In the short story "Soldier's Home" by Ernest Hemingway, Harold Krebs is a lonely, almost purposeless man who has returned home from war. In the short story "The Eighty-Yard Run" by Irwin Shaw, Christian Darling is a married ex-football player now living in New York. These two men have many similarities in their lives as well as some differences.
Krebs and Darling both had some very close similarities. First, both stories took place during the1920's. Krebs and Darling both played in some type of field. One was a football field, the other was a battlefield. They both had an interest in women, to say the least. The saddest similarity these two men had was that they both seemed so terribly lonely and complacent after their days on the field. Often, both Krebs and Darling sat at home and let life slip by as they reflected on their past. Krebs would enjoy sitting on his porch at home and watching the young women walk down the street. After losing his job, Darling enjoyed sitting at home drinking and staring at his wife's paintings that he disliked. I felt badly that both of these men chose to live their lives like that. .
These men also had some things in their lives that were very different. Darling seemed to have advanced a little farther in life than Krebs. He played football and graduated from Princeton; he also had a rich girlfriend who was very much in love with him. He went on to get a job with her fathers" company and married his college girlfriend, Louise. He also moved out of his home-town and ended up living in New York City. After Harold's days in the field, he continued living at home without a job. He seemed very interested in girls but not in actually pursuing them. Harold seemed to want everything to be as simple as possible after fighting in the war. He didn't really seem to have any motivation. But, Krebs did have a closer relationship than Darling with his immediate family; although at times he has trouble expressing himself.
