Story is Defined as a Broad or Underlying Message of a Literary Work

The theme of a story is defined as a broad or underlying message of a literary work, think of it as the big ideas or lesson from a story. Theme is what makes a story have meaning, it ties the whole story up and allows it to have a purpose. This can sometimes be very hard to identify, but through looking at the story through different lenses, analyzing the setting closely, identifying specific character traits, realizing the plot, and paying close attention to symbolism within the story makes the theme much easier to identify.

The theme in Ernest Hemingway's "Soldier's Home" is that war changes people, and this can be identified through using the tactics above. Being on the battlefield with some of your closest friends and seeing the destruction and death causes people to change. It has a negative impact on one's mental health. People aren't meant to experience their closest friends dying and witnessing the destruction that was induces.

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Not only are people not meant to experience their closest friends dying, they aren't meant to see the death of countless enemies. It hurts people, even if they aren't physically hurt. After experiencing the things soldiers experience it can be hard to return to a normal society, the story of Krebs in "Soldier's Home" exemplifies this. Krebs was enlisted between the years of 1917 and 1919, so we can infer that he was a soldier in World War 1. The first world war is known for its gruesomeness due to the vast amounts of new technology, including poison gas, tanks, and some of the first machine guns.

Krebs had to experience especially horrible events in the war due to the new, deadly technology that was introduced during this war, so he was probably very traumatized. On top of his traumatic times at war, he was not welcomed with an elaborate gathering, whereas the other soldiers were. He did not feel very accepted and welcomed due to this.

Krebs did not want to get involved with society, he did not really want to speak to people. He thought he wasn't accepted anymore, he "wanted to live alone without consequences" (159). He also doesn't want to become too close to others, whether it is a significant other or family. He is scared to lose someone he is close to as he did with his brothers in war. Kreb's also loses his previous faith, he was a religious man before the war. He went to a Methodist College in Kansas, but after returning from the war he loses this faith in god that he previously had. This is seen when his mother asks him to pray with him and he replies with "I'm not in his Kingdom" (161). The traumatic things he saw and experienced while at war caused several changes in his personality and beliefs.

Hemingway also offers the audience a solution to the theme of war changing people, he does this through Krebs's sister. Krebs has completely given up and doesn't care about anyone besides her because she has put in an effort to make him feel welcomed back. She asks him to attend her baseball game and tries to have genuine, normal conversations with Krebs, instead of interrogating him about the war. Hemingway included this to tell the reader that people need to make an effort into making veterans feel at home and welcomed, it is hard for them to naturally adapt back to society after being at war without someone helping them and making them feel normal.

The difficulties of adapting back to society are dramatized by the setting of the story. The story takes place in a small town of Oklahoma, and as with every small town there isn't much privacy. Everyone knows everyone very well, so it can be assumes that most people he knew before the war interrogated him about it. He doesn't enjoy this because it makes him feel like a recluse and he didn't want to be reminded of the war, he has a "distaste for everything that happened to him during the war" (159).

The setting of this small town is also significant because it shows how much the war changed him. The story tells us "nothing was changed in the town except the young girls had grown up", but Krebs had changed a lot (159). This makes it harder for him to even attempt to fit in, everything about is previous life was constant, but he was not. He was an outcast compared to the previous members in his life. He felt that he was too different now to be accepted.

Symbolism is also seen being associated with his home, the small town in Oklahoma. Krebs's mother is significant in the story because of what she represents, which is the town. His mom expects him to be normal upon returning to war, as does the entire town. They believe he needs to extra help to allow him to cope with the changes he experienced in his mind and appearance at war.

In the beginning of the story Hemingway describes a picture that was taken close to the time of his homecoming. In this picture, Hemingway and a corporel "look too big for their uniforms" (158). This shows that Krebs, and potentially several of his fellow soldiers, joined at a young age during puberty. During puberty many changes are seen, both physically and mentally, this on top of his other physiological changes caused by the traumatic experiences at war can be detrimental to one's well being.

Hemingway uses several tools to allow clarity for the theme of the story, war changes people. He does this through the use of setting, symbolism, and characterization. He also uses this story, more specifically Krebs, to portray a common, unfortunate problem with war veterans even today. When people go through such an experience it changes them drastically, and most people fail to recognize this change so they cannot help. Krebs is a perfect example of the change people experience at war.