bloody suicide, he seeks refuge in dismissive rationalizations. Neither the woman nor her dead husband matter at this stage; the doctor simply wants to soothe Nick's feelings. He does not want Nick to comprehend that his father is capable of "miscalculating greatly" (Flora 28), and thus he continues to treat the young woman who gave birth as an object, diminishing his son's concerns with phrases like "very exceptional" and "hardly ever." In the end, the combination of the sunrise and the fish in the lake help Nick to take his mind off the gory scene he has witnessed. His young, male feeling of certainty "that he would never die" in all its glorious naivete is what prevails.*Paragraph Break*In "Soldier's Home," Harold Krebs finds himself peculiarly removed from the young women he sees around him in his hometown, even though he is apparently at an age when most men take a keen interest in female companionship. Shattered and drained by his experiences as a fighting man in the First World War, he lacks the motivation to pursue girls. All he can do admire their physical appearance, which Hemingway catalogues in detail: "hair cut short," "round Dutch collars," "silk stockings" and so on.*Paragraph Break*There is no indication that Krebs ever exchanges words with these young women. In fact, with his aversion to "intrigue," "politics," "lies" and "courting," the odds are that he never does. One thing he enjoyed during the war in Europe was the language barrier between himself and French and German girls: "There was not all this talking." He has cultivated a view of women as an optional source of pleasure: "You did not need a girl unless you thought about them."*Paragraph Break*When Krebs has breakfast, he converses with his younger sister, but it is clear that in his eyes she is a kind of honorary boy. She fetches him the "sporting page" and their talk revolves around indoor baseball. It is lighthearted banter, unlike the interrogations Krebs ...
