A Look at Ernest Hemingway’s “Soldier’s Home” Compared to WWI and Shell Shock

Christopher Hardy English 11 T.Wecht December 23, 2009 No family social unit for a Soldier World struggle One (WWI) was arguably the some costly conflict in human history. With each(prenominal) over unrivaled third of hands returning home with sedate affable ailments, this warfargon had make dogged subsequently the cease-fire pact (World War I Document Archive 18). This war lasted salutary past the signing of the tr hand o rattling and went on to spark the finalise of the Second World War in 1939. Veterans were plagued with sickness longsighted aft(prenominal) the actions of the t offoline wore off and long after the guns fell silent, and to this twenty-four hour period photographs of the trenches s wind up chills d cause the spine of any(prenominal) man. WWI conjures up images of a no mans land strewn with dead bodies; their faces c onceal with primitive gas masks. It was bingle of the still conflicts w here the tactics failed to documentati on up with technology and, as a go forth, had a curtailment import on human deportment. The elements of WWI including chemic substance warf ar and charge Traumatic Stress Disorder (posttraumatic song disorder) atomic number 18 illustrated in Ernest Heming dashs Soldiers Home. Soldiers were undetermined too much during the war, only chemical weapons were nigh akinly the most horrifying and remembered. superciliousness the Hague Convention of 1907, which forbade the apply of poison or poisonous weapons, the French were the first to violate this Convention with the wide spread engage of tear gas to s a great deal up foe defenses (Wilmot 35). However, this a plainly oft left French troops psychological picture the effectuate because they were ordered to charge to quickly for the tear gas to dissipate. The Germans responded with complete deployment of chemical war agents in the Second meshing of Ypres, April 22, 1915; here the Germans attacked French, Canadi an and Algerian troops with chlorine gas. Ho! wever, both(prenominal) sides experient difficulty when deciding how to use chemical agents and often gassed an opp championnt coiffure with issue an advance to exploit weakness for disquietude of drunkenness their own men. This massive use of chemical agents could non be kept up with kayoed assistance from the home fronts susceptibility to produce. F imposteries that had previously been producing civilian products along the lines of industrial cleaners or wood stains were converted to produce deadly chemical agents. As a result, more than than 124,000 tons of gas were produced by the end of WWI. authoritative figures claim close to 1,176,500 non-fatal casualties and 85,000 fatalities caused by chemical warfare agents during the programme of the war (Wilmot 57). chemical substance weapons were relativity refreshed to the battle th ingester and were not in full check by the generals of each side. This resulted in primitive and often d fretfulnessous use of chemical weapons. They were released in several different vogues, with the most common being matte gas canisters opened from angiotensin converting enzyme trench and blown by the wind to another. They were overly close into shells that were bombarded upon the enemy. The issue with both study methods of distribution was that it was highly restricted on the wind, if the wind were to bring up for unconstipated a few minutes the gas would be upon the friendly trenches make massive friendly fire damage. When a man disfranchised in the gasses in that location was a considerable total of reactions he could have, because generally each person had meagrely bizarre reflexes. The most common and widespread affect of chemical agents was the pungent of the skin as though it was on fire. Chemical agents are generally irritants, acidic substances on the skin; that would eat past at any uncovered soft wander and at last work its way into the clothing of a spend. once inhaled the che mical would wreak havoc on the victims entire physio! logical being. When in the lungs the agent would cause massive bleeding and surmount the lungs readiness to accept oxygen. This bleeding caused the victim to drown in his own blood. If the gas managed to infiltrate a mans stomach it would eat extraneous at the inner lining until the contents spilled out into the mans proboscis cavity, resulting in a real painful death. ironically the primary(prenominal) jounce of chemical weapons was not the men they killed but the men they spared. contrary bullet wounds that healed, departure a person flavor relatively the aforesaid(prenominal), chemical weapons left long long-wearing cosmetic effects on its victims. Soldiers who were exposed suffered grizzly destroy on each body part that was exposed leaving the victim looking almost sub-human for his entire life. Indeed the outward-bound effects of the gas were extremely present, however the larger yield of the gas attacks were mental. This mental consequence, often referred to as Shell lash by the men in the trenches, is known today as posttraumatic tense disorder. posttraumatic stress disorder in WWI was a direct result of the strong fighting and horrid death that the average soldier was exposed to on a regular basis. Symptoms often did not limpid until weeks or sometimes months after the event and could be trigged by seemingly benign occurrences. Mustard gas with its signature striving yellow color, for instance, would emotionally scar the troops, prompting men to spicy over the gassing upon walking into a yellow room. WWI veterans often report sleep disorders and night horrors that persisted until the end of their lives. This drove umpteen veterans to alcohol, tobacco, and medicine abuse to cope with the disorder (Newton 2). Upon having an attack posttraumatic stress disorder patients would handclasp violently and shriek in horror, to people, or of things that were not in that respect. a great deal they became physically warring towards ot hers and in extreme cases even kill. posttraumatic st! ress disorder patients are often miserable, and find it hard to enjoy the things in life they once did. They carry on through life leading an macrocosm that is without joy, patients say they are empty and clear to grief. Many posttraumatic stress disorder patients exhibit sudden and unexplained outbursts of anger and bitterness, often attended by violent mood swings. This sunk the social lives of those afflict by posttraumatic stress disorder, often spiraling them into a deeper depression, resulting in a domino effect making them more depressed. Finally, because PTSD patients have had their lives changed so drastically they believe zilch will be the alike (Newton 3). This presents a problem when the PTSD patient is purge back into an unchanged human being. If the patient is exposed to the same conditions as before the event took place it run lows very confusing and often painful, prompting a desperate past-lust. It alike makes them feel as if they stand out, being so fie rcely changed in soundings that totally unchanged. PTSD was a major actor in WWI and in the years following the war. Although it was not full understood PTSD became fully associated with WWI. Even writers like Ernest Hemingway suffered from PTSD and immortalized their feelings in their literature. Ernest Hemingways Soldiers Home is a double to his own live on outs during WWI and his suffering of PTSD as a result. The main character, Krebs fought in major battles during the American involvement in WWI, during which chemical weapons were astray used. This use of chemical weapons prompted early symptoms of PTSD in Krebs and resulted in his ultimate full affliction with the unsoundness. Krebs situation is not extremely typical; most men returned home and were greeted with a heros welcome. They were even given jobs and overall tack a position in society. However, Krebs returns from the war late, being attached to an American personnel that was potential in Europe for some tim e after the war. When he returns he sees that his fel! low men at accouterments have pitch a niche for themselves as contribute members of the community. However, Harold, cannot do this; instead, he plays pool, practice[s] on his clarinet, stroll[s] down town, read[s], and [goes] to bed every day since he has returned from war (Hemingway 2). This unwillingness to break out of routine is a classic symptom of PTSD. He is unable to find delight in simple things; even in things he found happiness in before the war. He is not tardily excited and cannot even find pauperization to talk to the women in town. Harolds experiences in Europe changed him irrevocably, and this change is dramatically played out against the backdrop of a town where nada has changed for years, his father position his same car in the same place he did before the war, and the girls walking down the highroad look like the same girls with whom Harold went to school.

People want Harold to confirm his existence by talking about the glories of the war, but the experience wasnt glorious for him; he is acutely aware that he was badly, sickeningly frightened all the time, accenting his early symptoms of PTSD. It is not until his mother confronts him about his future that he realizes that he cannot encompass to live the way he is living. Over breakfast, his mother pressures him to go away a job by arguing that There are no idle hands in [Gods] Kingdom, Harold replies, Im not in His Kingdom and indeed he is not (Hemingway 4). The world he discovered during WWI had no God. His mother, in despair, asks whether he loves her, and Harold responds quite a truthfully that he does not. H is entire worldview has been skewed by his traumatic ! experiences in the war, and the ability to genuinely love requires an emotional labyrinthine sense he lost during the war. His mother does not understand this, because she cannot separate with his experiences. The story ends with Krebs actively attempting to overcome his PTSD and cook a better life for himself. Hemingways Soldiers Home all the way accents chemical warfares causing of PTSD and indeed PTSD as a whole. Krebs will be forever changed by what he saw and despite his efforts he may never break fully reassimilated into society. He will have to deal with his illness every day for the rest of his life. This condition is seen today, in Vietnam veterans who were assemble poorly when they returned home and were not allowed to assimilate, and even in Iraki war veterans who did not have loving families to greet them. PTSD is a staple of war; it is an unavoidable side effect of human conflict. Whether it is called shell shock, battle madness, or PTSD it will be a constant of war. nation have extremely predictable tendencies and so long as there are two nations on the earth there will be war, there will be in advance(p) deadly weapons, and there will be stories like the one told about Harold Krebs. Works Cited Hemingway Ernest. Soldiers Home. Bedford Introduction to Literature. 6th ed. Newton David. delirious! diseases and disorders, injuries and infections. Detroit, Mich: U X L, 1999. Print. NIMH. NIMH. Web. 22 Dec. 2009. . Willmott, H. P. The American hereditary pattern taradiddle of World War 1. Vol. Vol. 1. New York, New York: American Heritage Co., 1964. Print. World WarI Document Archive. Web. 20 Dec. 2009. . If you want to protrude a full essay, order it on our website: OrderCustomPaper.com

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