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Soldier's Home
A soldier comes home from the war and is now different. But he finds it difficult to tell people, even his family, that he is no longer the same. He has to lie. For when he tells the truth, he doesn't like people's reactions. For them to listen to him they need to be told lies. They need heroes, so they need to be told heroic tales.
First published January 1, 1925
About the author
Ernest Hemingway
1,812 books30.5k followersErnest Miller Hemingway was an American novelist, short-story writer and journalist. Best known for an economical, understated style that significantly influenced later 20th-century writers, he is often romanticized for his adventurous lifestyle, and outspoken and blunt public image. Most of Hemingway's works were published between the mid-1920s and mid-1950s, including seven novels, six short-story collections and two non-fiction works. His writings have become classics of American literature; he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Literature, while three of his novels, four short-story collections and three nonfiction works were published posthumously.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. He married Hadley Richardson in 1921, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s' "Lost Generation" expatriate community. His debut novel The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926.
He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh Hemingway in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, in mid-1961, he died of suicide.
Hemingway was raised in Oak Park, Illinois. After high school, he spent six months as a cub reporter for The Kansas City Star before enlisting in the Red Cross. He served as an ambulance driver on the Italian Front in World War I and was seriously wounded in 1918. His wartime experiences formed the basis for his 1929 novel A Farewell to Arms. He married Hadley Richardson in 1921, the first of four wives. They moved to Paris where he worked as a foreign correspondent for the Toronto Star and fell under the influence of the modernist writers and artists of the 1920s' "Lost Generation" expatriate community. His debut novel The Sun Also Rises was published in 1926.
He divorced Richardson in 1927 and married Pauline Pfeiffer. They divorced after he returned from the Spanish Civil War, where he had worked as a journalist and which formed the basis for his 1940 novel For Whom the Bell Tolls. Martha Gellhorn became his third wife in 1940. He and Gellhorn separated after he met Mary Welsh Hemingway in London during World War II. Hemingway was present with Allied troops as a journalist at the Normandy landings and the liberation of Paris. He maintained permanent residences in Key West, Florida, in the 1930s and in Cuba in the 1940s and 1950s. On a 1954 trip to Africa, he was seriously injured in two plane accidents on successive days, leaving him in pain and ill health for much of the rest of his life. In 1959, he bought a house in Ketchum, Idaho, where, in mid-1961, he died of suicide.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 77 reviews
September 24, 2016
My favorite work of Hemingway's so far. "Soldier's Home" details the short story of Harold Krebs, a soldier who returns from World War I to a town that could not care less about him. Hemingway does a great job showing the cruelty and lack of caring Krebs experiences upon his arrival home after the war. Though Krebs suffers from post-traumatic stress and exhibits symptoms of depression, everyone he knows treats him without sympathy or kindness. Even his family members, while well-intentioned, overlook his emotional wounds and try to help him by convincing him to get a job, which does not address his deeper mental scarring. Though Krebs has a physical space to come home to, what he has gone through in the war has changed its psychological foundation forever.
I appreciate this story so much because Hemingway captures the pain of having your mental illness ignored and misunderstood. Props to Hemingway for addressing melancholic, serious, and real topics like this one.
I appreciate this story so much because Hemingway captures the pain of having your mental illness ignored and misunderstood. Props to Hemingway for addressing melancholic, serious, and real topics like this one.
June 19, 2023
there’s a moment in this short story where a mother asks her distant veteran son if he still loves her, and his reaction, both internal and external, knocks the wind out of you for a beat.
if you give yourself over to his style, hemingway’s suggestive and subtle prose hits much deeper than most writers. it also evolves every time you reread it; you come to notice new little details, all with their own subtle allusions to great inner universes within the varied characters. “the iceberg method” of writing as he coined it. only a small percentage of the iceberg shows above the water, while the rest hides underneath the surface, beneath the prose, with only hints of it within the actual story to tease your imagination and make you an active participant and imagineer.
that’s the fun of papa hem — you’re rewarded for as much as you can focus on the details.
then there’s much to till from the soil.
if you give yourself over to his style, hemingway’s suggestive and subtle prose hits much deeper than most writers. it also evolves every time you reread it; you come to notice new little details, all with their own subtle allusions to great inner universes within the varied characters. “the iceberg method” of writing as he coined it. only a small percentage of the iceberg shows above the water, while the rest hides underneath the surface, beneath the prose, with only hints of it within the actual story to tease your imagination and make you an active participant and imagineer.
that’s the fun of papa hem — you’re rewarded for as much as you can focus on the details.
then there’s much to till from the soil.
April 27, 2019
Brilliant. Perhaps Hemingway’s best short story.
January 9, 2024
4.25 ⭐️ — Another excellent ode to the life of a returning soldier, forms master of the short-form story. This one is touching, Hemingway’s sparing, near barren prose has a miring-life of its own that gives his stories momentum, feeling — being more about what’s not said than what is.
Open to the readers interpretation, the conclusion has a finality about it that’s at first confusing but in the end, subtly beautiful.
Open to the readers interpretation, the conclusion has a finality about it that’s at first confusing but in the end, subtly beautiful.
December 31, 2024
آه! بله. همونطور که فیبی، هولدن کالفیلد رو نجات داد، هلن داره هرولد رو نجات میده.
October 27, 2022
When soldiers returned home after World War 1, they were at first celebrated and then ignored. There was no notion of post-traumatic stress, and only in extreme cases were considered "shell-shocked". Families did not know how to cope with emotionally-wounded young men, returning from war, and were given no guidance.
In this short story, Harold Krebs returns home a little late and misses the celebratory phase. He sees everything at a distance. He observes but is unattached, uninvolved.
He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again.
An astute parsing of the emotional dislocation of war, and the effect it can have on families who send their children off to fight.
In this short story, Harold Krebs returns home a little late and misses the celebratory phase. He sees everything at a distance. He observes but is unattached, uninvolved.
He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again.
An astute parsing of the emotional dislocation of war, and the effect it can have on families who send their children off to fight.
November 27, 2022
Very subtly heartbreaking. I wish this story was longer because gosh i need to know the backstory behind it all. The never wanting to lie, the fear of commitment, the not loving anybody...Definitely a more unheard of representation of the effects of war on veterans—especially those who are so young. Interesting look on PTSD where theres less lashing out and outward responses and more internal struggle. I hope Krebs finds some happiness in his life and gets some therapy too 🫶
December 22, 2013
A soldier comes home from the war and is now different. But he finds it difficult to tell people, even his family, that he is no longer the same. He has to lie. For when he tells the truth, he doesn't like people's reactions. For them to listen to him they need to be told lies. They need heroes, so they need to be told heroic tales. When his mother asks him if he loves her and he tells him the truth that he no longer feels anything for her (which is about the same thing he feels for a lot of things) his mother cries so he has to tell her he was just kidding.
The one, true thing he could only tell fellow soldiers who had been to the war--what made him lose everything--was that he had been badly, sickeningly frightened all the time.
The one, true thing he could only tell fellow soldiers who had been to the war--what made him lose everything--was that he had been badly, sickeningly frightened all the time.
November 26, 2022
I went into this shirt fiction piece under the assumption that it would be boring because war-related fiction is often very stereotypical. was i wrong? absolutely not. the whole get with foreign girls big heroic soldier not being able to assimilate back into a developing society was definitely there. One thing I found very amusing about this work though was the unexpected tone. Krebs didn’t show his PTSD through anger or fear but he rather had a dissociated, foggy attitude. Regardless it was just meh, and the sister part rlly creeped me out…
June 6, 2020
Harold is another outsider. He comes back from WW1 to find himself a changed/ alienated man. He had lost the emotion of love, including that towards his mother and family.
July 27, 2022
The story of a soldier who returned home to the USA one year following the end of WWI to discover people busy with their lives and disinterested in the tales of an already-forgotten war and the welfare of a veteran. For some, it was as though the war had never existed since their lives were barely touched by it. For him, it’s about the man he now is compared to the boy who left town years before.
Traditional values have continued unabated in Oklahoma. We sense he feels he is living in a parallel universe. At home, the most inconsequential things are what matters, like his being told not to crease his father’s newspaper before he has had a chance to read it. They clearly have no grasp of the battles he fought in or the freedoms he risked his life for. The seemingly well-meaning mother is actually desperate to keep up appearances and have him find a job and a wife as soon as possible. She contrasts him with other boys who ‘will be a credit’ to the town. However, during the war, it was drilled into him that women were of no importance; thus, it will probably be a challenge for him to begin a meaningful relationship.
Thus, even now, our protagonist has battles to win. He makes acute observations of the local community and his family. Against his better judgement, he says he will find a job and a girl simply to keep his mother happy, which we interpret as a convenient lie.
The final line in the uncut (non-standard) version states, ”He had wanted it to go smoothly. Well, that was all over now anyway”.
Traditional values have continued unabated in Oklahoma. We sense he feels he is living in a parallel universe. At home, the most inconsequential things are what matters, like his being told not to crease his father’s newspaper before he has had a chance to read it. They clearly have no grasp of the battles he fought in or the freedoms he risked his life for. The seemingly well-meaning mother is actually desperate to keep up appearances and have him find a job and a wife as soon as possible. She contrasts him with other boys who ‘will be a credit’ to the town. However, during the war, it was drilled into him that women were of no importance; thus, it will probably be a challenge for him to begin a meaningful relationship.
Thus, even now, our protagonist has battles to win. He makes acute observations of the local community and his family. Against his better judgement, he says he will find a job and a girl simply to keep his mother happy, which we interpret as a convenient lie.
The final line in the uncut (non-standard) version states, ”He had wanted it to go smoothly. Well, that was all over now anyway”.
May 27, 2016
Someone else can review this. The shock of recognition is too strong even though I was never a soldier. But I saw it all at a distance, and I see it all the time. Hemingway, to write this short story, showed real courage.
This soldier comes home physically, but he can't come home again mentally or emotionally, not deep down inside, and he doesn't notice anything deep inside. He can't look. He saw and felt things people aren't supposed to see or feel, so he can't look.
Hemingway does not write directly about any of that although he veers closer and closer to it, so close that you think something important is going to break.
Instead, Hemingway writes about what the soldier does after he gets home from the war, things like watching baseball, playing pool, or reading, for instance. Then Hemingway just lets the fear that something is wrong build. You know it's there, and you wait, but Hemingway keeps his end of the deal.
This soldier comes home physically, but he can't come home again mentally or emotionally, not deep down inside, and he doesn't notice anything deep inside. He can't look. He saw and felt things people aren't supposed to see or feel, so he can't look.
Hemingway does not write directly about any of that although he veers closer and closer to it, so close that you think something important is going to break.
Instead, Hemingway writes about what the soldier does after he gets home from the war, things like watching baseball, playing pool, or reading, for instance. Then Hemingway just lets the fear that something is wrong build. You know it's there, and you wait, but Hemingway keeps his end of the deal.
February 17, 2019
أحببتها حتى بلغت الفقرة الأخيرة, لم أفهمها.
June 29, 2021
This story hit very close to home, for the author.
November 29, 2024
I can tell it’s very nuanced, I just don’t entirely understand it
September 19, 2022
hmm v interesting story… i really didn’t see the appeal until i analyzed it from an inside perspective. the dissociative tone, lack of direction and motivation . ME! he is so me! anyways i think he needs a lot of therapy (so does his sister)
February 18, 2015
3.5 stars
July 14, 2024
This is one of Hemingway’s earlier works (1925), about Harold Krebs, a young man from a small town in Oklahoma, who returns from WWI after a harrowing experience in war. Unfortunately, his return is in 2019, after the war has ended, and the parades and accolades heaped upon recent veterans has faded. Thus, he is greeted by the community with apathy, which makes his readjustment to civilian life extremely difficult. He initially, like many veterans, is reluctant to talk about his experience, but when he eventually wants to do so, he finds that the townspeople do not want to listen to him. Thus, he makes up more heroic stories, many of which others had done, to give himself a more positive image. This is also frustrating and is not helpful for him.
While Harold had been sociable and engaged in academic pursuits before enlisting, he now feels both isolated from others, including his family, and lethargic, feeling unproductive and unmotivated, even as he has been encouraged by his father to join him working in a bank and a friend asks him to join his insurance business. Even girls do not interest him. Thus, his feelings of alienation are ubiquitous (from society, family, and even God), and throughout he is emotionally blunted. At the end, he has plans to leave his home town and move to find work in Kansas City, which at least implies some vague hope for him, rather than remaining in his current state or even consider suicide.
This was a very intriguing if depressing story. In contrast to Vietnam veterans, many of whom were greeted with hostility, Harold is greeted with distance, no appreciation for his war experiences, and neutrality reminiscent of the saying, “The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference.” Of course, veterans of both (nay, all) wars have experienced alienation, adjustment difficulties, problems finding or keeping jobs and having good relationships, and putting their experiences in perspective. I liked this story and would recommend it. Four stars.
“Soldier’s Home” was adapted into one of the PBS “American Short Story” programs. This one dates from 1977 and isnarrated by Henry Fonda. It stars Rihard Backus (best known as an actor and writer on several soap operas of the 1970’s) and the venerable Nancy Marchand as his mother. This adaptation expands and specifies the instances of Harold’s deep difficulties in adjusting to civilian life and the expectations of young men, to include an argument with a fellow veteran over this issue, and his awkward, forward and stumbling attempts to foster relationships with girls. It is available for rent ($2.99) on Amazon Prime, well worth the price). Recommended.
While Harold had been sociable and engaged in academic pursuits before enlisting, he now feels both isolated from others, including his family, and lethargic, feeling unproductive and unmotivated, even as he has been encouraged by his father to join him working in a bank and a friend asks him to join his insurance business. Even girls do not interest him. Thus, his feelings of alienation are ubiquitous (from society, family, and even God), and throughout he is emotionally blunted. At the end, he has plans to leave his home town and move to find work in Kansas City, which at least implies some vague hope for him, rather than remaining in his current state or even consider suicide.
This was a very intriguing if depressing story. In contrast to Vietnam veterans, many of whom were greeted with hostility, Harold is greeted with distance, no appreciation for his war experiences, and neutrality reminiscent of the saying, “The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference.” Of course, veterans of both (nay, all) wars have experienced alienation, adjustment difficulties, problems finding or keeping jobs and having good relationships, and putting their experiences in perspective. I liked this story and would recommend it. Four stars.
“Soldier’s Home” was adapted into one of the PBS “American Short Story” programs. This one dates from 1977 and isnarrated by Henry Fonda. It stars Rihard Backus (best known as an actor and writer on several soap operas of the 1970’s) and the venerable Nancy Marchand as his mother. This adaptation expands and specifies the instances of Harold’s deep difficulties in adjusting to civilian life and the expectations of young men, to include an argument with a fellow veteran over this issue, and his awkward, forward and stumbling attempts to foster relationships with girls. It is available for rent ($2.99) on Amazon Prime, well worth the price). Recommended.
April 15, 2021
A brief analysis of the nuances of a young soldier returned from war; the infantalization by his parents even as a grown veteran, his adolescent mind and its natural womanizing, his longing for and lack of love or emotion (seemingly affected by a numbing PTSD), and someone to talk to and connect with about his experiences as a soldier. Anti-war tones are explored as this story is a subtle criticism of drafting and enlisting those who are too young and underdeveloped to handle the nature of war and being unable to return to a normal life, and the way those around him are disinterested and treat him as a normal adolescent.
February 5, 2018
This short story is about a soldier who came back home from war. While he wasn't killed there, part of his soul and heart were. He seems to be so shocked from war that he has no desire to do anything, because everything is too complicated. He really isn't able to handle life's complexity anymore. He insists on having a simple life. And he has isolated himself from all others. It's not that he completely lost interest in human relationships, but as he says "courting girls" takes effort and that's not worth it. Nothing is worth it. The saddest part is when her mother asks him whether he loves her and he sincerely answers with "I don't love anybody".
June 17, 2021
My favorite of his short stories so far. Gives a little insight into what they then called “shell shock” which we know today as PTSD. Shows the way it can mess with your mind and make you go back and forth and back and forth on a topic in your head, feel depressed beyond words and a very small glimpse of what it’s like when no one understands what you’ve been through. This one hit close to home, and I thought it was excellent.
March 26, 2020
This was, in my opinion, better than The Old Man and the Sea. As a short story, Hemmingway's narrative technique really works, and the story kind of reminded me of the reverse culture shock a lot of exchange students (including me) experience after coming home from a lifechanging journey, and how you have changed whilst everything is the same.
October 12, 2018
An interesting short story. A man from a small space goes to the world and realizes it is much more than his small-town, which does not even remember him. This is my second Hemingway and makes good use of Hemingway's unique laconic speech. It is not epic, but not bad.
January 25, 2021
read for American Lit class :)
April 2, 2022
Hemingway's "Soldier's Home" is the feelings of a soldier returning from war.
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He enlisted in the Marines
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in 1917 and did not return to the United States until the second division returned from the Rhine in the summer of 1919. There is a picture which shows him on the Rhine with two German girls and another corporal. Krebs and the corporal look too big for their uniforms. The German girls are not beautiful. The Rhine does not show in the picture. By the time Krebs returned to his home town in Oklahoma the greeting of heroes was over. He came back much too late. The men from
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the town who had been drafted had all been welcomed elaborately on their return. There had been a great deal of hysteria. Now the reaction had set in. People seemed to think it was rather ridiculous for Krebs to be getting back so late, years after the war was over. At first Krebs, who had been at Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Mihiel and in the Argonne did not want to talk about the war at all. Later he felt the need to talk but no one wanted to hear about it. His town had heard too many
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atrocity stories to be thrilled by actualities. Krebs found that to be listened to at all he had to lie, and after he had done this twice he, too, had a reaction against the war and against talking about it. A distaste for everything that had happened to him in the war set in because of the lies he had told.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert ❌❌❌❌❌
A soldier returns home after the majority returned with parades, he returned when nobody wants to listen. He started to try to gain attention but soon that disgusted him. He had no desire to do anything complicated and his parents look for him to start work, he knows it is time to leave home and not be continually bothered. He starts to question his beliefs.
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When he went away only little girls wore their hair like that or girls that were fast. They all wore sweaters and shirt waists with round Dutch collars. It was a pattern. He liked to look at them from the front porch as they walked on the other side of the street. He liked to watch them walking under the shade of the trees. He liked the round Dutch collars above their sweaters. He liked their silk stockings and flat shoes. He liked their bobbed hair and the way they walked.
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When he was in town their appeal to him was not very strong. He did not like them when he saw them in the Greek’s ice cream parlor. He did not want them themselves really. They were too complicated. There was something else. Vaguely he wanted a girl but he did not want to have to work to get her. He would have liked to have a girl but he did not want to have to spend a long time getting her. He did not want to get into the intrigue and the politics. He did not want to have to do
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any courting. He did not want to tell any more lies. It wasn’t worth it.
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He sat there on the porch reading a book on the war. It was a history and he was reading about all the engagements he had been in. It was the most interesting reading he had ever done. He wished there were more maps. He looked forward with a good feeling to reading all the really good histories when they would come out with good detail maps. Now he was really learning
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about the war. He had been a good soldier. That made a difference.
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“Have you decided what you are going to do yet, Harold?” his mother said, taking off her glasses. “No,” said Krebs. “Don’t you think it’s about time?” His mother did not say this in a mean way. She seemed worried. “I hadn’t thought about it,” Krebs said.
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“I’ve worried about you so much, Harold,” his mother went on. “I know the temptations you must have been exposed to. I know how weak men are. I know what your own dear grandfather, my own father, told us about the Civil War
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and I have prayed for you. I pray for you all day long, Harold.” Krebs looked at the bacon fat hardening on his plate. “Your father is worried, too,” his mother went on. “He thinks you have lost your ambition, that you haven’t got a definite aim in life. Charley Simmons, who is just your age, has a good job and is going to be married. The boys are all settling down; they’re all determined to get somewhere; you can see that boys like Charley Simmons are on their
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way to being really a credit to the community.” Krebs said nothing. “Don’t look that way, Harold,” his mother said. “You know we love you and I want to tell you for your own good how matters stand. Your father does not want to hamper your freedom. He thinks you should be allowed to drive the car. If you want to take some of the nice girls out riding with you, we are only too pleased. We want you to enjoy yourself. But you are going to have to settle down to work, Harold. Your
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father doesn’t care what you start in at. All work is honorable as he says. But you’ve got to make a start at something. He asked me to speak to you this morning and then you can stop in and see him at his office.” “Is that all?” Krebs said. “Yes. Don’t you love your mother, dear boy?” “No,” Krebs said. His mother looked at him across the table. Her eyes were shiny. She started crying. “I don’t love anybody,” Krebs said.
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So his mother prayed for him and then they stood up and Krebs kissed his mother and went out of the house. He had tried so to keep his life from being complicated. Still,
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none of it had touched him. He had felt sorry for his mother and she had made him lie. He would go to Kansas City and get a job and she would feel all right about it. There would be one more scene maybe before he got away. He would not go down to his father’s office. He would miss that one. He wanted his life to go smoothly. It had just gotten going that way. Well, that was all over now, anyway. He would go over to the schoolyard and watch Helen play indoor baseball.
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He enlisted in the Marines
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in 1917 and did not return to the United States until the second division returned from the Rhine in the summer of 1919. There is a picture which shows him on the Rhine with two German girls and another corporal. Krebs and the corporal look too big for their uniforms. The German girls are not beautiful. The Rhine does not show in the picture. By the time Krebs returned to his home town in Oklahoma the greeting of heroes was over. He came back much too late. The men from
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 111
the town who had been drafted had all been welcomed elaborately on their return. There had been a great deal of hysteria. Now the reaction had set in. People seemed to think it was rather ridiculous for Krebs to be getting back so late, years after the war was over. At first Krebs, who had been at Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Mihiel and in the Argonne did not want to talk about the war at all. Later he felt the need to talk but no one wanted to hear about it. His town had heard too many
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 111
atrocity stories to be thrilled by actualities. Krebs found that to be listened to at all he had to lie, and after he had done this twice he, too, had a reaction against the war and against talking about it. A distaste for everything that had happened to him in the war set in because of the lies he had told.
❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌❌spoiler alert ❌❌❌❌❌
A soldier returns home after the majority returned with parades, he returned when nobody wants to listen. He started to try to gain attention but soon that disgusted him. He had no desire to do anything complicated and his parents look for him to start work, he knows it is time to leave home and not be continually bothered. He starts to question his beliefs.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 112
When he went away only little girls wore their hair like that or girls that were fast. They all wore sweaters and shirt waists with round Dutch collars. It was a pattern. He liked to look at them from the front porch as they walked on the other side of the street. He liked to watch them walking under the shade of the trees. He liked the round Dutch collars above their sweaters. He liked their silk stockings and flat shoes. He liked their bobbed hair and the way they walked.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 112
When he was in town their appeal to him was not very strong. He did not like them when he saw them in the Greek’s ice cream parlor. He did not want them themselves really. They were too complicated. There was something else. Vaguely he wanted a girl but he did not want to have to work to get her. He would have liked to have a girl but he did not want to have to spend a long time getting her. He did not want to get into the intrigue and the politics. He did not want to have to do
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 113
any courting. He did not want to tell any more lies. It wasn’t worth it.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 113
He sat there on the porch reading a book on the war. It was a history and he was reading about all the engagements he had been in. It was the most interesting reading he had ever done. He wished there were more maps. He looked forward with a good feeling to reading all the really good histories when they would come out with good detail maps. Now he was really learning
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 113
about the war. He had been a good soldier. That made a difference.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 115
“Have you decided what you are going to do yet, Harold?” his mother said, taking off her glasses. “No,” said Krebs. “Don’t you think it’s about time?” His mother did not say this in a mean way. She seemed worried. “I hadn’t thought about it,” Krebs said.
Highlight (Yellow) | Page 115
“I’ve worried about you so much, Harold,” his mother went on. “I know the temptations you must have been exposed to. I know how weak men are. I know what your own dear grandfather, my own father, told us about the Civil War
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and I have prayed for you. I pray for you all day long, Harold.” Krebs looked at the bacon fat hardening on his plate. “Your father is worried, too,” his mother went on. “He thinks you have lost your ambition, that you haven’t got a definite aim in life. Charley Simmons, who is just your age, has a good job and is going to be married. The boys are all settling down; they’re all determined to get somewhere; you can see that boys like Charley Simmons are on their
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way to being really a credit to the community.” Krebs said nothing. “Don’t look that way, Harold,” his mother said. “You know we love you and I want to tell you for your own good how matters stand. Your father does not want to hamper your freedom. He thinks you should be allowed to drive the car. If you want to take some of the nice girls out riding with you, we are only too pleased. We want you to enjoy yourself. But you are going to have to settle down to work, Harold. Your
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father doesn’t care what you start in at. All work is honorable as he says. But you’ve got to make a start at something. He asked me to speak to you this morning and then you can stop in and see him at his office.” “Is that all?” Krebs said. “Yes. Don’t you love your mother, dear boy?” “No,” Krebs said. His mother looked at him across the table. Her eyes were shiny. She started crying. “I don’t love anybody,” Krebs said.
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So his mother prayed for him and then they stood up and Krebs kissed his mother and went out of the house. He had tried so to keep his life from being complicated. Still,
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none of it had touched him. He had felt sorry for his mother and she had made him lie. He would go to Kansas City and get a job and she would feel all right about it. There would be one more scene maybe before he got away. He would not go down to his father’s office. He would miss that one. He wanted his life to go smoothly. It had just gotten going that way. Well, that was all over now, anyway. He would go over to the schoolyard and watch Helen play indoor baseball.
April 26, 2016
Short story about a soldier that comes home from war and does not receive the praise that he expects. It was really well-written and easy to read. Hemingway writes in a style that literally makes the reader feel the emotions of the characters. His sentence structure was short and simple but the way he writes kind of directly includes you into the story. I felt so much sympathy towards Krebs and I definitely recommend this if you want a short story that will make you feel sorry for the character D;
December 2, 2021
man this was good
failson pride
failson pride
April 19, 2020
The short story starts with the main character Krebs, returning home to Oklahoma after fighting in World War one in 1991. Krebs is one of the last soldiers to return home, so he never received a celebratory greeting as the others did. The excitement of their return has subsided, and no one is interested in hearing his stories. Krebs decides to fabricate his stories of war so people will listen, but the lies only make him feel worse. Krebs is bored back home; he feels he has no purpose and simply wants to return to Germany. He tells his mother that he doesn’t love anybody, which makes her cry. The story continues with Krebs planning to escape his hometown and move onto new things. I really enjoyed this short story because it sparked a curiosity in me if soldiers did and still feel this way today. I would recommend this story to young adults that are looking for a short and less gory story on how the war might have been for some, and how they felt returning home after the mayhem they had experienced.
February 23, 2021
I liked this short story more than "The Old Man and the Sea". The main character seems to be suffering from post-traumatic disorder as well as depression, which can be seen in his way of dealing with everything after the war, as well as his lack of motivation and emotions.
Although his behavior could be considered as unacceptable, it is to be expected from someone that is suppressing their experiences and trauma instead of dealing with it. In his own way, he is running away instead of facing the things he is going through head on. He is not looking for help but to pass the rest of his days without issue, and with this in mind, he is avoiding life itself.
It is very well-written and easy to put oneself in Harold's shoes. It was also quite refreshing how nice and understanding everyone was trying to be towards Harold in their own way. I would really recommend reading it.
Although his behavior could be considered as unacceptable, it is to be expected from someone that is suppressing their experiences and trauma instead of dealing with it. In his own way, he is running away instead of facing the things he is going through head on. He is not looking for help but to pass the rest of his days without issue, and with this in mind, he is avoiding life itself.
It is very well-written and easy to put oneself in Harold's shoes. It was also quite refreshing how nice and understanding everyone was trying to be towards Harold in their own way. I would really recommend reading it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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