The loss of self in the Soldier's House by Hemingway, the case of Paul by Cather and the "Soldier's House" by Melville by Bartleby the Scribe. Hemingway's "Soldier's House," Cather's "Paul's Case," and Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener" all present a loss of self. These stories prove that there is a fine line between finding yourself and losing yourself. I believe this loss can occur at any age or stage in life. This idea is present in the main character of each story. Hemingway's "The Soldier's Home" depicts a young man in his early twenties after his return from World War I. The young man, Krebs, arrived home too late. Therefore, he does not receive the city's adulation as others did. This first loss was the beginning of a long inner journey for Krebs. His reluctance, and then inability, to discuss his part in the war with others immediately had an effect on Krebs. He was unable to get some form of closure, something he desperately needed. Because of the outlandish stories predicted by others, Krebs was forced to lie to fit in. These lies annoyed Krebs. Not only did they go against him morally, but they also began to deteriorate his feelings about the war: "The disgust for everything that had happened to him during the war began because of the lies he had told. All the times he had could make him feel fresh and clear within himself when he thought of them… now they lost their cold and precious quality and then they lost themselves" (224). Earl Rovit explains this further by stating, “if he cannot trust the truth of these experiences, then he will have lost everything” (255). These feelings that Krebs experiences are not unknown. This situation is seen in a handful of other stories of the era, but Hemingway's story "outlines the desperate inc...... middle of paper ......: 189-194. Cather, Willa. "The Paul's case. "The American Short Story. Volume II. Ed. Calvin Skaggs. New York: Dell, 1980: 160-180. Decker, Timothy. "The Mechanization of a Scrivener." Bartleby the Scrivener by Herman Melville. URL: http:// www.en.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/bartleby/decker.htmlHemingway, Ernest "The Soldier's Home", Volume I. Ed: Dell, 1977: 224-231.Hyzack, Greg "The Mentally Disturbed Scribe" by Herman Melville. http://www.en.utexas.edu/~daniel/amlit/bartleby/hyzakbart.htmlMelville, Herman "Bartleby the Scrivener." soldier'". The American Tale, Volume I. Ed. Calvin Skaggs, New York: Dell, 1977: 251-255.