English language and literature study

¶ … True War Story" and "Soldier's Home" by Tim O' Brien and Ernest Hemingway, respectively, are stories that tackles the issue of social, psychological, and emotional complications that a war veteran/soldier experiences during and after the war. The two stories have its differences and similarities, and one of its differences is the way the authors focused on their main character's dilemma and the way each of them narrated their stories. O' Brien used a more personal, first person account of the main character's life as a soldier in the Vietnam War, while Hemingway used the third person to illustrate the detached attitude of Krebs in the story. But there are also similarities in both stories, that is, both authors tell us of the hard time the characters had in fitting in and going back into their normal lives after the war. O' Brien's character poses the dilemma that he was unable to exactly express himself and tell the truth about the horrors of the war, and for him, the truth of telling a war story is complex and confusing, a description that best describes his emotional and psychological state after the war. The character had a hard time trying to tell his society the truth about the war, only to be told that he should tell 'of other war stories' which might not be true, but the people will want to hear. Meanwhile, Krebs in Hemingway's story also had a problem fitting in with his community after the war, preferring to stay indoors all the time. However, contrary to O' Brien's character, Krebs experiences the hard part of a war veteran's suffering: he was totally detached from his society, and his own family feels that he is not yet capable of handling himself psychologically and mentally after the war. In effect, Krebs, until the end of story, was described by Hemingway as an individual resolute to change the course of his life, but we, the audience, know better: that despite Krebs resolution to move on and start his life anew, Hemingway left us feeling disillusioned (like Krebs) about his future life. The 'soldier's home,' in fact made Krebs not 'at home' at all, but was left feeling detached and lonelier than ever.