ome characters are unhappy with their lives at home because of what is expected of them as men. Krebs is a perfect example. When he returns home from the war, all he wants to do is sleep, eat, read about the war, play pool and watch women. However, his mother, after a month, pressures him to pray, and to be like the other war veterans. She want him to move on with his life, find a job, and start dating women. Krebs can 't conform to social expectations because he is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD): His most notable symptoms are avoidance and numbing symptoms. He avoid developing a relationship with a woman. His rationale was based on what he learned in the army: He didn 't need to be emotionally involved with a woman