“Soldier’s Home” by Hemingway is a small story of a soldier returning home after the war. It highlights how he completely disconnects with his life because due to the trauma the war gave him, he can’t feel anything anymore. He became almost inhuman and completely distant himself from everything around him, including his family. Furthermore the story also shows other things the war and his comrades changed his perspectives about many things, including girls.
As I read “Soldier’s Home” I was really interested in how Hemingway portrayed Krebs emotional distance. He never says anything about his feelings being numb or him being traumatized by war yet that’s exactly how he acts and responds to certain situations. Like how he talks about girls being “to complicated” and he didn’t need one because he learned that in war.
I was also ver amazed about how Hemingway made the reader feel both pity and discomfort during the story. Its so tragic how he feels distant from love and says girl are to much, and not necessary specially because he can’t feel anything, which makes you feel sad and its keeps you wondering if his ever going to be able to feel again. On the other hand it’s very unsettling how he talks about looking at girls, just staring at them without them knowing. He observes their clothes, their hair, and their movements, I find it disgusting how he reduces girls by their looks. However the weird thing isn’t only that his just staring at them without them knowing, but how he talks about them like if he was studying them, as if they weren’t human.
Another thing that stands out to me is how Krebs keeps lying about the war to make people listen, but at some point he mentions getting tired of lying and after that point he doesn’t lie anymore, even if it means hurting something, worst to say, his own mothers feelings, by accepting that he doesn’t love her, he tries to deny it right after, regretting what he said, showing a little bit of emotions, but he still doesn’t love her and his mother also knows that but convinces herself that he does.
In conclusion “Soldiers Home” Makes the reader feel everything and nothing at the same time, by mixing opposite emotions such as sympathy and cruelty together, yet also managing to distant emotionally the reader from the character with emotionless and disturbing moments.
The way you talked about the story and how Krebs felt after being faced with war was well-worded. I like how you talked about different parts that stood out to you instead of only focusing on the story as a whole.
I like how you explained Krebs’ emotional distance in the story. You described really well how he never says he is traumatized, but you can see it in the way he acts. Your point about the mix of pity and discomfort was very interesting, especially when you talked about how he looks at the girls. I also thought it was strong how you explained his lies and then how he suddenly refuses to lie anymore, even when it hurts his mother. Your response showed the complicated feelings in the story in a very clear way. well done !
I like that you mentioned how Hemingway doesn’t necessarily say that Krebs is emotionless or numb, but that he is still portrayed that way through the narration. It shows how we don’t always notice what is explicitly said in literature because we’re constantly reading between lines for more context. Everyone gathered that Krebs was acting emotionally numb to his family members, even though that wasn’t technically said in the story.
I liked how you showed that the war changed Krebs and made him feel far from everyone. Another thing that I liked was that you mentioned how he acts strange around girls.