The Homecomer

Author(s): Alfred Schuetz

Source: American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 50, No. 5 (Mar., 1945), pp. 369-376
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
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 THE HOMECOMER
ALFRED SCHUETZ

ABSTRACT
The homecomer hopes in vain to re-establish the old intimate we-relations with the home group as recur-
rent ones. Analyses of the equivocal concepts "home" and "primary relations," from the point of view of the
man left behind, as well as of the absent one, reveal that separation interrupts the community of space and
time which the other has experienced as a unique individuality. Both sides, instead, build up a system of
pseudo-types of the other which is hard to remove and never can be removed entirely because the homecomer,
as well as the welcomer, has changed. This is of practical importance in the case of the returning veteran,
whose life in the army shows a strange ambivalence not found in civil life.

The Phaeaciansailors deposited the sleep- falls and hard to master.2The homecomer,
ing Odysseus on the shore of Ithaca, his however, expects to return to an environ-
homeland, to reach which he had struggled ment of which he always had and-so he
for twenty years of unspeakable suffering. thinks-still has intimate knowledge and
He stirred and woke from sleep in the land which he has just to take for granted in
of his fathers, but he knew not his where- order to find his bearings within it. The
abouts. Ithaca showed to him an unac- approachingstranger has to anticipate in a
customed face; he did not recognize the more or less empty way what he will find;
pathways stretching far into the distance, the homecomer has just to recur to the
the quiet bays, the crags and precipices. memories of his past. So he feels; and be-
He rose to his feet and stood staring at what cause he feels, so he will suffer the typical
was his own land, crying mournfully: shock described by Homer.
"Alas! and now where on earth am I? What These typical experiences of the home-
do I here myself?" That he had been absent comer will be analyzed in the following in
for so long was not the whole reason why general terms of the social psychology. The
he did not recognize his own country; in returning veteran is, of course an outstand-
part it was because goddess Pallas Athene ing example of the situation under scrutiny.
had thickened the air about him to keep His special problems, however, have re-
him unknown "while she made him wise to cently been widely discussed in manybooks
things." Thus Homer tells the story of the and articles,3 and it is not my aim to refer
most famous home-coming in the literature 2 Cf. the present writer's paper "The Stranger,"
of the world.' American Journal of Sociology, XLIX, No. 6 (May,
To the homecomerhome shows-at least '944), 500-507.
in the beginning-an unaccustomed face. 3 We mention, in the first place, Professor Wil-
He believes himself to be in a strange coun- lard Waller's Veteran Comes Back (New York:
try, a stranger among strangers, until the Dryden Press, I944), an excellent sociological analy-
sis of the civilian made into a professional soldier
goddess dissipates the veiling mist. But the and of the soldier-turned-veteran who comes back to
homecomer's attitude differs from that of an alien homeland; also-Professor Dixon Wecter,
the stranger. The latter is about to join a Wizen Johnny Comes Marching Home (Cambridge,
group which is not and never has been his Mass.: Houghton, Mifflin, I944),with valuable docu-
own. He knows that he will find himself in ments relating to the American soldier returning
from four wars and very helpful bibliographical
an unfamiliar world, differently organized references; finally, the discussion of the veteran
than that from which he comes, full of pit- problem in the New York Herald Tribune, "Annual
Forum on Current Problems," October 22, I944
,,The presentation follows the translation of (Sec. VIII), especially the contributions of Mrs.
Homer's Odyssey by T. E. Shaw ("Lawrence of Ara- Anna Rosenberg, Lieutenant Charles G. Bolte, and
bia") (New York: Oxford University Press, I932). Sergeant William J. Caldwell. See also the very in-
369

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 370 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

to them otherwise than as examples. We elements, likewise cherished. Chevron, a

could refer also to the traveler who comes Marine Corps newspaper, inquired what
back from foreign countries, the emigrant United States soldiers in the South Pacific
who returns to his native land, the boy who miss most, outside of families and sweet-
"made good" abroad and now settles in his hearts. Here are some of the answers: "'A
home town.4 They all are instances of the fresh lettuce and tomato sandwich with ice-
"homecomer," defined as one who comes cold fresh milk to wash it down.' 'Fresh
back for good to his home,-not as one re- milk and the morning paper at the front-
turning for a temporary stay, such as the door.' 'The smell of a drugstore.' 'A train
soldier on a thirty-day leave or the college and the engine whistle.' "7 All these things,
boy spending the Christmas vacation with badly missed if not available, were probably
his family. not particularly appreciated so long as they
What, however, has to be understood by were accessible at any time. They had just
"home"?"Home is where one starts from," their humble place among the collective
says the poet.5 "The home is the place to value "homely things." Thus, home means
which a man intends to return when he is one thing to the man who never has left it,
away from it," says the jurist.6The home is another thing to the man who dwells far
starting-point as well as terminus. It is the from it, and still another to him who re-
null-point of the system of co-ordinates turns.
which we ascribe to the world in order to "To feel at home" is an expressionof the
find our bearings in it. Geographically highest degree of familiarity and intimacy.
"home"means a certain spot on the surface Life at home follows an organizedpattern of
of the earth. Where I happen to be is my routine; it has its well-determinedgoals and
"abode"; where I intend to stay is, my well-proved means to bring them about,
"residence";where I come from and whither consisting of a set of traditions, habits,
I want to return is my "home."Yet home is institutions, timetables for activities of all
not merely the homestead-my house, my kinds, etc. Most of the problems of daily
room, my garden, my town-but everything life can be mastered by following this pat-
it stands for. The symbolic characterof the tern. There is no need to define or redefine
ndtion "home"is emotionally evocative and situations which have occurred so many
hard to describe. Home means different times or to look for new solutions of old
things to different people. It means, of problems hitherto handled satisfactorily.
course, father-houseand mother-tongue,the The way of life at home governs as a scheme
family, the sweetheart, the friends; it means of expression and interpretation not only
a beloved landscape, "songs my mother my own acts but also those of the other mem-
taught me," food prepared in a particular bers of the in-group.I may trust that, using
way, familiar things for daily use, folkways, this scheme, I shall understand what the
and personal habits-briefly, a peculiar way other means and make myself understand-
of life composed, of small and important able to him. The system of relevances8
adopted by the members of the in-group
teresting collection of servicemen's Letters Home, shows a high degree of conformity. I have
arranged and edited by Mina Curtiss (Boston: always a fair chance-subjectively and ob-
Little, Brown, I944). jectively-to predict the other's action to-
4 Cf. the fine analysis of this situation in Thomas ward me as well as the other's reaction to
Wolfe's short story, "The Return of the Prodigal," my own social acts. We not only may fore-
in The Hills Beyond (New York: Harper & Bros.,
I94I).
cast what will happen tomorrow,but we also
s T. S. Eliot, Four Quartets (New York: Harcourt, 7 Quoted from Time, June 5, 1944; other exam-
Brace, I943), p. I7. ples can be found in Wecter, op. cit., pp. 495 f.
6 8 This term has been discussed in the afore-men-
Joseph H. Beale, A Treatise on the Conflict of
Laws (New York: Baker, Voorhis, iQ35), I, I26. tioned paper on "The Stranger," loc. cit,, pp. 500 ff.

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 THE HOMECOMER 37I

have a fair chance to plan correctlythe more space means that a certain sector of the
distant future. Things will in substance con- outer world is equally accessible to all the
tinue to be what they have been so far. Of partners in the face-to-face relationship.
course, there are new situations, unexpected The same things are within reach, within
events. But at home, even deviations from sight, within hearing, and so on. Within this
the daily routine life are mastered in a way common horizon there are objects of com-
defined by the general style in which people mon interest and common relevance; things
at home deal with extraordinarysituations. to work with or upon, actually or potential-
There is a way-a proved way-for meet- ly. Community of time does not refer so
ing a crisis in business life, for settling family much to the extent of outer (objective) time
problems, for determining the attitude to shared by the partners but to the fact that
adopt toward illness and even death. Para- each of them participates in the onrolling
doxically formulated,there is even a routine inner life of the other. In the face-to-face
way for handling the novel. relation I can grasp the other's thoughts in
In terms of social relationships, it could a vivid present as they develop and build
be said that life at home is, for the most part, themselves up, and so can he with reference
actually or at least potentially life in so- to my stream of thought; and both of us
called primarygroups. This term was coined know and take into account this possibility.
by Cooley9 to designate intimate face-to- The other is to me, and I am to the other,
face relationshipand has become a current, not an abstraction, not a mere instance of
although contested,I0feature of sociological typical behavior, but, by the very reason
textbooks. It will be helpful for our purpose of our sharing a common vivid present, this
to analyze some of the implications hid- unique individual personality in this unique
den in this highly equivocal term. particular situation. These are, very rough-
First of all, we have to distinguish be- ly outlined, some of the features of the face-
tween face-to-face relationships and inti- to-face relation which we prefer to call the
mate relationships. A face-to-face relation- "t'purewe-relation." It is, indeed, of out-
ship presupposesthat those who participate standing importance in its own right be-
in it have space and time in common as long cause it can be shown that all other social
as the relation lasts. Community of space relationships can, and for certain purposes
means, on the one hand, that for each part- have to be, interpreted as derived from the
ner the other's body, his facial expressions, pure we-relation.
his gestures, etc., are immediately observ- Yet it is important to understand that
able as symptoms of his thought. The field of the pure we-relation refers merely to the
the other's expressionsis wide open for pos- formal structure of social relationships
sible interpretation,and the actor may con- based upon community of space and time,
trol immediately and directly the effect of It may be filled with a great variety of con-
his own social acts by the reaction of his tents showing manifold degrees of intimacy
fellow. On the other hand, community of and anonymity. To share the vivid present
of a woman we love or of the neighbor in
9 Charles H. Cooley, Social Organization (New the subway are certainly different kinds of
York: Scribners, I909), chaps. iii-v.
fact-to-face relations. Cooley's concept of
IO Cf. R. M. MacIver, Society (New York: Farrar primary groups, however, presupposes a
& Rinehart, I937), chapter on the "Primary Group particular content of such a relationship-
and Large Scale Association" (esp. p. 236 n.); Ed-
ward C. Jandy, CharlesH. Cooley,His Life and Social
namely, intimacy.",We have to forego here
Theory(New York: Dryden Press, I942); pp. I7I-8I; the analysis of this ill-defined term which
Ellsworth Faris, "Primary Group, Essence and Acci- could be made explicit only by embarking
dent," American Journal of Sociology, XXX (July,
I932), 4I-45; FrederickR. Clow,"Cooley'sDoctrine "IWe disregard here entirely Cooley's untenable
of Primary Groups," American Journal of Sociology, theory of "primary ideals," such as loyalty, truth,
XXV (November, I9I9), 326-47. service, kindness, etc.

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372 THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY

upon an investigation of the layers of per- or as anxieties; it means, finally, that each
sonality involved, the schemes of expres- of them has the chance to re-establish the
sion and interpretation presupposed, and we-relation, if interrupted, and to continue
the common system of relevance referredto it as if no intermittance had occurred. To
by the partners. It suffices that the cate- each of the partners the other's life becomes,
gory of intimacy is independent of that of thus, a part of his own autobiography, an
the face-to-face relation. element of his personal history. What he is,
However, the term "primary group," what he grew to be, what he will become is
as generally used, implies a third notion, codetermined by his taking part in the
which itself is independent of either of the manifold actual or potential primary rela-
two mentioned above, namely, the recur- tionships which prevail within the home-
rent character of certain social relation- group.
ships. It is by no means restricted to pure This is the aspect of the social structure
we-relations and to intimate relations, al- of the home world for the man who lives in
though we are going to choose our examples it. The aspect changes entirely for the man
from them. A marriage,a friendship,a fami- who has left home. To him life at home is no
ly group, a kindergarten,does not consist of longer accessible in immediacy. He has
a permanent, a strictly continuous, primary stepped, so to speak, into another social di-
face-to-face relationship but rather of a mension not covered by the system of co-
series of merely intermittent face-to-face ordinates used as the scheme of reference
relationships. More precisely, the so-called for life at home. No longer does he experi-
"primarygroups" are institutionalized situ- ence as a participant in a vivid present the
ations which make it possible to re-establish many we-relations which form the texture
the interrupted we-relation and to continue of the home group. His leaving home has
where it was broken off last time. There is, replacedthese vivid experienceswith memo-
of course, no certainty, but just a mere ries, and these memories preserve merely
chance, that such a re-establishment and what home life meant up to the moment he
continuation will succeed. But it is char- left it behind. The ongoing development
acteristic in the primary group as conceived has come to a standstill. What has been so
by Cooley that the existence of such a far a series of -unique constellations, formed
chance is taken for granted by all its mem- by individualpersons, relations, and groups,
bers. receives the character of mere types; and
After these parenthetical and all too this typification entails, by necessity, a
casual explications, we may, for the present deformation of the underlying structure of
purpose, stick to our previous statement relevances. To a certain degree the same
that life at home means, for the most part, holds good for those left behind. By cutting
life in actual or potential primary groups. off the community of space and time, for
The meaning of this statement has now be- example, the field within which the other's
come clear. It means to have in common expressions manifest themselves and are
with others a section of space and time, and open to interpretation has been narrowed.
therewith surrounding objects as possible The other's personality is no longer acces-
ends and means, and interests based upon sible as a unit; it has been broken down into
an underlying more or less homogeneous pieces. There is no longer the total experi-
system of relevances; it means, further- ence of the beloved person, his gestures, his
more, that the partners in a primary rela- way of walking and of speaking, of listening
tionship experience one another as unique and of doing things; what remains are recol-
personalitiesin a vivid present, by following lections, a photograph, some handwritten
their unfolding thought as an ongoing oc- lines. This situation of the separated per-
currence and by sharing, therefore, their sons is, to a certain degree, that of those in
anticipations of the future as plans, as hopes bereavement; "partir, c'est mourirun peu."

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 THE HOMECOMER 373

To be sure, there still are means of com- just described is differently experienced by
munication, such as the letter. But the let- the absent one and by the home group. The
ter-writer addresses himself to the type of latter continues its daily life within the cus-
addressee as he knew him when they sepa- tomary pattern. Certainly,this pattern, too,
rated, and the addressee reads the letter as will have changed and even in a more or less
written by the person typically the same as abrupt way. But those at home, although
the one he left behind.I2 Presupposingsuch a aware of this change, lived together through
typicality (and any typicality) means as- this changingworld, experiencedit as chang-
suming that what has been proved to be ing in immediacy, adapted their interpreta-
typical in the past will have a good chance tive system, and adjusted themselves to the
to be typical in the future, or, in other words, change. In other words,the system may have
that life will continue to be what it has changed entirely, but it changed as a sys-
been so far: the same things will remainrel- tem; it was never disruptedand brokendown;
evant, the same degree of intimacy in per- even in its modification it is still an ap-
sonal relationships will prevail, etc. Yet by propriate device for mastering life. The
the mere change of surroundings, other in-group has now other goals and other
things have become important for both, old means for attaining them, but still it re-
experiences are re-evaluated; novel ones, mains an in-group.
inaccessible to the other, have emerged The absent one has the advantage of
in each partner's life. Many a soldier in the knowing the general style of this pattern.
combat line is astonished to find letters from He may from previous experiencesconclude
home lacking any understandingof his situ- what attitude mother will take to the task of
ation, because they underscorethe relevance running the household under the rationing
of things which are of no importance to him system, how sister will feel in the war plant,
in his actual situation, although they would what a Sunday means without pleasure
be the subject of many deliberations if he driving.I3Those left at home have no im-
were at home and had to handle them. This mediate experience of how the soldier lives
change of the system of relevance has its at the front. There are reports in the news-
corollaryin the changingdegree of intimacy. papers and over the radio, recitals from
The term "intimacy"designates heremerely homecomers, movies in technicolor, official
the degree of reliable knowledge we have of and unofficial propaganda, all of which
another person or of a social relationship, a build up a stereotype of the soldier's life
group, a cultural pattern, or a thing. As far "somewhere in France" or "somewhere in
as a personis concerned,intimate knowledge the Pacific." For the most part, these stereo-
enablesus to interpretwhat he means and to types are not spontaneously formed but are
forecast his actions and reactions. In the directed, censored for military or political
highest form of intimacy, we know, to quote reasons, and designed to build up morale at
Kipling, the other's "naked soul." But the home front or to increase the efficiency
separation conceals the other behind a of war productionor the subscriptionof war
strange disguise, hard to remove. From the bonds. There is no warrant whatsoever that
point of view of the absent one the longing what is described as typical by all these
for re-establishing the old intimacy-not sources of information is also relevant to
only with persons but also with things-is the absent member of the in-group. Any
the main feature of what is called "home- soldier knows that his style of living depends
sickness." Yet, the change in the system I3 This, of course, does not hold in case of a
of relevance and in the degree of intimacy violent destruction of the home by catastrophies or
enemy action. Then, however, not only may the
E2Cf. Georg Simmel's excellent analysis of the general style of the pattern of home life have
sociology of the letter in his Soziologie, Untersuchun- changed entirely but even the home itself may have
gen i6berdie Formen der V/ergesellschaftung(Leipzig, ceased to exist. The absent one is then "homeless"
I922), pp. 379-82. in the true sense and has no place to return to.

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374 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY

upon the military groupto which he belongs, bathe twice in the same river; which Bergson
the job allotted to him within this group, the analyzed in his philosophy of the dur6e;
attitude of his officers and comrades. That which Kierkegaarddescribedas the problem
is what counts, and not the bulletin "All of "repetition"; which Peguy had in mind
quiet on the western front." But whatever in saying that the road which leads from
occurs to him under these particular cir- Paris to Chartres has a different aspect
cumstances is his individual, personal, from the road which leads from Chartres
unique experiencewhich he never will allow to Paris; and it is the same problem which,
to be typified. When the soldier returns and in a somewhat distorted fashion, occupies
starts to speak-if he starts to speak at all- G. II. Mead's Philosophyof the Present.The
he is bewildered to see that his listeners, mere fact that we grow older, that novel
even the sympathetic ones, do not under- experiencesemerge continuously within our
stand the uniqueness of these individual ex- stream of thought, that previous experi-
periences which have renderedhim another ences are permanently receiving additional
man. They try to find familiartraits in what interpretative meanings in the light of these
he reports by subsuming it under their supervenient experiences,which have, more
preformed types of the soldier's life at the or less, changed our state of mind-all these
front. To them there are only small details basic features of our mental life bar a recur-
in which his recital deviates from what every rence of the same. Being recurrent, the re-
homecomer has told and what they have currentis not the same any more. Repetition
read in magazines and seen in the movies. might be aimed at and longed for: what
So it may happen that many acts which belongs to the past can never be reinstatedin
seem to the people at home the highest ex- another present exactly as it was. When it
pression of courageare to the soldier in bat- emerged, it carried along empty anticipa-
tle merely the struggle for survival or the tions, horizons of future developments, ref-
fulfilment of a duty, whereas many in- erences to chances and possibilities; now,
stances of real endurance, sacrifice, and in hindsight, these anticipations prove to
heroism remain unnoticed or unappreciated have been or not to have been fulfilled; the
by people at home.24 perspectives have changed; what was mere-
This discrepancybetween the uniqueness ly in the horizon has shifted toward the
and decisive importancethat the absent one center of attention or disappearedentirely;
attributes to his experiences and their former chances have turned into realities
pseudo-typification by the people at home, or proved to be impossibilities-briefly, the
who impute to them a pseudo-relevance,is formerexperiencehas now another meaning.
one of the biggest obstacles to mutual re- This is certainly not the place to embark
establishmentof the disruptedwe-relations. upon an analysis of the highly complicated
Yet the success or failureof the homecoming philosophical problems of time, memory,
will dependupon the chance of transforming and meaning here involved. They are just
these social relations into recurrent ones. mentioned for two reasons: First, in the
But, even if such a discrepancydid not pre- present state of the social sciences it seems
vail, the complete solution of this problem always to be useful to show that the analy-
would remain an unrealizableideal. sis, of a concrete sociologicalproblem, if only
What is here in question is nothing less driven far enough, necessarily leads to
than the irreversibility of inner time. It is certain basic philosophical questions which
the same problem which Heraclitus visual- social scientists cannot dodge by using un-
ized with his statement that we cannot clarified terms such as "environment,"
"adjustment," "adaptation," "cultural
'4 "Without exception G.I.'s most dislike tin-
horn war and home-front heroics" is the summary of
pattern," and so on. Second, this set of
a poll by Time correspondents: "What kind of problems determines decisively the form, if
movies do G.I.'s like?" (Time, August I4, I944). not the content, of the attitude of the home-

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 THE HOMECOMER 375

comer even if he does not find that sub- ties. On the Pacific Coast the percentage
stantial changes have occurredin the life of of those men was even greater.
the home group or in its relations to him. A small-town newspaper celebrated the
Even then, the home to which he returns is home-comingof the local hero, giving a full
by no means the home he left or the home account of his feats of extraordinarybold-
which he recalled and longed for during his ness, efficient leadership, steadfastness, and
absence. And, for the same reason, the willingness to assume responsibility. The
homecomer is not the same man who left. recital ends with the enumeration of the
He is neither the same for himself nor for decorationsjustly awarded to him and with
those who await his return. the statement that Lieutenant X. had al-
This statement holds good for any kind of ways enjoyed the good will of his community,
home-coming.Even if we return home after where he had served for years as cigar clerk
a short vacation, we find that the old ac- in a prominent local store. This case seems
customed surroundings have received an to be a rather typical one. A young man
added meaning derived from and based up- lives for years in a small town, a regular
on our experiences during our absence. fellow, liked by everybody, but in an occu-
Whatever the accompanying evaluation pation which, honorable as it is, does not
may be, things and men will, at least in the give him any chance to prove his worth.
beginning, have another face. It will need a Quite possibly, he himself was not aware of
certain effort to transform our activities what he could perform. The war gives him
again into routine work and to reactivate such an opportunity; he makes good and
our recurrentrelations with men and things. receives the reward he deserves. Can we ex-
No wonder, since we intended our vacation pect, can we wish, that such a man should
to be an interruption of our daily routine. come home not only to family and sweet-
Homer tells of the landing of Odysseus' heart but also to his place behind the cigar
comrades at the island of the lotus-eaters. counter? Have we not to hope that Lieu-
The lotus-eaters devised not death for the tenant X. will avail himself of the facilities
intruders but gave them a dish of their provided by Congress in the "G.I. Bill of
lotus flowers;and as each tasted this honey- Rights" to obtain a position in civil life
sweet plant, the wish to return grew faint more appropriateto his gifts?
in him: he preferred to dwell forever with But-and here we touch upon a chief
the lotus-eatingmen, feedingupon lotus and problem of the homecomer-it is unfortu-
letting fade from his mind all longing for nately an unwarranted assumption that
home. social functions which stood the test within
To a certain extent, each homecomerhas one system of social life will continue to do
tasted the magic fruit of strangeness, be it so if transplanted into another system. This
sweet or bitter. Even amid the overwhelm- generalpropositionis especiallyapplicableto
ing longing for home there remains the wish the problem of the returningveteran. From
to transplant into the old pattern something the sociological point of view, army life
of the novel goals, of the newly discovered shows a strange ambivalence. Consideredas
means to realize them, of the skills and ex- an in-group,the army is characterizedby an
periences acquired abroad. We cannot be exceptionally high degree of constraint, of
astonished, therefore, that a United States discipline imposed authoritatively upon the
War Department survey of June, I944,I5 behavior of the individual by a controlling
showed that 40 per cent of the discharged normativestructure.The sense of duty, com-
veterans being sent back to civilian life radeship, the feeling of solidarity, and sub-
through eastern "separation centers" did ordination are the outstanding features de-
not want their old jobs back and did not veloped in the individual-all this, however,
want even to return to their old communi- within a frame of means and ends imposed
i5 According to Time, June I2, I944. by the group and not open to his own choice.

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 376 THE AMERICANJOURNALOF SOCIOLOGY

These features prevail in times of peace as looks at himself, even if he performsmerely

well as in times of war. However, in times of desk work in an army office somewherein
war they do not regulate the behavior of the United States. This humbler occupation
the members of the in-group in relation to does not matter; to him, too, the induction
members of the out-group-that is, the marked a turning-point in his life. But the
enemy. The combatant's attitude toward discharged homecomer is deprived of his
the enemy in battle is, and is supposedto be, uniform and with it of his privileged status
rather the opposite of disciplined constraint. within the community. This does not mean
War is the archetype of that social structure that he will lose, by necessity, the prestige
which Durkheim calls the state of "anomie." acquired as an actual or potential defender
The specific valor of the fighting warrior of the homeland, although history does not
consists in his will and adroitness in over- show that exaggeratedlongevity is accorded
coming the other in a desperate struggle of to the memory of glory. This is partly be-
power, and it cannot be easily used within cause of the disappointment at home that
that pattern of civilian life which has pre- the returning veteran does not correspond
vailed in Western democracies. Moreover, to the pseudo-type of the man whom they
the homecoming soldier returns to an in- have been expecting.
group, the homeworldin the postwarperiod, This leads to a practical conclusion.
which itself is markedby a certain degree of Much has been done and still more will be
anomie, of lack of control and discipline. done to preparethe homecomingveteran for
He finds, then, that anomie is no longer to the necessary process of adjustment. How-
be the basic structure of his relations with ever, it seems to be equally indispensableto
the out-group but is a feature of the in- prepare the home group accordingly. They
group itself, toward the members of which have to learn through the press, the radio,
he cannot apply the techniques permitted the movies, that the man whom they await
and required within the anomie situation will be another and not the one they im-
of battle. In this civil world he will have to agined him to be. It will be a hard task to
choose his own goals and the means to at- use the propagandamachine in the opposite
tain them and can no longer depend upon direction, namely, to destroy the pseudo-
authority and guidance. He will feel, as type of the combatant's life and the soldier's
Professor Waller puts it, like a "motherless life in general and to replace it by the truth.
chile." But it is indispensable to undo the glori-
Another factor supervenes. In times of fication of a questionable Hollywood-made
war the membersof the armed forces have a heroism by bringing out the real picture of
privileged status within the community as a what these men endure, how they live, and
whole. "The best for our boys in the serv- what they think and feel-a picture no less
ice" is more than a mere slogan. It is the meritoriousand no less evocative.
expression of prestige deservedly accorded In the beginning it is not only the home-
to those who might have to give their life land that shows to the homecomer an un-
for their country or at least to those who accustomed face. The homecomer appears
left family, studies, occupation, and the equally strange to those who expect him,
amenities of civil life for a highly valued in- and the thick air about him will keep him
terest of the community. The civilian looks unknown. Both the homecomerand the wel-
at the man in uniformas an actual or future comer will need the help of a Mentor to
fighter; and so, indeed, the man in uniform "make them wise to things."

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