Krebs’s Mother Character Analysis

Though Krebs’s mother seems to try to understand her son’s experience in the war, in Krebs’s point of view, she fails to the point of almost making things worse. Throughout the story, she is a woman of faith, invoking God and praying frequently—a characteristic that starkly contrasts with Krebs’s own inability to pray. Krebs’s mother is also the most talkative character in the story, as is evident in the final scene in which she goes on about the other boys in the town who are already working and moving on with their lives; she wants Krebs to do the same. Krebs’s mother is in many ways a foil to Krebs. Where she is very emotional, crying when Krebs says he does not love her, for instance, Krebs is stoic and indifferent. Where she is devout, Krebs feels no connection to God. Where she is talkative, Krebs is monosyllabic. By showing Krebs’s mother coming into Krebs’s room at the end of the story, Hemingway gestures towards the idea that she is trying desperately to access her son’s inner, private space; her methods fail, however, as she simply cannot relate to Krebs. Krebs feels embarrassed for his mother and, by the end of the story, resolves that he will find a job just to appease her.