Speaking Of Courage Character Analysis

The characters are both similar in Speaking of Courage and “Soldier’s Home” in the way that both characters are having trouble dealing with the aftermath of the war. When the characters return home to their hometown they find it hard to express their feelings because they seem to have no one to talk to or are just unable to do so by communicating in words. They therefore get a feeling of being stuck in the war and are unable to let go which causes emotional issues with themselves and others.

In Speaking of Courage, Norman Bowker returns home after the war. We first see Norman Bowker driving slowly on the lake in a seven-mile loop over and over again. Norman said he felt safe inside that car, thinking about the past. He thought about what

When he firsts came back “ he did not want to talk about the War at all” (1). However, “later he felt the need to talk but no one wanted to hear about it” (1). Much like Norman Bowker, Krebs came home feeling confused about everything around him, such as how the girls have grown up and he did not feeling like chasing after them. Krebs “did not want any consequences. He did not want any consequences ever again. He wanted to live along without consequences” (2). The war had affected Krebs in ways that he never wanted to experience anything similar to it ever again. Krebs felt the need to talk about his experiences, but in order for anyone to listen 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” (1). But even after trying to talk about it, Krebs felt to traumatized to want to speak about the war. His inability to express his feelings causes Krebs to hurt others such as his mom unintentionally. He told his mother that he didn’t love her. Krebs wishes he could tell his mother how he felt, but “he couldn’t tell her, he couldn’t make her see it” (6). All Krebs could do now was pray with his mother for himself and hope that things would get