute to the over all understanding of the story. Hemingway's short story utilizes many elements of fiction to introduce the reader to the lasting effects war has on its participants. He utilizes symbolism throughout the story to bring Krebs' tale alive and make his experiences real to the reader, as well. Without the symbolism, Hemingway's story would not have nearly the impact or importance.

Throughout the story, Krebs is drifting through life, literally "killing time." Hemingway writes, "During this time, it was late summer, he was sleeping late in bed, getting up to walk down town to the library to get a book, eating lunch at home, reading on the front porch [...] (Hemingway 146). This is extremely symbolic to Krebs overall experience in the war. In the war, he killed people, and time passed relatively quickly. At home, he kills time because he has nothing else to kill, and time seems to stand still in front of him. During the war, he was trying desperately to survive, and now that he has survived, his life means nothing, and he does nothing.

Krebs himself is symbolic of the soldiers in World War I who came home shell shocked and sick of war. War has made him sick of everything - it has taken away his enthusiasm and care for anything else. Hemingway writes, "He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again" (Hemingway 147). Krebs symbolizes the futility of war, he shows that when war is over, life goes on, but it is never the same. He is not the same man that left Kansas to go into the war, and neither are any of the other men who fought and survived.

His mother represents the spirituality Krebs lost in the war. It is hard to remain spiritual and believe in God when people are dying all around you. He is as indifferent to his mother's spiritualism as he is to everything else around him. His mother sees that he is drifting, but she has no real idea what he went through and what he saw, so he ignores her words and her worries. She also symbolizes the people back home who really have no idea what it is like to fight in a war. People see things they do not want to remember, and it can change them, just like it has changed Krebs.

The other characters in the story are all pushing Krebs in directions he does not want to take. He does not want a job, does not want a girlfriend, and does not want to drive the car. He wants to be left alone, but he chooses to come back and live at home. That is the paradox in the story. He has lived on his own, and seen things he never thought he would see, and yet he comes home and attempts to take up life where he left off, which of course he… READ MORE

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