Reading “Soldier’s Home” written by Ernest Hemmingway left me really confused because I can’t decide what to think of Krebs. To me he seems really “numb” almost not able to feel any emotions. The thing which confuses me the most is that I thought that he is like that because he is traumatized by the war but actually he describes the war as something positive, something he enjoyed. “All of the times that had been able to make him feel cool and clear inside himself when he thought of them…” (l. 18-20). So I am wondering if it was war that changed him because it was traumatizing, if he always had been like this or if it was him liking war so much that coming back made him this unemotional. I wish that we had a text about Krebs before the war since I think it would bring much clarity about his change. Another thing I didn’t understand was his empathy. Was he still empathetic but just couldn’t lie and didn’t care about the feelings of others? For example in the situation where he tells his mother that he doesn’t love her, on the one hand I feel that he didn’t understand what the use of lying is and would rather hurt his mother’s feelings than lie, on the other hand I think that he didn’t care about them and his reaction, that he apologized and told her he loved her, was more out of guilt and obligation because everyone gets told always love your mother. I can imagine that the reason for his behavior or how he just is who he is, is that he didn’t like how he grew up he didn’t believe in the same religion as all the others, he didn’t share the same values as all the others and had different priorities and goals than all the others. Maybe he was just in the wrong place.
I guess I never realized that Krebs saying that he loved the war, but then his actions being explained by PTSD doesn’t make complete sense. I understand that soldiers can have PTSD even if they didn’t hate the war, but you’d think that he wouldn’t act like he’s offended that no other soldiers enjoyed the war if he’s been affected emotionally by the war. I think that you’re also correct that a text about Krebs before the war would bring a lot of clarity to Krebs after the war, and it would really help us make a solid opinion on him.
I liked the parts where you said how he enjoyed the war so much he felt unemotional and numb when he came home, as well as how he can feel love for his mother anymore
I liked how you describe your wondering about why Krebs is so unemotional that made me really thinking why he is the way he is now.
This reflection does a good job Krebs’ character. I like how you questioned whether his numbness comes from trauma, his enjoyment of war, or his personality.