After World War 1 ended in 1918, many veterans came home to a very different place, a place that they just did not belong in. The want to fit right in was strongly wanted by all veterans, just like before they left for war, but the past cannot be repeated. Veterans faced many things that many people cannot even imagine. People just don't understand how war changes a person's life. That is what Harold Krebs from “Soldiers Home” and James Gatz in “The Great Gatsby” learned when they came home. The two characters, James and Harold, are portrayed similarly because of their state of employment, their relationship with women, and the people they can interact with.
One aspect that reflects social similarity between James Gatz and Krebs is their relationships
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They were so engrossed in each other that she didn't see me until I was five feet away” (Fitzgerald 74). This reflects how Gatz was in a good relationship however after war he was unable to retrieve the same relationship he had before. When he tried to get back the only girl he loved, she would not retrieve the relationship she had before with him, she was married and she just couldn’t leave the man she married. In The Great Gatsby, James Gatz, Tom, Nick, Daisy and Jordan all went downtown to cool themselves down, and that's when Gatz got rejected.After they arrived to a hotel to cool themselves with drinks, Gatz and Tom got into an argument, which led to Gatsby claiming Daisy doesn't love Tom anymore.“I love you now — isn’t that enough? I can’t help what’s past.” She began to sob helplessly. “I did love him once — but I loved you too.” (Fitzgerald 132) This is what Daisy said when Gatsby was trying to make her tell Tom that …show more content…
The two authors that wrote these two stories, have similar intent’s. The intent from both of these authors was to show how veterans before war come home and have a different relationship with the women they used to love or know. Jonathan Kirk Davis, Veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Sergeant in the United States Marine Corp, says “When you see your wife, she is unfamiliar to you. When you first see her, you get the smell of her hair and her embrace, but there are subtle differences” (Davis). What Sgt. Davis says is what the two authors are trying to show about what veterans experience when meeting their soul mates for the first time after war. It is tough for them to assimilate back to normal life with their soulmates because of how war has hurt a veterans thoughts and