War trauma and masculinity Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

War trauma and masculinity - Essay ExampleThese two changes are extremely ambivalent and are determined by the ad hominem qualities and conditions the person faces.First of all, in order to understand masculinity as a phenomenon, it is important to accept its definition. Maculinity is a specific gender identification, related to stress, independence and self-management. Like femininity, masculinity operates politically at diverse levels. At one level, it is a form of identity, a means of self-understanding that structures personal attitudes and behaviours (Leach, 1994,p.36). An early(a) level is associated with sightedness masculinity as a form of ideology, in which it presents a set of cultural ideals that define book roles, values and expectations for and of men (ibid, p.36). It is important to note that masculinity is not natural, as it can be developed (or, conversely, destroyed) throughout the life course as a response to certain social expectations. It can be viewed as c ultural interpretation of maleness, developed and maintained by participating social relationships. The sociocultural record of masculinity is shaped by values, believes, and, naturally, requirements, dictated by the epoch. For instance, Spiegelman and Hemingways time is characterized by the belief that man is a breadwinner, problem-solver, or more specifically, autonomous, strong and independent person, who is capable of defending his motherland from invaders. Furthermore, this definition of masculinity is sanctioned for the present paper, as it is the starting point of the whole analysis.In Soldiers home Hemingway depicts a personality, torn in two by controversial attitudes towards his home, where hes just returned. In spite of Harold Krebss parents comfortable middle-class life, he experiences a sense of homelessness, of drag and despair, because of having experienced his close friends death and all the problems related to war. First of all, it is important to note that Hemin gway doesnt reveal why Harold has been roll for many years before he comes back (about ten years, in fact), so this time belike has been devoted to searching for a new home and re-thinking his own life. By that time all the other former soldiers have found a niche for themselves in the community (Imamura, 1996, p.102), but Krebs needs or so more time to get accustomed to new conditions he plays pool, practiced on his clarinet, strolled down town, read, and went to merchant ship (Hemingway, 1995, p.146). What he is doing, of course, is killing time (Imamura, 1996, p.103).The problem is associated with Harolds understanding of who has become. He realizes he has been altered by the circumstances, and this readjustment becomes much more dramatic, once he sees that his town has remained almost the same comparing to the period when he graduated from higher school the same streets and the same girls walking down the streets, the same parking gear up for his fathers car (Hemingway, 19 95). In fact, these changes in his own outlook can be explained by his pre-war and war experiences.Before the foundation War I, as Hemingway narrates us, Harold studied at a Methodist school, an educational