Never trust in Time

Introduction

Ernest Miller Hemingway; born in Oak Park, on July 21 of 1899 was a writer and journalist, U.S., and one of the leading novelists and short story writers of the twentieth century . He won the Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for "The Old Man and the Sea "and the following year the Nobel Prize for Literature for his entire work. 'Soldier's home' is a short story by Ernest Hemingway, which he wrote in 1925 in his book titled 'In our time came'. It is a story of the young U.S. war veteran Harold Krebs, who is traumatized by experiences at the front porch and in his old home. He no longer, feels comfortable. He always cherishes the desire to never have to leave Germany because he was there among men who understood him. The short story was published as one of fifteen in the collection 'In our time'. Hemingway draws in its history, a character portrait of a war returnee. This topic and the laconic style are typical of the "lost generation". The writing style is spare: Short sentences, simple words (said, had been, etc), dominate (Hemingway, Pp. 3-79). All this also reminds of the German "literature clear cutting" after the Second World War.

This paper discusses about the social life and the emotions in the story, and also the cause and effects of war on the life of soldiers.

Thesis Statement:

War significantly distorts the life of people (soldiers), as there and a number of emotional effects on their personal life due to their involvement with the conflict.

Discussion and Analysis

The main character in the short story “Soldier's home”, Harold Krebs who is going through a number of difficulties in adjusting to his life after war, as he is a veteran and has experienced war during his career as a marine. He is also facing difficulties in coming back to his religious, social and familial home. Some critics have analyzed this short story as a conflict between son and a mother. The young veteran's mother hails from a small-town who is unable to understand the cause and effects of war on his son. His mother is seen as a woman, who is devoted towards religion, and who is quite confident of her values. At times she is seen as manipulating Harold, as she is of the view that Harold should get settled with his life like other men of his age by getting a job and finding a girl to marry him (Lamb, Pp. 9-15).

Harold's father is not seen in the front of the story, the marital relationship of Krebs' mother and father is complicated and it seems that his mother is dominant in the family. It is ironical that Krebs mother is forcing Harold to get married when on one hand he's not completely healed from the psychological wounds of war and on the other hand the distasteful marriage-life of his parents, which could act as a catalyst in amplifying Harold's avoidance of marriage and a normal/settled life.

Moreover, a close ...