 How would the main character's reaction been different if his wife was alive when he came back home?
They were nearing a river; the water would be welcome on tired bodies and dry throats. Images began to appear, drawn from inexhaustible files, wherein are kept all thoughts, past, present, and future.... World War III had been declared, and he had enlisted, receiving his old rank of captain. When he opened it, he found a picture of her in one side, and in the other a picture of the children. Three days later they had landed in Spain, merged with another division, then crossed the Pyrenees into France, and finally to Paris where the fighting had begun. The Russians had not yet used the H-bomb; the threat of annihilation by the retaliation forces had been too great.
 He would not have been as solemn as he was when he discovered she was no longer there.
 He would have realized her love for him had vanished.  He would not have been as solemn as he was when he discovered she was no longer there.  He would have been in a state of confusion because he would not have recognized his wife.  He would still be very depressed from the aftermath of the war.