In 1925, Ernest Hemingway wrote about the long term
consequences of war, which continue today, in “Soldier’s
Home”. War obviously takes many casualties, but the most silent
consequence of war is the mental health issues that some veterans face, or post
traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Many soldiers return home only to remove
themselves from society due to physical brain injury during the war or mental
stress. Harold Krebs, plagued by his experiences in the war, does exactly this.
After reading “Soldier’s Home” I began to wonder where a soldier’s home is.
Harold certainly does not feel comfortable or “at
home**” when he returns to a loving family. Hemingway first informs the
reader that Harold returns after all the “war hype”. It’s no wonder why Harold
suffered from PTSD (referred to as shell shock or battle fatigue at the time),
he had no one to share his war stories with. After all it is human nature that
tells us to “get things off our chests”. Harold avoids attention and
communication, because he is constantly searching for the feeling he once knew.
He searches for the feeling of home. Eventually, Harold realizes that he can’t
return home, because he grew out of his childhood home. Similar to a walking
corpse, he is empty. Even when Harold’s mother tells him that she loves him,
Harold cannot find similar feelings to embrace his mother with. ‘"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. It wasn't any good. He couldn't tell her,
he couldn't make her see it.’ War is a tragedy because it takes casualties in
the present and future.
**I recommend this interesting article for info on PTSD.
Caroline Alexander connects PTSD to "The Odyssey".
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