Krebs is mired in a state of inertia and withdrawal upon his return home from the war. He quickly settles into a routine of
"sleeping late in bed, getting up to walk down town to the library to get a book, eating lunch at home, reading on the front porch until he became bored and then walking down through the town to spend the hottest hours of the day in the cool dark of the pool room...in the evening he practised on his clarinet, strolled down town, read and went to bed".
Krebs avoids involvement with other people, who do not understand him and with whom he finds he must be fake. He wants his life just to be "uncomplicated", and finds himself devoid of emotion and feeling. He realizes that his experiences in the war have changed him too much, and he can no longer find a place to fit in at home with his family in his old hometown. At the conclusion of the story, Krebs decides to leave, and try to start life anew in Kansas City.
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