Reading Soldiers Home left me with a good impression on how it might have felt for the soldiers coming home. A lot of reading depicts soldiers in battle, so it is interesting to have read something about what happens after the war. I never thought about how it would have been coming home from the war. It must have been very confusing coming home to something that doesn’t feel natural. Like, everything just continued as normal while he was gone.
I know his experience must have been really hard. However, I can’t help but dislike Krebs.
“He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again” (l. 64).
I understand he must be traumatized and probably numb or confused by his emotions. But it is impossible to live life without consequences. In that text, he strikes me as ignorant and self-centered because he thinks everything will just come to him his way.
Also, when Krebs’ mom went out of her way.
‘I had a talk with your father last night, Harold,” she said, ” and he is willing for you to take the car out in the evenings.’ (l. 95).
His reaction was very rude and ungrateful. He didn’t even say thank you.
What finally made me decide that I didn’t like him was when later his mom made him breakfast. She was talking to him about his future because she was worried. And in response he only said that he didn’t love her.
‘Yes. Don’t you love your mother dear boy?’
‘No’ Krebs said.
His mother looked at him across the table. Her eyes were shiny. She started crying.
“I don’t love anybody,’ Krebs said. (l. 177-180)
I don’t care if he didn’t wanna lie or that he apologized after. He shouldn’t have said it in the first place. He could’ve said nothing. The only thing that he accomplished by saying that is made his mother sad. So just because he is not happy doesn’t mean he needed to make others unhappy too. Besides, I’m pretty sure he still loves his sister.
‘He wanted his life to go smoothly.
–
‘Well, that was all over now, anyway. He would go over to the schoolyard and watch Helen play indoor baseball.’ (l. 208-210)
Although I understand Krebs’ difficulty with controlling his emotions in a world that doesn’t understand him, there are still many things that he has done that I oppose.
This is probably the first story I have read where I didn’t like the main character.
I like how you mentioned that this story gave you a new perspective on soldiers coming home rather than the battle. I also think that adding in the evidence that you did helped support your text a lot. Well done!
Your use of block quotations and evidence from the text in general was really well done, and gave me lots of context to understand what you’re talking about. I like your perspective on having a story talking about a soldier once he has returned home and not just a soldier in battle, I agree that it’s interesting to read about this point of view. I also completely agree that Krebs acts ungrateful and rude to his mother, which is a big red flag for me, actually. Someone being mean to their mother is the easiest way to know that they’re not cool, because mothers always love their children no matter what, and it’s not fair that kids treat their mothers awfully.
I like how you wrote about Krebs and his relationship with his parents. And that you explained that they try to help him, but he doesn’t really know how to talk to them anymore.
Even tough I don’t share your opinion about Krebs I liked how you explained your dislike, and gave quotations for evidence so that my perspective on him changed a bit. I also like your honesty about your dislike.