Soldiers Home by Ernest Hemingway

¶ … Soldiers Home by Ernest Hemingway [...] how symbolic words, phrases, acts, objects, and characters contribute to the over all understanding of the story. Hemingway's short story utilizes many elements of fiction to introduce the reader to the lasting effects war has on its participants. He utilizes symbolism throughout the story to bring Krebs' tale alive and make his experiences real to the reader, as well. Without the symbolism, Hemingway's story would not have nearly the impact or importance.

Throughout the story, Krebs is drifting through life, literally "killing time." Hemingway writes, "During this time, it was late summer, he was sleeping late in bed, getting up to walk down town to the library to get a book, eating lunch at home, reading on the front porch [...] (Hemingway 146). This is extremely symbolic to Krebs overall experience in the war. In the war, he killed people, and time passed relatively quickly. At home, he kills time because he has nothing else to kill, and time seems to stand still in front of him. During the war, he was trying desperately to survive, and now that he has survived, his life means nothing, and he does nothing.

Krebs himself is symbolic of the soldiers in World War I who came home shell shocked and sick of war. War has made him sick of everything - it has taken away his enthusiasm and care for anything else. Hemingway writes, "He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again" (Hemingway 147). Krebs symbolizes the futility of war, he shows that when war is over, life goes on, but it is never the same. He is not the same man that left Kansas to go into the war, and neither are any of the other men who fought and survived.

His mother represents the spirituality Krebs lost in the war. It is hard to remain spiritual and believe in God when people are dying all around you. He is as indifferent to his mother's spiritualism as he is to everything else around him. His mother sees that he is drifting, but she has no real idea what he went through and what he saw, so he ignores her words and her worries. She also symbolizes the people back home who really have no idea what it is like to fight in a war. People see things they do not want to remember, and it can change them, just like it has changed Krebs.

The other characters in the story are all pushing Krebs in directions he does not want to take. He does not want a job, does not want a girlfriend, and does not want to drive the car. He wants to be left alone, but he chooses to come back and live at home. That is the paradox in the story. He has lived on his own, and seen things he never thought he would see, and yet he comes home and attempts to take up life where he left off, which of course he can never do. Hemingway uses his lack of feeling to indicate how the soldiers came home feeling hollow and empty inside, struggling to find meaning in a world that no longer made any sense. Krebs does not even attempt to find meaning. He knows there is nothing inside of him, and everything in life is too much "work." He is empty and dead inside - the war has killed him even though he survives.

In a way, Krebs mother is the antagonist in the story, because she is the one who pushes him to do things he does not want to do. She is the totally opposite of her son, a little ignorant, spiritual, and sure life makes sense. She represents everything the soldiers were fighting for, and yet, she represents everything Krebs did not want to return to. She makes him remember things he would like to forget, and she makes him "love" when he has nothing inside of him. She pushes him to lie, which he hates, and he hates her because of it. Hemingway uses the idea of truth in this story to indicate the things people are not supposed to say or think in public. Everyone tends to "edit" what they say and do to gain approval from those around them. Krebs no longer needs approval, he no longer needs his mother, and she antagonizes him to the point of his deciding to leave. She says she loves him, but she does not understand him. She pushes him to leave because she has no idea what is going on inside him, and never takes the time to learn about him. This clash of basic beliefs and values splits the family apart, and illustrates how ignorant people can be when it comes to the people they love. People, like his mother, need to "hear" the word "love," but they really do not know what it means, and Hemingway shows this by using this clash.