Soldier’s Home by Ernest Hemingway is a short story about Harold Krebs, a young soldier returning home after the war. I really enjoyed this story, and here is why. The story makes me very emotional when I think deeply about it, especially because it has such a powerful psychological dimension. For example, Krebs feels that his life has already been too much for him, so he wants a life without complications. One example of this is when he is in town observing girls from a distance instead of approaching them. He avoids talking to them because he doesn’t want to lie or put in the emotional effort.
“He would like to have one of them, but it was not worth it. There was such a nice pattern; he liked the pattern, it was exciting. But he would not go through all the talking. He did not want one badly enough. He liked to look at them all though” (ll. 84–86).
This passage shows how little interest he has in engaging with anything that might add complications to his life. His experiences in the war have left him feeling aimless, detached, and emotionally drained. Another part of the story that stood out to me—and that I found especially heartbreaking—is the idea that Krebs can no longer love anyone after what he has been through.
“‘Don’t you love your mother, dear boy?’
‘No,’ Krebs said.”
“I don’t love anyone,” Krebs said (ll. 177–180).
These lines are the saddest in the entire story for me because loving others is such a beautiful part of being human. To lose the ability to love—even to the point of telling your own mother that you don’t love her—is shocking, and it reveals just how deep his emotional trauma is. It shows how war can take away something as powerful and essential as love.
At the end of the story, Krebs tells his mother that he will go to Kansas City to get a job and give his life some direction.
“He had felt sorry for his mother. She had made him lie. He would go to Kansas City, get a job, and his mother would feel all right about it” (ll. 205–206).
We don’t truly know whether Krebs will actually go to Kansas City, find a job, and try to live a normal life with all its stresses and responsibilities. It seems more likely that he only says this to comfort his mother and that he may never follow through. It is truly sad that he feels he must lie and pretend in order to satisfy others and avoid being seen as strange or unstable.
I really like how you explained Krebs’ emotional state in the story. You showed clearly how tired and empty he feels after the war, and your quotes supported your points well. The part you mentioned about him not wanting complications made a lot of sense, because it shows how much the war changed him. I also liked how you talked about the scene with his mother. It really shows how painful it is for him to even talk about love.
i liked how you explained how he didnt want any complications and how the war made him feel like life was too much for him. I also do like how you went into the end of the story a bit as thats not talked about very much in other posts.
I liked how you explained Krebs’ emotional struggles and showing how the war affected him. I like how you picked specific examples, like his distance from girls and his words to his mother, to show how detached and traumatized he feels. Your response really shows you understood the story’s deeper meaning.