Experiences of a Soldier

Experiences of a Soldier

When Harold returns from war he is welcomed by no one and is treated like a normal citizen instead of a war hardened hero who has risked his life to protect his country. Harold experienced the hardships of war and wasn't even awarded a proper welcome by his fellow citizens. It is my belief that Harold had suffered incredible trauma while fighting over seas. "A distaste for everything that had happened to him in the war set in because of the lies he had told" this refers to Harold telling fabricated stories to people in his town so he could get them to listen about what had happened to him (Hemmingway 257). I believe that Harold would tell these lies so he would become more comfortable with the war and the experiences he went through; however by telling these lies he actually became more disgusted with himself and the war in general. Even though Harold never verbally explains what he went through in the war you can tell that it was traumatic, because when he returns he never speaks and also rents books at the library so he can get a better understanding of what had happened during the war. Harold has obviously experienced some type trauma or else he wouldn't be trying to make sense of what occurred in a war that he was apart of. So even though Hemmingway never put Harold's experiences in words, he was able to show Harold's pain and suffering through his actions.

Ernest Hemingway. "Soldier's Home." Literature: Approaches to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2002. 256-261.