People Changes

Introduction

The world wars have been the most tragic events in the history of mankind. Around World War II, Hemmingway was present and was actually kept away from the action by the soldiers who thought of him as cargo and were only concerned with him staying safe (Baker p. 35). Later on, Hemmingway's frustration with that occurrence led him to fabricate stories of taking part in the events on his own terms. This is a direct reminder of Krebs making up stories for attention, and Hemingway elaborates in the story, revealing his self-disgust from making up these stories and admitting his true fear.

Hemingway's Soldier's Home is a somewhat painful story to read. Not only does it illustrate the emotional pain of a man returning from war, it also goes further to reveal the detailed way in which the soldier's life has changed. What makes the situation worse is the fact that the Krebs, the protagonist in the story, returned home too late to get any credit, attention, or appreciation, which further devastated him. Although there is no reference to actual facts that can be related to Hemmingway's life or events that took place, the emotional repercussions displayed in this work are almost inseparable of what one would expect from Hemmingway's experiences. Hemmingway participated in wars time and again and was badly wounded on more than one occasion. He went to war at a young age, just like Krebs, and had a sister, only his was older.

More importantly, Krebs' attitude toward females falls well into Hemingway's character. After his first injury, he stayed at a hospital in Milan for six months during which he fell in love with a nurse (Hemingway (a) p. 15). The nurse suddenly abandoned him to be wed to an Italian man. This deeply saddened Hemingway, and could be the source of the phrase “it's not worth it” that Hemingway so often uses to refer to a potential relationship with a woman in Soldier's Home.

Thesis Statement

Events like war have long lasting repercussions; the people change in indefinite and unimaginable forms.

Discussion

The short story, “Soldier's Home,” by Ernest Hemingway proves to us that the setting someone lives in usually influences theme of a story. This story goes into a time when things were much different than today and society wasn't as unpredictable as it seems this day in age. In one sense we can see this young man's whole life being over at the early age of 1, stuck with having to repeat the same cycle day after day. As the reader, I could easily see that this young man's life is being predetermined and that it's all happening over the course of a couple months. Life today is much different, as to say that our lives aren't as unanticipated as they once were long ago.

In this story there are certain occurrences, which you can point out, that show us that this young man feels his life is going a lot faster than he would have wished ...