Soldier's Home

Soldier's Home is a short story by Ernest Hemingway.

There are several Marxist overtones when analyzing the text. Soldier’s Home by Ernest Hemingway tells of the return of a soldier, Harold Krebs, from World War I. The story explores the effect of the war on Krebs, his seemingly numbness to the world around him. However, A Soldier’s Home is not only a commentary on horrible aspects of war on the human psyche, but also a commentary on society’s attitudes towards war. This commentary is developed through the actions of the other characters in relation to Krebs, and there efforts to change him. The Marxist viewpoint analyzes these personal relationships to find the effect of capitalism on them, how it sickens the personal dynamic. World War I is the perfect example of capitalism in action. Opponents try to destroy one another to gain an absolute advantage in the world. At the time, multiple countries were vying for resources around the world, and the capitalist frenzy reached a boiling point which caused World War I. In its purest form, the true inhumanity of capitalism is observed.

“By the time Krebs returned to his home town in Oklahoma the greeting of heroes was over. He came back much too late.” (Soldier's Home)

The sacrifice that Krebs made for his country is never appreciated throughout the story. After the war, there was a celebration, yet immediately afterwards the soldiers are meant to be productive members of society, essentially denying that the event even happened in truth. Krebs is thrust back into his capitalist society, where the atrocities of the war are never questioned or reviled. Krebs speaks of the lies he needs to tell, in an effort for recognition, for the population is bored by the horror of war.

“He often came in when he was in bed and asked him to tell her about the war, but her attention always wavered.” (Soldier's Home)

His mother, who can be symbolic of motherly relations, isn’t interested in his sacrifice. His father does not even make an appearance in the story; he is only a vague banker, a fair representative of the bourgeoisie. Krebs has experienced true capitalism, and has been alienated from society. War is the ultimate form of capitalism because the power of bourgeoisie over the proletariat is no longer imagined, it becomes a reality. The superiors order the servants to fight, in a simple chain of command. The masses are controlled under no other pretense, as noted in the Manifesto of the Communist Party:

“He becomes an appendage of the machine… Masses of labourers, crowded into the factory, are organized like soldiers. As privates of the industrial army they are placed under the command of a perfect hierarchy of officers and sergeants.” (Karl Marx)

“ ‘Don’t you love your mother, dear boy?’

 ‘No,’ Krebs said. ” (Soldier's Home)

The war has removed any semblance of humanity from Krebs, who can not relate to anyone, even his own mother. He deals with his sister abstractly, but is appreciative of her innocence as a young child. In essence, capitalism has stripped him of feeling. However his mother, after much time has past, worries over Krebs alienation from the real world. To transform Krebs, she uses the car, a material good, as a type of bargaining chip to convince Krebs to become productive member of society. In a typical capitalist mindset, the mother tries to remedy the humanity that Krebs lost in the war through materials, such as the car. Her caring intentions are lost, as they are defined by the society she lives in. A parallel to materialistic solutions to human problems in the army is drawn through Krebs attitude towards ‘the girls’. The army taught Krebs he did not need a girl. Throughout the story he shows indifference to this opposite gender, another facet of humanity lost. To sedate her refuted compassion, the mother misguided intentions desperately turn to religion. She asks Krebs to pray with her, to absolve her and himself to a non existent authority, a figment of her imagination. Essentially, it is an effort by the mother to absolve her feelings towards her son, so that she may continue living (producing).

“Religion is the opium of the masses” (Marx) “God has some work for every one to do, There can be no idle hands in His Kingdom.” (Soldier's Home)

Capitalism propagates that people need an authority, deters the possibility of solving a human situation through individual reason and perseverance. Instead of trying to understand Krebs, and herself, his mother asks him to pray. Krebs is the end product of capitalism, a person void of humanity, after persevering through its ultimate form, war. He sees himself as a unit, a soldier, and can not re-attain his feelings Krebs own speech is void of description, and refers to himself as one does in the army, by his last name. His mother is appalled by this indifference, and tries to convert him into a normal productive citizen. Her caring feelings however are misguided, and are lost in the capitalist society. This makes Soldier’s Home not only a commentary on how war can dehumanize the human mind, but also explores how society reacts to this new mind in an industrialist manner. The Marxist viewpoint stresses the loss of humanity in the main character, and the general decline of humanity in general society. Hemingway draws the parallels between the war and capitalist society, perhaps predicting the decline of western civilization as we know it.