After I was reading “Soldier’s Home” made me think about how hard it is to come back to your old life when you don’t feel like the same person anymore. I mean in the story, Krebs returns home from the war, but everything feels different to him even though the town looks the same. This made me think about how sometimes a place can stay the same, but ‘you’ as a person change on the inside, and that creates a distance you can’t easily explain.
One of the quotes that really stayed with me was when Hemingway writes:
“He did not want any consequences ever again” (l. 70).
When I read that, I thought about how mentally tired Krebs must be. It’s not that he’s lazy or something like that but it’s that he doesn’t have the energy to deal with anything anymore. I’ve had days where even small things feel like too much, so I can’t imagine how heavy everything feels for him after the war.
Another moment was when he tells his mother:
“I don’t love anybody” (l. 190).
He says this after she tries to push him to be the person he used to be. This made me think about how sometimes people say things that sound hard because they’re confused or hurting inside. It didn’t make me think he’s a bad person but like it made me think he’s lost. I felt kind of weird because reading this part, but it also felt real. Many people hide their emotions, and Krebs is one of the few characters who actually says what’s inside, even if it comes out wrong.
The scene where he watches the girls walk by and thinks:
“The world they were in was not the world he was in” (l. 86)
was the moment I understood him really much. It made me think about times when I felt out of place, even around people I know. That feeling of being there physically but not emotionally connected is something many people experience, just in smaller ways.
At the end, when Krebs thinks about leaving for Kansas City, it made me think about how sometimes people need a fresh start you know, not because they have a plan, but because they need space to breathe and to think alone , just like to be ok with yourself .
Overall, the story made me think about understanding people who seem distant. They might just be trying to find themselves again.
I like how you showed that Krebs doesn’t feel like himself anymore. I also liked the quotes you picked
they really showed how tired and lost he is. And your point about him needing a fresh start was very good.
I liked that you used a few different quotes to give your opinion. Other thing that I liked was how you think about the connection between the story and real life, how you explained understanding people that are distant and finding themselves.I think this could explain better how Krebs feels.
I think adding multiple quotes was a really good idea, and the quotes you chose were good for backing up your claim. I also really liked how you were making connections from things you found in the story to real life. One thing I think you could try to improve is talking more about your opinion and why you feel that way about Krebs.
I liked how you always try to find situations in your own life which feel the same as Krebs might feel. I find it interesting how you can relate with him and help us understand him more.