After spending a long time serving for the war, Krebs came back

to his town. But it was too late, the celebration was over. People
thought that it was a little akward for him to be here this late.
Krebs at first didn’t want to talk about the war at all. Later, he
Exposition
felt the need to talk but no one wanted to listen so he had to lie to
make people listen.
After several lies, he realized that it only made him feel lost and
frightened. Therefore, he didn’t want to make any lies again.
He started to sleep late in bed, get up to get some books from the
library, etc. However, he was still a hero to his sisters. His
mother still gave him the care he needed. Sometimes, she tried to
ask Krebs to tell her about the war but her attention “always
wandered” and his dad was “non-commital”.
Before Krebs joined the army, he was never let to use the car. It
needed to always be in the presence of his father whenever he
needed.
He wanted a girl but didn’t want to make any connection.
Rising action He remembered the time when he was in French and
Germany when everything was not as complicated as his
hometown.
He usually read book about history, and wished there were more
maps.
One day, his mother came to talk to him about the use of the car,
that his father had agreed to let him use it.
He then had a breakfast with his mother and sister. His sister
asked him to watch her play as a boyfriend. And his mother
asked him to find himeself a goal in life.
Climax His mother asked “Do you love me dear boy?”. The answer from
Krebs made her burst into tears.
Falling action Krebs tried to convince his mother and succeeded. He had to
have his mother to pray to God for him because he couldn’t. He
felt sorry for his mother as she had made him lie.
Resolution He decided to go to Kansas City to find a job.

Person Self
Internal
conflicts He lied to make people listen He felt frightened and lost as he had to
to his story. lie about his war experience.

He wanted to make a He was afraid of the consequences. He

connection with his had that nauseous feeling when telling
townspeople and the girls. lies about his time at war. He didn’t
want to follow the same route again.

External Krebs The townspeople (society)

conflicts He wanted to share his war The need for sharing, for sympathizing
story with everyone in town. was let down by the people living in the
same community.

Krebs His parents

 He wanted to live a life with His parents urged him to find a goal for
no other consequences. He life and re-integrate into the society.
currently didn’t want to
change anything.

Conflict (person vs. society) the need for sharing, for sympathizing was let down by
the people living in the same community. Instead of being treated like a hero from a
war battle, the character had to suffer from the unhearted ignorance.
Conflict (person vs. self) “A distaste for everything that had happened to him in the
war set in because of the lies he had told”. At first, he thought telling lies would make
people to shred care about his story at war. However, it turned out that the lies only
made him feel worse. All the glory, all the “cool, valuable quality” that he had done in
war was lost as he lied. The only thing that pleased Krebs was to reminisce what had
actually happened.
Conflict: (person vs. self) The fact that Krebs still acknowledged the presence of girls
surrounding him indicated that he was still aware of his life. He knew he would
sometime have to marry a person. However, the trauma and past experience of telling
lies interfered his mind. He was afraid of the consequences. He had that nauseous
feeling when telling lies about his time at war. He didn’t want to follow the same
route again.
Conflict: (person vs. person: his parents)
 CHARACTER:
Krebs Harold
The main character. Considered as:
- The round character: had many personality traits and suffered from internal
conflicts
- The dynamic character: changed big time, faced major conflict
CHARACTERIZATION:
Look
BEFORE AFTER
There is a picture which shows him Krebs and the corporal look too big for
among his fraternity brothers, all of them their uniforms.
wearing exactly the same height and
style collar.
> There are two opposed images of Krebs illustrated by the author. Before joining the
war, he was described as ordinary as other people. The similarity indicated that he
was just a normal citizen serving for a country, with no other distinctness. However,
after being home from the battle, his look changed dramatically. The detail that Krebs
looked too big for his uniform showed that he somehow, had grew up from the battle,
becoming a more mature image of himself. The imbalance between his look and his
former outfit also illustrated the gap in his life, that the war was becoming no longer
an intimate place for him.

Thought
“At first Krebs... did not want to talk about the war at all.”
“Later he felt the need to talk but no one wanted to hear about it. His town had heard
too many atrocity stories to be thrilled by actualities.”
> Having served for quite a time in war, Krebs realized how sophisticated and
castatrophic the war was. All the loss and pain the he had suffered was too much for
him to recall. Then, the emptiness emerged as he returned from war without any care
and led to the need for empathy. However, the need for sharing, for sympathizing was
let down by the people living in the same community. Instead of being treated like a
hero from a war battle, Krebs had to suffer from the unhearted ignorance.

“Krebs found that to be listened to at all he had to lie and after he had done this twice
he, too, had a reaction against the war and against talking about it.”
“A distaste for everything that had happened to him in the war set in because of the
lies he had told.”
”Even his lies were not sensational.”
> At first, he thought telling lies would make people shred care about his story at war.
However, it turned out that the lies only made him feel worse. After this, he started to
realize that his lies were “unimportant” and “not sensational”. It didn’t serve any
purposes but made him forget who he really was, what he had done in the war, and
the contribtution that he made. Even in the pool, his most favourite hobby “He loved
to play pool”, he still didn’t catch any interest as all the men in the pool were too
familiar with what he was about to say. At this point, he felt like he had “lost
everything”. All the glory, all the “cool, valuable quality” that he had done in war
was lost as he lied. The only thing that pleased Krebs was to reminisce what had
actually happened, not the lies that he has to make up.
GQ1: ‘Even his lies were not sensational’. What does this line in paragraph 5
suggest?
In order for Krebs to grab everyone’s attention, he had to lie. The lies are just
like his trump card in this game. However, now, even his lies were taken no notice,
which demonstrated how indifferent and ignorant his townspeople were to him and
the story of war. He tried in vain but received nothing in return. → powerlessness

GQ3: Explain Krebs’ attitude to girls.

“...they lived in such a complicated world... that Krebs did not feel the energy or the
courage to break into it”
“He did not want them themselves really. They were too complicated.”
“Now he would have liked a girl if she had come to him and not wanted to talk, but
here at home, it was all too complicated. He knew he could never go through it all
again.”
> He consirdered the girls in town to be “good-looking”, showing that his desire for
beauty still existed, but except the one thing. His attitude towards them. “Vaguely he
wanted a girl but he did not want to have to work to get her.” He wanted to get
into contact with the girls but didn’t have the courage to approach them. He depicted
them as “complicated” as the author intentionally reused the words 3 times. He didn’t
want to spend his time, and tell lies because he didn’t want any consequences
anymore. He had enough complexities with all the lies he told as he returned home.

“He did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again.
He wanted to live along without consequences.”
> Krebs wanted a girlfriend but was hesitant to get one because of the potential
consequences that a relationship could have. Everything became complicated and
Krebs just wanted to have a simple life after the war, that was one the reasons why he
believed that a girl would be an impediment. “consequences” was repeated 3 times
indicated the his reluctant attitude toward settling in a relationship, that he was afraid
of the complexities a relationship may have.

“...he did not really need a girl. The army had taught him that”
“You did not need a girl unless you thought about them.”
“Then sooner or later you always got one.”
> The army also taught him that he didn’t really need a girl. He got influenced by the
fellows in his army about the importance of having one. However, it didn’t
completely change his mind. He still knew that it was just a lie and having a girl was
necessary. “That was all a lie. It was all a lie both ways.”
But having one as a partner was just a matter of time. It was just, at the moment, he
didn’t really want to. He thought that he could control his desire, and put his life into
fate’s hands. It showed the masculine domination in the society at that time, that men
were completely in control of a marriage.

Speech
Krebs’s mother Krebs
"Yes. Your father has felt for some time "I'll bet you made him,"
that you should be able to take the car out
in the evenings whenever you wished but
we only talked it over last night."
"No. It was your father's suggestion that "Yeah. I'll bet you made him,"
we talk the matter over."
> It showed Krebs’s skepticism against the effort of his mother to bring him back to
society. Expressing his doubt towards his father as Krebs thought it was his father
that was behind this, he showed the resentment of being in the same stereotypic role
in the society like his father, the society that he no longer felt a part of.

Krebs’s mother Krebs

"Have you decided what you are going to "No,"
do yet, Harold?"
"Don't you think it's about time?" "I hadn't thought about it,"
> Krebs had no idea of the his aim in life. He was barely certain about his future as
opposed to the worry of his mother.

Krebs’s mother Krebs

"God has some work for every one to do. "I'm not in His Kingdom”
There can be no idle hands in His
Kingdom."
"Now, you pray, Harold," "I can't,"
"Try, Harold." "I can't."
> Using God as an invocation, Krebs’s mother believed that she could bring him back
to the society. However, Krebs no longer believed in the existence of God. The fact
that he couldn’t pray showed that he was reluctant and resentful to his mother
mentioning of God. Because if He were really there, He would help to save other
soldiers.

Krebs’s mother Krebs

“Don't you love your mother dear boy?” "No. I don't love anybody,"
"I didn't mean it. I was just angry at
something. I didn't mean I didn't love
you."
"Can't you believe me, mother?"
> Even Krebs struggled himself to actually show his feelings. All the pain and trauma
that he had to suffered could not be relieved either outside the society or in his own
family. All the internal and external factors had left him unmotivated to express his
thoughts.

Relationship
With his sister:
“He was still a hero to his two young sisters.”
“He liked her. She was his best sister.”
> Helen was the only one that showed admiration towards Krebs. Furthermore,
among various changes in the town, his sister remained none complicated, as opposed
to other girls. Hence, she maybe the one that Krebs really loved.

With his mother:

“She often came in when he was in bed and asked him to tell her about the war”
“I am your mother….. I held you next to my heart when you were a tiny baby”
"I'll try and be a good boy for you."
> Although Krebs had grown up from the battle, he was still considered a baby to his
mother. For Krebs, he found it struggling to express his love and attitude towards his
mother after coming back from war.

With his father:

“His father was non-committal”
> Krebs didn’t have such good relationship with his father.

Action:
BEFORE THE WAR AFTER THE WAR
“Before Krebs went away to the war he “...he was sleeping late in bed, getting up
had never been allowed to drive the to walk down town to the library to get a
family motor car.” book, eating lunch at home, reading on
the front porch until he became bored”
> Krebs showed his desire for freedom. >Krebs started living a monotorous life,
showing no aims for his future.
“Krebs went to the war from a Methodist He sat there on the porch reading a book
college in Kansas” on the war. He wished there were more
maps.”
> He had a purpose to chase after. > He showed his disorientation in life.
“Krebs kissed her hair. Krebs kissed his
mother and went out of the house.”
> Krebs knew the effort that his mother
made to help him reintegrate into the
society. However, he also expressed
sorry for her because she had made him
lie.
“He would not go down to his father's
office.”
> Krebs still kept distance from his
father.
> He usually read book about history. He found it fascinating to embrace on all the
things that he engaged in. All the fights, the conquer, the collonies he had been
through reminded him of the great time being a solider. To him, the time he was on
the war was the greatest. He liked to be in Germany and French and to return to his
hometown as life there wasn’t as complicated as here. He considered himeself as a
“good solider”, the thing that the whole town forgot to raise when he returned. He had
no other choices but to determine himself.