Soldier’s Home

by Ernest Hemingway

Soldier’s Home: Irony 2 key examples

Definition of Irony

Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this seems like a loose definition... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how they actually are. If this... read full definition
Irony is a literary device or event in which how things seem to be is in fact very different from how... read full definition
Irony
Explanation and Analysis—History Book and Maps:

Krebs passes time sitting on his porch and reading about the war, describing both the book and his time as a soldier in a positive, though ultimately ironic, manner:

He sat there on the porch reading a book on the war. It was a history and he was reading about all the engagements he had been in. It was the most interesting reading he had ever done. He wished there were more maps.... Now he was really learning about the war. He had been a good soldier. That made a difference.

Explanation and Analysis—Soldier's Home?:

After Krebs proclaims to not love his mother, she starts crying, prompting Krebs to lie and say he does in fact love her. In a moment of dramatic irony, Krebs then reflects on this lie and his future:

He had felt sorry for his mother and she had made him lie. He would go to Kansas City and get a job and she would feel all right about it.

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