26 pages • 52 minutes read
Ernest HemingwaySoldier's Home
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1925A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Literary Devices
Minimalism
Hemingway is one of the most celebrated minimalist writers and is known for coining the “Iceberg Theory,” which is a literary technique that prioritizes simple, declarative sentences and omission. The reader is presented with short, intense sentences focusing on observable facts and must then infer what is beneath the tip of the iceberg in terms of people’s inner lives. By presenting observable events and avoiding explication of his characters’ inner lives, Hemingway allows the reader to think critically about human subjectivity and participate in the act of literary creation.
A clear example is at the beginning of “Soldier’s Home,” when Hemingway describes Harold’s daily routine. He writes,
He was sleeping late in bed, getting up to walk down to the library to get a book, eating lunch at home, reading on the front porch until he became bored and then walking down through the town to spend the hottest hours of the day in the cool dark of the pool room. He loved to play pool (112).
The reader can infer that Harold is lost and aimless since returning from the war. Hemingway never says it, but the reader sees it in what is absent: Harold doesn’t work, doesn’t socialize, doesn’t have focused motivations, and doesn’t act with purpose. With this simple description, Hemingway says much about Harold and the Lost Generation his character represents.
Repetition
Hemingway employs repetition in “Soldier’s Home”—repeating words or phrases for emphasis. When Hemingway describes Harold’s reason for not talking to girls, he writes,
He would like to have one of them. But it was not worth it. They were such a nice pattern. He liked the pattern. It was exciting. But he would not go through all the talking. He did not want one badly enough. He liked to look at them, though. It was not worth it. Not now when things were getting good again (113).
The phrase “It was not worth it” repeats to emphasize Harold’s cautious reasoning. It’s as if he is repeating the phrase to himself to justify his inaction. He probably knows that his life would be more fulfilling with a girl. He certainly desires them enough to look at them. But he is wounded and weakened from the war, and as a result, lacks the strength to talk to them. Doing so would disrupt the bubble he lives in.
Point of View
Hemingway writes “Soldier’s Home” from a third-person-limited point of view. The narration stays with Harold’s perspective, and although there are other characters, particularly Harold’s mother and sister Helen, the reader’s understanding of them comes from conversations that they have with Harold or Harold’s reaction to them. For example, Hemingway writes of Helen, “He liked her. She was his best sister” (114). The same applies to Harold’s mother. Toward the end of the story, after Harold’s mother says, “I held you next to my heart when you were a tiny baby,” Hemingway writes, “Krebs felt sick and vaguely nauseated” (116). Hemingway provides the reader a portal into Harold’s point of view, but not the other characters. The reader never learns their thoughts, but only what they tell Harold.
Mood
To capture the disillusionment of the Lost Generation, whom Harold represents, Hemingway establishes a mood of despair throughout “Soldier’s Home.” Hemingway concludes the story on a note of hopelessness, in which Harold realizes that the safe, comfortable existence he created for himself since returning from the war must end. He must get a job to please his parents. The reader is left with the feeling that Harold will continue without purpose, and even if he gets a job, his life will lack meaning. He will remain lost, still reeling from a war he can’t comprehend.
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