Nationalism in All Quiet on The Western Front
Nationalism can be defined as having a sense of belonging and
loyalty to ones country or nation state. Of all the European nations,
France was the first to sport the idea of nationalism. Many countries
became influenced by the French's ideas of nationali sm, As a result
nationalism had spread throught out Europe by the nineteenth and twenteth
century. One result that nationalisn had on Europe was, the wanting of
unification. The people of nation states wanted their country to belong
to. This wanting lea d to the unfying of Italy and Germany. Soon
nationalism had increased the peoples confidedence., and a feeling of
imperialism ran through the unified countries. Unified countries such as
France, Germany, Russia wanted to extend their empires. But this
Imperialism in Europe led to many conflicts between countries. All this
Conflict eventually resulted in the begining of Worls War I.
The causes of World War I were the intense nationalism that
dominated Europe throughout the 19th and into the 20th century, and the
establishment of large armies in Europe after 1871. Imperialism created a
rivaly between nations and empires. The build up
of armies and navies created fear between nations. France feared Germany,
Germany feared Russia, Austria-Hungary and Russia rivaled around Bulkans,
Britain feared German's expanding navy, Slovakia wanted to free Slavian
land from Astria-Hungary's apressi on. Italy was jealous of French and
English colonies in Africa. Ottoman Empire struggled to survive in a
hostile climate. Germany signed a secret alliance with Austria-Hungray and
Italy, thus creating a Triple Alliance. France and Russia signed an
Entente
agreement which was later signed by Britain, thus creating Triple
Entante. Then Europe was divided into hostile camps. During this time
nationalism had caused a golrified view of the war. Thise view showed how
inexpirence the people of Europe were in war far. In Erich Maria
Remarque's novel All Quiet on the Western Front, we can see that
eventhough this gorious view contradicted the Germans soildiers
expectations, they still stayed loyal.
In the Begining of the novel we read that Paul Baumer and his
class mates had volunteered to enlist in the war. But they were forced in
to volunteering. Their school master Kantorek had filled their heads up
with views of nationalism which glorified the war.
plot of the novell itself. He offen does this by describing the death of Paul's
To live in a country such as the United States of America is considered a privilege. The liberties that American citizens are entitled to, as declared in the Constitution, makes the United States an attractive and envied democracy. It would be improbable to imagine these liberties being stripped from American society. However, Margaret Atwood depicts the United States as a dystopian society in her novel The Handmaid’s Tale. The first society is modern America, with its autonomy and liberal customs. The second, Gilead, a far cry from modern America, is a totalitarian Christian theocracy which absorbs America in the late 1980s in order to salvage it from widespread pollution and a dwindling birthrate. The principal flaw in Atwood’s Gileadian society is the justification of human rights violations. This justification only limits the liberties citizens experience, and taunts their once freeing rights, such as the prerogative to explore sexuality. Gilead’s only freedom, is freedom from all other liberties, or as Aunt Lydia would describe, freedom from the anarchy that unveiled in the first society.
A modern play that demonstrates the transgression of a woman from the conflict she experience is in “The Doll’s House” by Henrik Ibsen. Ibsen wrote this particular work while living in Italy, which became a cornerstone in ‘realism’. It also brings ...
Imagine being in an ongoing battle where friends and others are dying. All that is heard are bullets being shot, it smells like gas is near, and hearts race as the times go by. This is similar to what war is like. In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front, the narrator, Paul Baumer, and his friends encounter the ideals of suffering, death, pain, and despair. There is a huge change in these men; at the beginning of feel the same way about it. During the war the men experience many feelings, especially the loss of loved ones. These feelings are shown through their first experience at training camp, during the actual battles, and in the hospital. Training camp was the first actuality of what war was going to be like for the men. They thought that it would be fun, and they could take pride in defending their country. Their teacher, Kantorek, told them that they should all enroll in the war. Because of this, almost all of the men in the class enrolled. It was in training camp that they met their cruel corporal, Himelstoss.&nbs most by him. They have to lie down in the mud and practice shooting and jumping up. Also, these three men must remake Himelstoss’ bed fourteen times, until it is perfect. Himelstoss puts the young men through so much horror that they yearn for their revenge. Himelstoss is humiliated when he goes to tell on Tjaden, and Tjaden only receives an easy punishment. Training camp is as death and destruction. Training camp is just a glimpse of what war really is. The men do not gain full knowledge of war until they go to the front line. The front line is the most brutal part of the war. The front line is the place in which the battles are fought. Battles can only be described in one word- chaos. Men are running around trying to protect themselves while shooting is in the trench with an unknown man from the other side. This battle begins with shells bursting as they hit the ground and machine guns that rattle as they are being fired. In order to ensure his survival, Paul must kill the other man. First, Paul stabs the man, but he struggles for his life. He dies shortly after, and Paul discovers who he has killed. The man is Gerald Duval, a printer.&n Having to deal with killing others is one of the horrors of war. The men who are killed and the people who kill them could have been friends, if only they were on the same side. The other important battle leaves both Paul and Kropp with injuries.
In the novel All Quiet on the Western Front there are many good examples of comradeship. Comradeship should have been and is a major part of this story. Think about it, fighting day and night for your life isn’t an easy task to do alone. Friends and acquaintances are going to come in real handy when in war. Remarque does a very good job implying this trait. In many parts of the book you see cooperation of the friends. Sometimes not even between Paul and his friends, but little things. Such as Paul when he is in the listening post. He is helping his entire side to make sure when an enemy is approaching. A very little thing, but it helps.
In Margaret Atwood’s A Handmaid’s Tale, the human spirit has evolved to such a point that it cannot be subdued by complacency. Atwood shows Gilead as an extremist state with strong religious connotations. We see the outcome of the reversal of women’s rights and a totalitarian government which is based on reproduction. Not only is the government oppressive, but we see the female roles support and enable the oppression of other female characters. “This is an open ended text,…conscious of the possibilities of deconstruction, reconstruction, and reinterpretation … Atwood engages in metafictional commentary …in her storytelling and by the time the reader arrives at the text, Atwood has already told and retold the story, questioned and hedged, changed the context, deconstructed and reconstructed the narrative.” (Univ of Toronto)
The viewing of All Quiet on the Western Front has widened by knowledge of World War 1, as I now understand an abundance more of how war was like. The film showed me how easy it was to die in war, as one simple mistake is all it takes. Many of Paul’s friends in the film perished, as they were mainly caused by amputations.
In All Quiet on the Western Front, Remarque reveals the strong reverence soldiers felt for the earth as they focused solely on their instinct to survive whilst combatting the fear they face on on the front line. The front line is described as “sinister” as soldiers feel the “agony of terror” whilst they fight to survive. For safety, they turn to the earth, thus feeling as if they owe their lives to it. The earth is personified as the soldier’s “only friend, his brother, [and] his mother”. This personification makes the earth feel more relatable to the reader, and also shows how the soldiers have forgotten their families and now seek comfort and safety only from the earth. Syntax is used in a worshiper-like fashion as Remarque writes “Earth-earth-earth-!”,
Throughout their lives, people must deal with the horrific and violent side of humanity. The side of humanity is shown through the act of war. This is shown in Erich Remarque’s novel, “All Quiet on the Western Front”. War is by far the most horrible thing that the human race has to go through. The participants in the war suffer irreversible damage by the atrocities they witness and the things they go through.
To his dismay, he is unimpressed, accusing the old man, “who looked more like a huge decrepit hen,” (Marquez, 2) as imposturous. This statement suggests the appearance of the “angel” was the least of what the priest had expected. To him, “…nothing about [the old man] measured up to the proud dignity of angels,” (Marquez, 2), as he surveyed the worn and grimy feathers of the old man’s wings. He concluded “that if wings were not the essential element in determining the difference between a hawk and an airplane, they were even less so in the recognition of angels,” (Marquez, 3). In conclusion, the priest supposes that the old man is rather a fake than what he'd believed real angels
In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: A Tale for Children,” Gabriel Garcia Marquez tells the story of a supernatural winged creature first discovered trapped in a mud puddle during a heavy rainstorm. Marquez initially just describes it as, “a very old man . . . impeded by his enormous wings” (Marquez 380). Throughout the story, however, characters use the term “angel” for the creature because “a neighbor woman who knew everything about life and death” in an authoritative seer-like manor proclaims, “He’s an angel . . . [that] must have been coming for the child, but the poor fellow is so old that the rain knocked him down” (Marquez 381). Despite the neighbor woman’s confidence in her assertion, Marquez never definitively makes known the creature’s true nature. While Marquez vividly describes various characteristics and actions of the “angel,” the true significance and depth of the story is in Marquez’s often satirical exploration of the various other characters’ perception of and interaction with the creature. Marquez may call the story, “A Tale for Children,” but it is, in fact, far from a children’s tale, as it is a complex story that satirically deals with mature human behaviors and themes starting with its very first line—the title.
Enormous wings, an old man, a struggling family. All of which seem quite strange to be considered together, but when considering the world as it seems, it truly is not entirely that strange. There are many elements in this world that are hidden from the natural eye because what we see on the outside is not always what is on the inside. Not everyone who is unattractive on the outside is ugly and cruel on the inside and not all who are attractive on the outside are the same on the inside, they may hide within them an evil that is only discovered when an opportunity to make a better life presents itself. In “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings” by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, we see both sides of this story, of how the world is and what it may seem to be.
As Ibsen balances his techniques of persuasion to the rules of drama, he persists on the inequalities between men and women in the Norwegian Society during the 19th Century. Henceforth, his masterpiece remains a universal call to the quest of identity. Despite of his deceptive style, Ibsen’s dramatic techniques are effective in enriching the reader’s knowledge of the characters’ motivations and undergrounding his critical eye on Norway’s historical and social
All Quiet on the Western Front is a book written by Erich Maria Remarkque. It was a book written to reflect the human cost of war. It shows us how war has a hidden face that most people do not see until it is too late. In the novel, he describes a group of young men who at first think war is glorious. But as the war drags on, the group discovers how war is not all it is set out to be. As the war went on, they saw their friends either die or be permanently wounded. Then the end comes when there was only one person left.
During the course of his experience with war, Baumer disaffiliates himself from those societal icons--parents, elders, school, and religion--that had been the foundation of his pre-enlistment days, in order to mature. His new society, then, becomes the company, his fellow trench soldiers. They are a group who understands the truth as Baumer has experienced it. A period of leave when he visits his hometown is disastrous for Baumer because he realizes that he can not communicate with the people on the home front. His military experiences and the home front settlers limited, or nonexistent, understanding of the war do not allow for a discussion.