As most of you know, I was one of the people in charge of leading the group discussion on a few of the stories in Hemingway’s In Our Time, one of them being “A Soldier’s Home.” We explored a lot about Krebs, but I have some further things I’d like to discuss.
One of the first questions I had was why did Krebs come back later than everyone else? In the story it says that, “The men who had been drafted had all been welcomed elaborately on their return.” That makes it seem to me that Krebs chose to go to war -- all men who had been drafted being separate from him. Maybe he decided to go to get away from his mother that treated him like a child and a father who is presented as sort of this ominous figure. Maybe he heard promises of heroism.
Maybe Krebs is telling all these lies to try to justify and feel like going to war was the right choice for him. He just desperately wants people to see him as a hero, and to achieve that he tells people these lies to try to get that response (because his experiences in war weren't so thrilling for the average listener), but he just feels guilty later because he didn't actually do those things and he might not be the hero everyone thought he was. Not being seen as a hero and his town being the same once he came back seems to disappoint Krebs, making all these questions weigh heavy on his mind. He seems to let the war define his life, and can’t move past it.
Also, when the narrator was talking about Krebs reading about the war and understanding it more, he mentions that Krebs thinks finally that he had been a good soldier. Maybe Krebs constantly questioning if he was a good soldier can contribute to his need to try to validate himself going to war by lying. I think all of these worries contribute to the depressed vibe of Krebs that I get -- a Krebs that isn’t really feeling up to everyday life once he gets back.
I agree with you, that this could be a story of the self-reassurement of a man who just got back from war. At first It didn't occur to me that Krebs chose to go to war on his own will, but now that you mention it it kind of makes sense - throughout the story he's constantly trying to figure out if he did well in the war; personally, I would just be glad that I got out of there alive and just leave it at there. But no, he has to convince himself repeatedly that he was a good soldier. Again, this befuddled me but in the scenario that he chose to go to war, this fits rather well; and like you said, I bet he was disappointed to come back and see that nothing has really changed in his village/city.
ReplyDeleteWe're not told why Krebs is "late" getting back, but I think we can assume it's not his choice. Deployments didn't all end immediately upon the Armistice, and he was likely engaged in "cleaning up" operations after the cessation of aggression. The point is, I think, to draw attention to the limited and rather shallow response of the town: war stories and parades and heroism are briefly in vogue, but the trend passes and life moves on. Soldiers continue to return, but they don't all get parades, and everyone's getting sick of hearing their stories.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if Krebs wants to be seen as a hero, necessarily, or if he's just looking to tell his stories to *someone,* and no one seems to care. They think they already know. The one consolation of having fought in the war--that he gets this special status as someone who's done something major and risked his life--is taken away from him.
It's interesting, I didn't even think about why he came home "late" before you mentioned it. I agree with Mr. Mitchell that it was very unlikely to be his choice, but what if it was? That would reveal a lot about Krebs as a character. We do see his overwhelming desire for approval and heroism. Did he make a conscious choice to stay back later to supposedly get more glory? An interesting idea. Nice post, and awesome job as discussion leaders for this story!
ReplyDeleteI also wondered while reading this why Krebs had come home from the war late. There was mention in the story that all the drafted soldiers had already come home. I'm not sure if that was to show that he was also a drafted soldier or to show that he wasn't, and i'm also not sure if it makes a difference either way. I think that the idea of Krebs lying in order to get his bit of heroism is an interesting one. I'm not sure if it's heroism or just that Krebs wants the recognition that the other soldiers got. For sure though there's something to be said for the fact that Krebs comes home at a point where people have already heard the crazy war stories, and don't want to hear about Krebs' version of the war. Nice post!
ReplyDeleteThis story really reminded me of Norman Bowker, where he is just contemplating his life, has no job, and has a war history. I think it's interesting that when he comes back he doesn't feel like his story is worth sharing, yet here we have a story in that. I think it's really powerful that a lot of people don't get parades and fanfares, and feel like they don't have a story to tell. We've heard two stories where returning soldiers are traumatized and don't feel like they have a whole lot of purpose. It makes me a little more conscious of returning soldiers now.
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