In “Soldier’s Home” written by Ernest Hemingway, Harold Krebs, referred to as Krebs, is a young man who has just returned home from Germany where he served in the Army during World War I. However, his transition from a soldier of war to a citizen in his society proves to be harder than the people around him expect. In “A Sorrowful Woman” written by Gail Godwin, the woman is a wife and mother who falls ill and decides to keep herself away from both of them. Both Krebs and the woman display self-isolation and little tact when dealing with the people around them, yet they maintain steady routines throughout their days. Krebs and the woman both isolate themselves from the outside world. However, Krebs, a returning war veteran, suffers isolation
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When Krebs returns home from Germany, he has to deal with returning to the everyday life he once left behind. Krebs is not ready to live “in such a complicated world of already defined alliances and shifting feuds” (Hemingway 188). Krebs often finds himself wanting to talk about the war. However, no one cares to listen unless he lies about what truly happens. The ongoing agony of holding in his thoughts and confining himself to the pressures of his surrounding community causes Krebs to isolate his self into his own mind. On the other hand, the woman physically isolates herself from her own family due to an illness. At first the woman tells her husband that she could not stand the sight of them and she did not believe she could see them any longer. After a series of events, the woman begins to shut herself away in her big bedroom each day. By the end of the story, she shuts herself into a small white room located downstairs and tells the husband to “just put the notes under the door; I’ll read them” (Godwin 42). When the child does not slide a note under the door and …show more content…
However, while Krebs is being pushed to get out of his routine, the woman is slowly falling into a set routine. When Krebs returns from Germany, he finds himself unhappy with the way of life in his society. Because of this unhappiness, he develops a routine of “sleeping late in bed, getting up to walk down to the library, reading on the front porch until he became bored, and then walking down through the town to spend the hottest hours of the day in the cool dark of the pool room” (Hemingway 188). When evening comes, he practices clarinet, walks downtown, and reads before he goes to sleep. This routine does not set well with his parents. One morning, Krebs’ mother urges him to find a job and start his journey into becoming successful like his peers. However, Krebs has no interest in conforming to the ways of his society. Against his own wishes, Krebs travels to Kansas City to search for a job. Along with this everyday routine, Krebs realizes that he enjoys the pattern of the girls that walk across the street. During the day, he enjoys sitting on the porch and admiring the pattern the girls share. However, he does not want to change his routine by becoming involved with these girls. In contrast to Krebs, the woman allows herself to slowly fall into a routine. When the woman first begins to exhibit her illness, her husband starts giving her a
When Krebs returns home from Germany, he has to deal with returning to the everyday life he once left behind. Krebs is not ready to live “in such a complicated world of already defined alliances and shifting feuds” (Hemingway 188). Krebs often finds himself wanting to talk about the war. However, no one cares to listen unless he lies about what truly happens. The ongoing agony of holding in his thoughts and confining himself to the pressures of his surrounding community causes Krebs to isolate his self into his own mind. On the other hand, the woman physically isolates herself from her own family due to an illness. At first the woman tells her husband that she could not stand the sight of them and she did not believe she could see them any longer. After a series of events, the woman begins to shut herself away in her big bedroom each day. By the end of the story, she shuts herself into a small white room located downstairs and tells the husband to “just put the notes under the door; I’ll read them” (Godwin 42). When the child does not slide a note under the door and …show more content…
However, while Krebs is being pushed to get out of his routine, the woman is slowly falling into a set routine. When Krebs returns from Germany, he finds himself unhappy with the way of life in his society. Because of this unhappiness, he develops a routine of “sleeping late in bed, getting up to walk down to the library, reading on the front porch until he became bored, and then walking down through the town to spend the hottest hours of the day in the cool dark of the pool room” (Hemingway 188). When evening comes, he practices clarinet, walks downtown, and reads before he goes to sleep. This routine does not set well with his parents. One morning, Krebs’ mother urges him to find a job and start his journey into becoming successful like his peers. However, Krebs has no interest in conforming to the ways of his society. Against his own wishes, Krebs travels to Kansas City to search for a job. Along with this everyday routine, Krebs realizes that he enjoys the pattern of the girls that walk across the street. During the day, he enjoys sitting on the porch and admiring the pattern the girls share. However, he does not want to change his routine by becoming involved with these girls. In contrast to Krebs, the woman allows herself to slowly fall into a routine. When the woman first begins to exhibit her illness, her husband starts giving her a