Soldiers Home Ernest Hemingway Analysis

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Modernism is a new age of thinking trying to break away from the Victorian era, modernism sprung in the early 1900s shortly after World War I. The term Modernism is defined as “a deliberate and radical break with some of the traditional bases of both Western culture and of Western art.”(Abrams A Glossary of Literature Terms) In other words this new style of thinking has caused a revolt against traditional thinking and literature. Modernists have been known to have ideas of non-traditional characters, and break in the traditional narratives. One of the great American novelists, Ernest Hemingway shows many of these characteristics in his writing. In fact, in Soldier’s Home and The Big Two Hearted River Hemingway’s modernist ideas are exposed…show more content…
“The men from the town who had been drafted had all been welcomed elaborately on their return. There had been a great deal of hysteria. Now the reaction had set in. People seemed to think it was rather ridiculous for Krebs to be getting back so late, years after the war was over” (98, Hemingway) Feeling left out as all of his war friends are greeted so heroically and no one seems to be paying any attention to Krebs. Due to this, Kreps lies about the war to gain acceptance from people, which makes Krebs feel lost within himself. The themes of isolation and futility are showcased in Soldiers home and are part of the Lost Generation. Ultimately people of this generation had no anchor of beliefs because they inherited values that were no longer relevant post-WWI. The Lost Generation came prior to the modernist period, where people were trying to remember who they were or trying to find themselves. Krebs fits perfectly in the Lost Generation era because he is cast into this role of passive observer, where after the war he feels lost, forgotten, incomplete and simple…show more content…
Hemingway’s choice of syntax influences the style and tone of the novel. He uses short, sentences to show simplicity, while also using long, run-on sentences. He avoided complicated syntax to reflect Nick's wish that the fishing trip be uncomplicated. The repetition in The Big Two Hearted River: Part 1” creates a rhythmic effect that emphasizes important points. Towards the beginning of the story the sentences are longer than the ones towards the end. In the beginning, sentences are long and wordy, for example, “he watched them holding themselves with their noses into the current, many trout in deep, fast moving water, slightly distorted as he watched far down through the glassy convex surface of the pool, its surface pushing and swelling smooth against the resistance of the log-driven piles of the bridge” (132). All of a sudden, towards the end of the story the sentences become shorter, “The coffee was bitter. Nick laughed” (135). Violating traditional syntax can express tension that is evident in daily
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