No complications, no consequences? -- An analysis of Hemingway's "Soldier's Home"

Today I'm taking a turn from Victorian-era nineteenth century works to American modernism. And who better to focus on than the iconic Ernest Hemingway? The selection for this post is "Soldier's Home."

"Soldier's Home" tells the story of a man named Harold Krebs, the soldier who has come home to Oklahoma in 1919, much later than other soldiers from his hometown arrived. The story describes images and thoughts of post-war Krebs (as he is most often called, probably the same name he was called in the military) on ideas and objects that are seemingly simplistic, like the way girls look in his town or Krebs' father's car.

As per usual for Hemingway, the writing style of "Soldier's Home" is clean and simple, yet descriptive of what is not "seen" upfront by the reader. With simple statements like "He did not want any consequences," Hemingway seamlessly describes the depth of a character who seems to have been dulled by war. Any words spoken by Krebs is minimal. No long speeches, no long explanations of anything in dialogue is seen in this story, except when Krebs' mother speaks. I think the story's writing style alone shows Krebs' dislike of all things complicated, which is exemplified by his not wanting to date:

"He did not want [girls] 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."

Like the one above, Krebs' thoughts throughout the story are decisive. While one who has never experienced war firsthand may wonder why he thinks and believes the things he does, the reader can know that he has quite decided his views and that nothing will change his mind. Girls won't, his mother won't, his father won't. However, what about the unnamed sister, whom is deemed "his best sister"? As the reader can see by the jesting conversation between the two and the fact that Krebs decides to watch her baseball game, Krebs seems to care about her more than anything else in his life. His interaction and thoughts about his younger sister are starkly different than his thoughts about anything else. Besides his sister, nothing--not faith, not work, not women--is special or interesting to him. Krebs wants to "float" through life without investing emotion or energy. He seems to believe that living this way will prevent "consequences." After all, if you do nothing and care about nothing, then nothing can happen, right?

Now that the war is over, Krebs feels that his life is meaningless and empty. He really does try to find meaning, but due to the artificiality and carelessness of the people around him, he gives up the search. The girls are "complicated" but only in a way that is annoying and far too much work to him. The townspeople are unimpressed with his war stories, even when they are completely fabricated. The other former soldiers in the town don't want to talk about the war with him and would rather go on and live normal lives. Krebs doesn't feel he can go on with a normal life and thus decides that he'll do nothing. Is it because the war has damaged him? Or is it because he sees the town for what it really is for the first time in his life?

While Krebs ardently wants to avoid complexity in his life, Krebs' mother encourages him to seek out the complexity. However, like Krebs, she does not want complications. The first time I read this story I was sympathetic to Krebs' mother, whom he tells that he does not love in a rather nonchalant way. However, Krebs' mother, while she does mean well, does not want to really try to understand what her son is going through. She's likely scared of what she'll find out, which probably hits her when he says that he doesn't love her. Like all mothers, she probably didn't want her son to go away to the war in the first place but had to let him go. Deep down, she knew he wouldn't be the same, but she does not want to accept it. She wants him to "settle down," or get married and get a job. And she begs him to pray with her when he does not believe, which is only passively acknowledging the issue. Sadly, Hemingway stated that he detested his mother. Perhaps the interaction between the two characters represents something much more real than fiction.

Though written so simply, Hemingway's short stories are all complex, deep and altogether magnificent. But don't expect happy endings. Of course, this is usually the case with the modernists, as they were weary of Victorian realism, which they believed was sentimental, trite, and ironically, unrealistic. Even so, modernism shows us the misery, complexity and often the darkness of the human heart, which is as essential as presenting the optimism, simplicity and light of the human soul.