The book cover of, All Quiet on The Western Front, quotes to be ‘’the greatest war novel of all time’’. The author, Erich Remarque, experiencing war himself; uses the protagonist, Paul Baumer, to express his own background and horrors of World War One. With this, it alternates between his vividly dying memories of the times before the war and the nightmares of trench warfare; although a first person narrative. Erich served in combat during WW1 in Germany and was wounded five times. The last injury was very severe and kept him out of the war. He published his book in 1929. Although his books are fictionally written; they are inspired by his experience through the mind of a different character like Baumer rather than his own. Being in the mind …show more content…
He demonstrates how the army can simply make you forget about your past life and build a whole new individual more suited for the war. That was the case for a drill-sergeant name Himmelstoss. Describe to be a very different fellow as a postman compares to, now, a ''bully as a drill-sergeant''[1]. He was mean and cold but, was not the only one who went through a change." It is not only Himmelstoss, there are lots of them. As sure they get a stripe or a star they become different men, just as though they'd swallowed concrete... That's the uniform'' [2]The author points out how the uniform simply transforms a man. It gives them this idea of what a soldier should be; hard like concrete both in the outside and inside. Furthermore, the transformation also happens to the protagonist, Paul Baumer and how attached he has become to the uniform and its principals. When Paul and his comrades take off their armor, they feel like, ‘’now nothing remains to recall for me (Paul) the assurance and self-confidence of the soldier; no rifle, no belt, no tunic, no cap. I let myself drop into the unknown.’’[3] This insight gives the reader an idea of what psychological changes happen to the man in the suit. It is the very self-confidence and assurance that keeps the men fighting and hardens them to adapt to the cruel conditions of the war. …show more content…
For so long prior to the war, Paul and his friends from school were told that they are the Iron Youth. They were young and innocent with splendid memories. All to be crushed by the war. ‘’Our early life is cut off the moment we came here.’’[5] All they had prior to the war was just school and hobbies. But beyond that their life did not extend. And of that nothing's remains.[6]It simply crumbled under the war. What happens to these young men who only see violence, despair, death, torture, the suffering of trench warfare and the gruesome detailed image of limbs and bodies dissemble; as described in the novel. They are Broken, burnt out, rootless and without hope. No generations will suffer like them. The older generation will just go back to old occupation. The future generation will simply disregard them as a whole.[7] The choices left for the suffering generation of this great war is, as they grow older, “few will adapt themselves, some others will merely submit, and most will be bewildered; - the years will pass by and in the end we (they) shall fall into ruin’’[8]The significance of that message, given by the main character, was the warning the author tried to proclaim. The German generation of young men of late teens and early twenties, will grow up with only knowing war. Some will be so consumed that they would want the war to never end.
Moreover, “They carried all the emotional baggage of men who might die. Grief, terror love longing… They carried the soldier's greatest fear, which was the fear of blushing,” (O’brien 20). With this in mind, O’brien creates a plot in the beginning of what these men in war had to experience and mentally prepare for to see others hurt
Like the concept of survival of the fittest, it is essential for the soldiers to have an animal instinct to survive on the battlefield. Many moments are shown in which the soldiers become two faced, changing from good-mannered and soft soldier to animal - like characteristics. Paul informs us that they only way to survive in battle, is to block away all your emotions, if not, it would drive you insane. Another aspect as to the book’s anti-war sentiment, is how Remarque describes the consequences of war, the loss of the young life. Paul's generation was known as the "Iron Youth", which was a group of young boys who enlisted and fought in the war as a way of showing gratitude for their country, Germany, but his age group is lost because
Erich Remarque, author of the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, presents a true story of a soldier throughout World War I. At the young age of 19, Paul Bäumer voluntarily enters the draft to fight for his home country, Germany. Throughout the war, Paul disconnects his mind from his feelings, keeping his emotions away from the bitter reality he is experiencing. This helps him survive mentally throughout the course of the war. The death of Paul 's friend Kemmerich forces him to cover his grief, “My limbs move supplely, I feel my joints strong, I breathe the air deeply. The night lives, I live.”
Over the course of WWI, worldwide, there were 41 million casualties; 18 million deaths and 32 million wounded. All Quiet On The Western Front portrays the lives soldiers lived on the bases and their experiences on the front lines. Many of the young men walked into war innocently, unknowing of the gruesome and savage experiences they would have to face and witness. Paul Baumer was one of those men excited to enlist until he found himself shattered in the heart wrenching situations of WWI. Approaching WWI, the men were highly encouraged to enlist; even though they were uneducated about how brutal war was, and although some men were not exactly cut out for it.
The soldier himself is frightened on why he could not save him which haunts him in his dreams as he says “In all my dreams/ before my helpless sight” is how every time he dreams he sees the soldier and he cannot control it causing him to think of it every night frightening him everyday. Soon he will feel that the dead person wants revenge for his death as the soldier states “he plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning”, The dead soldier always comes into the narrator's dream wanting revenge as he chokes him as how he was being choked by the gas clouds and then drowning as how the dead soldier drowned in the green sea of chlorine gas. The horrors of war is what scares the soldier even after the war. At first soldiers imagine themselves as heroes creating them eager and excited they are until they finally get to the front and see no man's land. No man's land is usually bumpy with shell holes and dead trees that are either broken or burnt.
O’Brien’s intended audience was young people who were not educated about the war and he discussed the themes shame/guilt and mortality/death. The chapter “The Things They Carried” gives an introduction about the men in the group, it also shows shame/guilt. The chapter talks about the equipment each soldier carried and how it affected them. During this chapter it focuses primarily on LT.
War is a harsh reality that is inflicted upon the unwilling through the “need” of it’s predecessors and those whom wish it. All Quiet on The Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque is about 19 year old Paul and his friends in the “Second Company”. Even though they are just out of school age, they have already seen things that many could not bear to even think about. Eventually, all of his friends die, and even Paul too, dies. Remarque uses diction and syntax as literary devices to express his anti-war theme, or lesson.
All Quiet on The Western Front, written by Erich Maria Remarque, is a novel composed after World War One to convey the experiences of German soldiers during this horrific time of fighting. He brought to light many important issues that occur during wars. In this book, three horrors of war that had the largest impact were the lack of sanitation in the trenches, the loss of comrades, and the shock that came from unexpected and ongoing shelling. The lack of sanitation in the trenches caused many diseases, infections, and terrible memories to me made.
Throughout the ages, wars have wreaked havoc and caused great destruction that lead to the loss of millions of lives. However, wars also have an immensely destructive effect on the individual soldier. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front written by Erich Maria Remarque, one is able to see exactly to what extent soldiers suffered during World War 1 as well as the effect that war had on them. In this essay I will explain the effect that war has on young soldiers by referring to the loss of innocence of young soldiers, the disillusionment of the soldiers and the debasement of soldiers to animalistic men. Many soldiers entered World War 1 as innocent young boys, but as they experienced the full effect of the war they consequently lost their innocence.
The author compares the soldiers because he wants the readers
War and its affinities have various emotional effects on different individuals, whether facing adversity within the war or when experiencing the psychological aftermath. Some people cave under the pressure when put in a situation where there is minimal hope or optimism. Two characters that experience
The True Weight of War “The Things They Carried,” by Tim O’Brien, brings to light the psychological impact of what soldiers go through during times of war. We learn that the effects of traumatic events weigh heavier on the minds of men than all of the provisions and equipment they shouldered. Wartime truly tests the human body and and mind, to the point where some men return home completely destroyed. Some soldiers have been driven to the point of mentally altering reality in order to survive day to day. An indefinite number of men became numb to the deaths of their comrades, and yet secretly desired to die and bring a conclusion to their misery.
Erich Maria Remarque was a man who had lived through the terrors of war, serving since he was eighteen. His first-hand experience shines through the text in his famous war novel, All Quiet on the Western Front, which tells the life of young Paul Bäumer as he serves during World War 1. The book was, and still is, praised to be universal. The blatant show of brutality, and the characters’ questioning of politics and their own self often reaches into the hearts of the readers, regardless of who or where they are. Brutality and images of war are abundant in this book, giving the story a feeling of reality.
Do you ever wonder the way you would react after returning home from the war? Would you be the same person you were when you left, would your outlook on life completely be changed, would life as you once remembered it be the same? In Ernest Hemmingway’s story Soldier’s Home he effectively develops the theme of war changing people. By character, relationships and a lack of drive.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque exposes the reality of war by refuting the idea of the “Iron Youth,” revealing the mistreatment of soldiers, and showing the critical effects war imprints on them. When any war begins, young men are always the first ones to be sent into the war zones. To clarify, older generations believe young adults are the best options for fighting; these boys are strong, full of energy, and do not have anything to lose. “The chief source of this pro-war ideology were the older men of the nation: professors, publicists, politicians, and even pastors” (Literature and Its Times).