Soldier's Home Literary Analysis

War can cause emotional damages that can be hard to heal. They scar one’s mind causing them to feel unhappy, alone, and disconnected from society. This is shown in “Soldier’s Home” when a former soldier, Krebs, comes back from a war and is unable to go back to living a normal life. The destruction and violence he had witnessed in war caused him to be unable to connect with the people he was once close to. In another story called “Speaking of Courage,” a former soldier named, Norman is desperate to tell his story about his experience in war but no one is willing to listen. This causes him to imagine different scenarios of him telling his story to someone who 's willing to listen while he drives around town aimlessly. Also, in a story called …show more content…
The war caused him to lose interest in things going on around him. Krebs has no motivation to do what normal people do such as getting a job, getting into a relationship, or having hobbies and interests. He doesn’t want anything to do with society instead he closes up and disconnects himself from it. As he thinks about trying to live a normal life Krebs feels that he, “Vaguely he wanted a girl but he did not want to work to get her. He would have liked to have a girl but he did not want to have to spend a long time getting her. He did not want to get into the intrigue and the politics. He did not want to have to do any courting” (36). Krebs shows that he has thought about living a normal life when he “wanted a girl”, but he also uses the word “vaguely” which indicates that he’s not even trying to live a normal life. He “did not want to work to get her” revealing that he is unmotivated to do anything as simple as a commitment. His loss of interest in society shows that he is unable to assimilate back into his community and that he can’t work towards normalcy. Due to his struggle to return back to his old life, Krebs starts to isolate himself. He is unable to remain honest to those around him due to his lack of connection with the previous people in his life. These reasons lead to him relocating himself to “Kansas city and get a job. [...] one more scene maybe before he got away. [...] …show more content…
The war left his community in ruins, leaving him with little to nothing of luxuries which makes him become detached from the people around him. Trevor is jealous that Old Misery’s house is the only one left after all the destruction. The class divide between them triggers Trevor to destroy everything that Old Misery holds special. As his plan to destroy Old Misery’s house takes place, Trevor states, “ The last burning note illuminated his brooding face.‘All this hate and love ,’ he said, ‘it’s soft and hooey’ [...] the room crowded with the unfamiliar shadow of half things, broken things, former things” (28). The war robbed Trevor of his innocence and this is shown through “his brooding face” and because of that he is filled with loneliness, sadness, and vengeance. He references “hate and love” to “soft” and “hooey” which distinctly shows the complete emotional detachment that the war had caused him. Old Misery’s house reminds him of all the things he can’t afford and because of this Trevor selfishly robs him of his contentment and his sense of security. After the war many things lost its meaning such as love and hate, which is why Trevor tells Blackie that there are “only things.” Trevor dissociates himself from society due to the destruction and loneliness that the war had