Reading Ernest Hemingway’s In Our Time can be slightly confusing because of the sudden story endings and seemingly choppy and incoherent story line, but linking the stories is the underline appears of war like images. Sometimes these war like images appear in day to day life events. One of these day to day war like images appears in The Battler where readers learn the story of Ad Frances. Ad was once a professional fighter, but he is now very disfigured and presumably lives out near the train tracks. Many different points of Ad’s life coincide with Krebs life in Soldier’s Home. Krebs has just come back from war, and he is trying to go back to living his day to day life. Despite Ad being a professional fighter and Krebs being a war veteran,
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Kerbs comes back from war, and Ad’s girl left him. In this case, Ad’s wife is made out to represent war. First, she presents Ad with money just like the government gives Kerbs money. Second, she is continuously compared to Ad. Bugs tells Nick that “She’s a mighty fine woman… she looks enough like him to be his own twin” (Hemingway 61). Bugs said this previously and quickly clarified that they looked similar before Ad became disfigured, but this time, he only says that they look the same. This suggests that she looks two different ways just as the people in Kerbs’ town see war differently. Readers learn that the soldiers that came home first were treated like heroes, but because Kerbs come home late, everyone thinks the fact that he stayed away so long after the war was over is strange. Once, everyone wanted to hear about the war, but now they only want to hear about the war if some sort of amazing lie is added onto the tale. All the other soldiers are moving on. Everyone seems to be forgetting about the war, and they are uninterested in hearing about the war just like someone might be uninterested in hearing about someone who looked like Ab. Bugs changes his way of describing Ad’s wife just like the people in the time change the way they see war. A big part of war for Kerbs was also the women. He talks about them continuously. He compares the way the look to …show more content…
Both war and Ab’s wife who represents war had to be separated by the two characters, and the two characters in some way most likely wish to go back to that time. Kerbs takes a very long time to come home. He takes so long that people judge him for his arrival because the war has been over for some time. Throughout his chapter, he is continuously comparing the women in town to the ones he saw during the war. He is also very interested in learning about the war he was in. Readers are told that because of the books he is finally learning about the war. Coming home makes him unhappy because he is obviously altered there. Ab is also altered after his wife leaves him. He goes from being some type of professional fighter to a street brawler who sees the ins and outs of jail constantly. His physical appearance is also altered in the aftermath of the event just as Kerbs appears is presumably altered during his event. In a picture described of Kerbs, readers are told that he appeared too big for his uniform. This could be because he either gained weight or what readers might assume to be muscles, so both characters are changed mentally and physically. In the aftermath of these altering events, Ad and Kerbs are only able to properly interact with people who are in some way like
Kerbs comes back from war, and Ad’s girl left him. In this case, Ad’s wife is made out to represent war. First, she presents Ad with money just like the government gives Kerbs money. Second, she is continuously compared to Ad. Bugs tells Nick that “She’s a mighty fine woman… she looks enough like him to be his own twin” (Hemingway 61). Bugs said this previously and quickly clarified that they looked similar before Ad became disfigured, but this time, he only says that they look the same. This suggests that she looks two different ways just as the people in Kerbs’ town see war differently. Readers learn that the soldiers that came home first were treated like heroes, but because Kerbs come home late, everyone thinks the fact that he stayed away so long after the war was over is strange. Once, everyone wanted to hear about the war, but now they only want to hear about the war if some sort of amazing lie is added onto the tale. All the other soldiers are moving on. Everyone seems to be forgetting about the war, and they are uninterested in hearing about the war just like someone might be uninterested in hearing about someone who looked like Ab. Bugs changes his way of describing Ad’s wife just like the people in the time change the way they see war. A big part of war for Kerbs was also the women. He talks about them continuously. He compares the way the look to …show more content…
Both war and Ab’s wife who represents war had to be separated by the two characters, and the two characters in some way most likely wish to go back to that time. Kerbs takes a very long time to come home. He takes so long that people judge him for his arrival because the war has been over for some time. Throughout his chapter, he is continuously comparing the women in town to the ones he saw during the war. He is also very interested in learning about the war he was in. Readers are told that because of the books he is finally learning about the war. Coming home makes him unhappy because he is obviously altered there. Ab is also altered after his wife leaves him. He goes from being some type of professional fighter to a street brawler who sees the ins and outs of jail constantly. His physical appearance is also altered in the aftermath of the event just as Kerbs appears is presumably altered during his event. In a picture described of Kerbs, readers are told that he appeared too big for his uniform. This could be because he either gained weight or what readers might assume to be muscles, so both characters are changed mentally and physically. In the aftermath of these altering events, Ad and Kerbs are only able to properly interact with people who are in some way like