In comparing these two short stories the similarities were evident and stuck out like a sore thumb. The first similarity that I had encountered was that both stories gave the impression that previous to war the main characters had an enormous sense of patriotism. This is why they went to join the military. They wanted to fight for their country, and if they were willing to die for it Krebs, the main character in "Soldiers Home", had a nationalistic view before the World War I, and he believed that Americans should fight to save the freedoms of the United States. In "How to Tell a True War Story" the main character is portrayed as a person who had a lot of loyalty to America prior the Vietnam War because he has the emotion of a true patriot. Another similarity between these two stories is that the main characters were changed by the sight and horrific events of war. For example, Krebs could not even pray with his mother at the end of the story because he has lost faith in God. These events, such as, watching someone get their head blown off, or catching sight of one of your friends lungs turn into liquid because of mustard gas, changed their perception of war. This would definitely change my view of patriotism for one's country. Also, the narrator in "How to Tell a True War Story" points out that no one wants to listen to the real truth. This is emphasized because no one wants to hear…
Though Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” (1925) and Tim O’Brien’s “How to Tell A True War Story” (1987) were written about sixty two years apart and portray different experiences after the war settling back into everyday American society, both works have similar situations, a setting of war, and experiences. In “Soldier’s Home”, Harold Krebs, a nineteen year old soldier, fought in the Belleau Wood, Soissons, the Champagne, St. Mihiel, and in the Argonne battles of World War I, while the soldier in “How to Tell a True War Story” is deployed during the Vietnam War. Both of the stories have protagonists who are both returning veterans. “Soldier’s Home” and “How to Tell a True War Story” have soldiers who have a tough…
First one to take on a purely literary comparison! Nice! I have been teaching 20th century the past few months. We are just getting out of WWII and heading into the Cold War/ Viet Nam period, so I find this an interesting comparison! It is not hard to find themes of desolation, anti-war, or alienation during these periods.…
Great novels aren’t just born, they’re created by people who put time and effort to create something extraordinary for their audience to experience first hand. Most novels written by authors are easily forgotten by their readers, but there are only a handful of novels that will always be passed down from generation to generation. They tell more than a story, they tell a moral, a significant message that will always be remembered. Novels like In Search of Lost Time, Hamlet, The Odyssey, and War and Peace will be recalled for generations to come. They are unique novels that carry a lesson that can’t be taught through anything else, except for the novel itself. Stephen Crane has outdone himself with one of his great works that he created, one of the most…
The pieces I chose are “Boys” by Rich Moody and “The Things they Carried” by Tim O'Brien. “Boys” doesn't use any paragraphs, and is told through the repeated words “Boys enter the house…” (Moody). The piece true there story of two twin boys who grow up as normal, mischievous boys. As they grow up, they go through hardships and drift apart. It isn't until they exit the house after the paramedics take their father’s body or are they “no longer boys” (Moody). “The Things they Carried” features the story of an American platoon during the Vietnam War. The story is took off out of chronological order as the reader is told of one of the soldiers death in the second paragraph. It isn't until the middle of the story that it is revealed exactly…
In the short story, “Soldier’s home,” the protagonist deals with difficult conflicts within himself and with others. Ernest Hemmingway shows us what it is like for the soldier, Harold Krebs, who returned home, to Kansas, from World War I in 1917, three years after the end of the war. He did not get celebrated like all the other soldiers that returned home causing some major conflict in the story.…
One very important factor when discussing a nation who is at war is the “home front” or the state that the nation is in not directly pertaining to the war and the daily activities of civilians during war time. While the home front may not have a direct impact on the war itself, many things are done behind the scenes in order to provide any assistance necessary. This includes increasing war time production of goods, weapons and food in order to adequately provide those directly involved in the fighting. The way in which funds are allocated and distributed by government officials during a war, whether it be increasing production of war time materials, food etc., is instrumental in winning a war. Also, Faragher speaks of certain inconveniences that Americans had to face during war time such as rationing food, working longer days, and suffering a sharp increase in their income taxes (Faragher 730). Many Americans who were not Caucasian saw hardship during World War II due to either deep seeded racism or fear that they may be assisting the nation they previously lived in.…
Personally, my three favorite books include Tuesdays With Morrie by Mitch Albom, The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, and Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. I have just realized all the books mentioned are non-fiction texts. Anyway, I enjoy Albom’s memoir because I gained an abundant amount of knowledge and life lessons after reading it. The memoir was emotional, I might have cried three times. Before, I never thought I would come across a book that I could not put down; this book was definitely an exception. The other two texts were also full of emotion and the author’s writing intrigued…
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a complex anxiety disorder that may develop when individuals experience or witness an event perceived as a threat or experience fear, terror, or helplessness (McNulty). Many men and women who return from a war suffer from this including characters from Ernest Hemingway's stories like Harold Krebs from "Soldier's Home." The story revolves around the character named Harold Krebs who has just returned from war as a distant and unapproachable man with PTSD (Hemingway). When Ernest Hemingway returned from World War I, he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Lohano and El-mallakh state that PTSD has a certain relationship with bipolar disorder because both mania and depression may be perceived as traumatic or because events in the course of the illness may increase the risk of severe traumatic events.…
Many authors have written war stories and about the effects of war on a person. Two of these writers are Tim O'Brian and Ernest Hemingway. O'Brian wrote "How to Tell a True War Story"; and Hemingway wrote a short story called "Soldier's Home". Both of these stories illustrate to the reader just what war can do to an average person and what, during war, made the person change. The stories are alike in many respects due to the fact that both authors served time in the army; O'Brian in the Vietnam War and Hemingway in WWI. However, the stories do have differences due to the slightly different themes and also the different writing techniques of the authors.…
During the Civil War, over two million men and boys went to war, each with varied backgrounds and different stories to be told. While it is hard for many modern day Americans to fathom the hell these soldiers faced on a daily basis, it is possible to recreate illustrations of all the hardships faced through many documents recorded by the men with their first-person accounts of the battles. The lifestyle of a soldier in the Civil War consisted of multiple hardships on a daily basis which caused frequent issues in war, diminishing the number of troops on either side and causing the performance of the survivors to fall. Many of these problems are caused by extreme physical stress, many facing starvation due to malnourishment,…
The life for a soldier in ww1 first we have to look at the sources.…
I have never been astounded by such marvelous architecture until I laid my eyes on Soldier Field in Chicago, Illinois. Soldier Field seemed like a dragon, just engulfing everyone who was spectating the Mexico vs Bosnia game on May 2011. When I first laid eyes on the monstrosity, I was very intimidated. The thought of entering this behemoth marveled me and made me even more excited to enter and watch the Mexico soccer game that I was anxiously waiting for! Chicago itself is a marvelous city with hidden gems scattered throughout, like Soldier Field. The cold air of Lake Michigan stung my skin and felt like shards of ice piercing my body. Soldier Field, in Chicago, is a monstrosity of a place. Going there to watch a Mexico soccer game was like going into the eye of a storm.…
“Conflicts” among characters in Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” helps the reader to understand the main character’s feelings and physical conditions - depression. The story starts with two different pictures showing Krebs before and after joining the army. The author stages the story of Krebs’s inner conflict to the relationship with his family. Indeed, the author leaves a lot of doubts that make the reader believe Krebs had pain of heart broken while in the war. The author does not directly describe the cruelty of war that Krebs experienced; however, through the conflicts among the characters in the story, readers can assume how the post young soldiers had suffered in the war and understand their trauma by the aftermath.…
Life in the trenches is varied differently from alliance to alliance, but the hardship is still the same. So what are the trenches like for our soldiers at war? All of the soldiers face many difficulties while at war.…