One of Ours: (Annotated Edition)

One of Ours documents the period of Claude Wheeler's life from his college years in Nebraska to his death in the trenches during World War I. Claude is a young man who is constantly searching for his place in life, needing to feel that he belongs and that his life should have some clear purpose. Although he is an extremely competent farmer, far better in fact than either of his brothers or his father, he is not fulfilled by farm life, and though he is a good student, he believes that the church-affiliated college he attends does not provide the intellectual challenge that he needs. Only when he matriculates in a European history course at the state university does he begin to find his place. His happiness does not last. When his father buys a farm in Colorado, management of the Nebraska farm falls to Claude. Though Claude accepts this responsibility without complaint, he is again unhappy and silently resentful.