A Comparison Of John And Krebs In I Had Seen Castles

In a letter to his wife, Robert E. Lee said, “What a cruel thing is war: to separate and destroy families and friends, and mar the purest joys and happiness God has granted us in this world” (Lee). This destruction can be seen in John Dante, the soldier from Cynthia Rylant’s I Had Seen Castles, and Harold Krebs, the veteran from Ernest Hemingway’s short story “Soldier’s Home.” Although John and Krebs face their suffering in different ways, these battle-scarred protagonists change in unique and similar ways. Upon returning from the war, John moves away from his home to find peace while Krebs stays home. Despite where the soldiers are geographically, both are in a new battle against their own thoughts; John and Krebs suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) forcing them to react
In I Had Seen Castles, John says, “My room [disturbs] me. I [cannot] sleep in it without experiencing impossible anxiety. My father [moves] a rollaway bed into the music room downstairs, and there I [can] rest. Nightmares still [come]. But the room [is] easier” (Cynthia 92). In the quote, it is clear that John suffers soon after returning from the war. This mental anguish is in the forms of constant anxiety and nightmares: two signs of PTSD. Having PTSD is likely for John as the sights he has seen are horrific. However, PTSD is common in soldiers and can also be seen in “Soldier’s Home” when Krebs’s mother asks him if Krebs loves her and he says, “‘I don’t love anybody,’ Krebs said. […] He couldn’t tell her, he couldn’t make her see it” (Hemingway). From the quote, readers can conclude that Krebs refers “it” as his inability to love. In other words, Krebs isolates himself once he returned. However, this inability to love is apart of a much larger physiological issue; the isolation Krebs is experiencing is common symptom of PTSD. Despite having different symptoms, both soldiers experience PTSD in their own